IMO Heroine Rumble got the economy system exactly right (I've replayed it like 4 times over a 20+ hour period). The big things to unlock are new moves and stats.
KFC could have your character start out a somewhat weaker but be able to buy more stats for higher and higher prices. Having all the moves just be available makes them not feel valuable. Being required to buy them (either specifically or randomly) would definitely make getting that next move so much more exciting.
The theme of the story isn't what I didn't like. The story sections are overlong, (and I cannot emphasize this enough) they never build up the next match or have any outcomes from the previous match.
In my review I mentioned an adult gaming industry disconnect between sex and gameplay. That is the missing X-factor for KFC story mode. It potentially could make matches have enormous emotional/psychological impact.
For example, use a couple story segments to build up a new rival who taunts you mercilessly. Beating her then feels colossally satisfying. Another example would be to have a bet between the protagonist and a rival with the loser getting tied to a chair and at the winner's mercy (a tie-in with another game mode).
But whatever the specifics, please don't have the gameplay be 100% unrelated to the story. That's just taking two unrelated games and unceremoniously squishing them together.
I haven't checked out this game in quite a while but I'd like to signal boost the overall thrust of this post, not necessarily w/r/t KYFC since I'm not up to date and can't comment, but in general. The absolute worst being "win at breakout/bejewelled/remember-her-favourite-colour, see a porn pic" and nice examples of the opposite being games with well integrated BF mechanics to contextualise the H-content (MGD, Night Games), sensible penalties/dialogue after choices/losses/wins (Desire Dungeon, Shrift, certain MGQ fights), or gameplay sufficiently smooth and challenging as to immerse you in
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leading up to the H-content (ymmv, but some excessm games do this imho).
Noting also that KYFC does a great job already on integrating the BF h-mechanics with the gameplay, as you said in your review. Anyway, I'll have to give it another play some time soon, would be cool to see how the core gameplay has come along since I last played, as well as checking out story mode for myself.
