I did indeed, but I did so because the description at the beginning of the game said (or implied) that there would be less grind in hard mode (more excelia gain, but a standard-tougher RPG difficulty requiring more strategy). I very well may have misinterpreted that, but the degree of grind is still absurd under the circumstances.
My English went spaghetti or you misunderstood then, because it is the exact opposite.
In Hard Mode the limit is increased (You get a stronger version of Bell vs his normal mode counterpart) but that actually means more grinding, with a much lower excelia gain rate.
On top of that, the enemies are stronger, and they appear in higher number.
That mode is something that was requested by some people who found the normal mode way too easy and liked the grind, and wanted more of it. Those same people still easily reach 1500 on all stats way ahead than planned x).
However, it is definitely not for everybody. You'd have a much better experience on Normal Difficulty for your Harem route, and story mode where you can simply skip the read dialogue for all the rest.
I hear what you are saying, but I fear you are missing my point. Yes, my example may not be exactly correct (though it certainly isn't off by more than half), but having to click a 'skip the grind button' more than 10x is entirely self-defeating. At the very least, you could have it cost 10x more for 10x the effect, or have multiple options so that it serves a purpose.
The core issue here, beyond the grind itself, is that there is nothing to do but grind in that situation. No items to find, no lore to read, no drops to do anything with (since they are all disguised money that is auto-sold), no skills to learn or buy, and no strategies to develop since all you have is an attack button. Anything I could actually do during the grind would make it infinitely more tolerable.
Again, I recognize that this is a painful point to hear, and I only write this out of a genuine desire to see it improve.
The problem is that not all possibilities are predictable, not only the game is balanced after the Normal Mode but unless you were extremely lucky, you shouldn't have reached that point with 150 in all your stats, especially in Hard Mode.
I believe that point is after the Silverback, he should have slapped you enough to make your Endurance reach close to E rank at the very least.
The Silverback has 200+ in all his stats, and he's even stronger in Hard Mode.
In short, yours was just an unlucky circumstance which shouldn't be easily replicable.
As for the things you have mentioned, I believe you have found a white feather on the third floor, that is a secret that eventually ends up with a reward on the ninth floor, and like that, there are other secrets throughout the dungeon.
The issue is that you are still way early in the game, and aside from an orb and a white feather which are both the beginning of two secrets, there's not much else because at that point you are expected to progress more in the story.
It is not unlikely I will be adding more stuff even in the lower floors as I have lots of todo stuff and the game is still in development, but all the interesting stuff will happen deep in the dungeon by design.
As for the skills/magic, these happen in two separate routes, and much later in the story when you are trained by Ais/Riveria in preparation for a boss fight.
Additionally, higher grind on higher difficulties is usually satisfying because you are training to overcome something. Maybe an area or difficult boss, but a goal that is self imposed by your choice. This condition is only frustrating because the only thing stopping you is a lore-based story objective, not a challenge. There is no achievement in that (other than the privilege of seeing more story, which is poisoned by a new fear of future grind).
There are a few challenging bosses, but it highly depends on which level your Bell is at that moment. If you grind his stats to the maximum and you are playing Normal Mode, you can easily overcome all of them.
The only true challenge (even if you have grinded a lot) will be against Aisha, which is one of the requirements for the Harem Route.
Some adventurers will also become stronger once I code their abilities/spells.
There are achievements with rewards (the trophy icon in the hub) for Hard Mode, but those are only a couple of points extra. Even once I added all the reward scenes, you should be able to unlock all of them even in Normal Mode.
I see that, but what financial purpose could that possibly serve for you? The only reason to read a walkthrough is when you already have the game (at which point being a subscriber or not is irrelevant). You aren't earning patronage by charging for it, and you are only earning potential bad will by paywalling it. The way I see it, making it available would only increase viewership of your game, so I don't understand why you would lock it off...
It is because I consider it an optional, something extra that is not necessary to play and complete the game.
A little like cheats, high res cgs, and other stuff that is also a Patreon reward.
As such, I always answer when someone asks me "How to get CG x?", never went like "Get the Waltkthrough!".
In my past project (Overlord H) a walkthrough was necessary to fully complete the game, but I learnt from it and made it so that the walkthrough is only an optional, and no longer a requirement.
Between the very few choices, and the hints within the gallery, it is only a matter of playing the game to unlock everything.
For the record, I just wanted to know which sequence of choices led to the harem ending since I may not know them when they arrive during the story. I also want to know (or infer) what limitations that choice has in case it has implications for the sequel. I can download a save to see the gallery, but I would rather experience the story I would choose when I play.
Just pick "Yes... !" on your first choice, and once the brothel location becomes available, do all scenes (As of R21, there should be a total of 6, 3 per character).
Do not enter any route, but you can do Demeter's scenes since she is not considered an actual route (Although her stuff needs to be redesigned at some point), get strong enough to defeat Aisha, and if you do, she will join your Familia alongside Samira and Lena, and that is where the Harem Route begins.
As of R21, the story reached the chapter where Haruhime and Aisha will be introduced, so not quite there yet.
The limitations is that you will miss out on all the other routes for most of the storyline, the advantages (other than having Harem-related scenes and CGs in the endgame) are that you'll have two extra units in the sequel.
Also, in the sequel you will be able to start a new game with VN routes (Hestia, Eina, Lili, and so on) but the harem option will be only importable, so if you want to do a single playthrough and unlock the rest in VN mode, aiming for a Harem is probably the best option.
Just keep in mind that Harem does not include all the women, hence why this game does not have a "Harem" tag.