I agree, lost potential there in term of interactivity and story.

Yes, that could have been elaborated on. On the other hand, I think the fact that Pierre left them untouched and never even tried to repurpose the room sends a very strong message already.

At this point, it's already established that he didn't actually understand the kids very well. I mean, he believes they would be happy in a tiny room on a boat, with a bunk bed, after Opal had moved from the Summer Home into a dilapidated van just to get away from August.

The presents could have revealed some popular children stuff that the kids wouldn't even have liked (further accentuating the disconnect), or they could have shown something that the kids really would have liked (accentuating that Pierre did try his best, it just wasn't enough). But either way it wouldn't have added _much_ to the story, I think.

(There's also limited potential for interaction since the mother doesn't follow you into these rooms, but of course that could have been changed as well, in theory. In practice, perhaps the actress simply was no longer available at some point to record new lines.)