Local storage is also asynchronous so will have much better performance, so will prevent slow storage janking the game (and everyone hates jank), especially on systems with slow storage. It's not really acceptable to still use synchronous storage these days.
While I agree that everyone hates jank, couldn't reproduce any of that myself on a really low-end LG Android phone. Would appreciate any data showing that noticeable jank is actually happening.
My main point still stands. The new plugin is too over-complicated because it's performing everything asynchronously. Sure you can use countless of workarounds to workaround workarounds, but especially C2/C3 starters struggle with such things.
I could personally see a simplified version of local storage happening, by implementing the dictionary plugin's mechanics (sync), into the local storage plugin (a-sync), to give users the "illusion" that everything is happening instantly.
Basically fast access, sync storage in the foreground and permanent a-sync storage in the background. Only one action to permanently store to local storage and another one to load permanently stored local storage data would be required (a-sync conditions optional).
Again, this is already possible using multiple plugins and setting up several events but the point is to make things more simple for starters.