Now that I've got some time, my thoughts on the game itself.
First off, I like the way that, as you do stuff, more things open up. The characters are interesting as well, so that's a plus.
Now, as to the grind:
It's real. I think it hits heavily at the start. I've come to the conclusion that you're best off trying to max Trivia right off the bat, for the two stat bonuses it provides at level 3, especially if you don't pick the gamer start. It'll pay off with the extra slots and greater xp gained for other skills. But if you're new to the game, you're probably not going to do that, so a newbie will advance slower due to that.
Then you've got the skills themselves. The beginner's luck bonus is handy, but the problem is that, typically, the first rank doesn't offer much. You need the second or third. When you're earning 3 xp, and need to go from 100 to 300, that's 67x you need to do something. Ouchie! And if you're only making 2... yeah, it's slow.
And that needing the second or third, that's the case with most jobs. There's no real easy to access starter job. They tend to be in that third tier, or else to get the skill you need, you first need to get another skill out of way first. So you're pretty much limited to mowing once a week and begging your relatives for money.
I don't really have an issue with raising the girl's skills, in regards to how much skill they gain. Since as your stats and skills go up, they level faster, it works out okay. Really, it is mostly a matter of getting the right topics. Which brings up the topic of dancing. A topic you can't get early, but needed for Becky. It is also starting skill for the Athlete, except he can't raise it for a while, which is not ideal for a starting skill.
Becky is also a bit annoying, with the once a week party. But that should become less of an issue as the game adds more content, so you're not just going through a week waiting for Friday to roll around.
So what I'd suggest:
1) Raise the base xp gain by 1 across the board for the player.
2) Reduce the beginner's luck bonus from 5 to 3.
3) Let us mow some lawns/do yard work for the neighbors. Could be a setting for a fun scene, but even without that, just the ability to make a little bit more money early, at the cost of more of our weekend time.
4) Add dancing topic rewarding videos to the "entertaining video" category. This would resolve both the Becky and Athlete issue, plus add value to the "entertaining video" option, which needs it, because there's little point to using it currently (since you'll be watching plenty of TV early on to get Focus).
UI:
1) More saves. One slot kind of sucks, especially as the NPCs get more depth/personality-options, or if we want to try a main character with a different focus. I'd be fine with one save per character, but at the very least, I'd like the ability to have different characters, so I can do different things with them. I mean, without just copying and renaming folders, like I'm currently doing
2) Inventory:
A) Adding something like a 13/24 type of counter for transient topics, so we know how much room we have, would be nice.
B) It'd be nice if the transient topics could be sorted by kind. Perhaps with a sort button. And if, when you get rid of a topic, say by turning it into xp, if it would take it from the space I'm taking it from, rather than treating it as it if came from somewhere else, and consequently re-ordering things a bit (the topics moving around in an unexpected fashion slows you down when you're trying to clean up your topic inventory).
3) Characters:
A) Right now, it lists all the skills they have. I'd suggest breaking that up into two sections. One for the archetype skills, and another for the rest. Still all on the same scrolling, just organized slightly different with section headers.
B) Something that tell us when a stat is capped. So if we try to gain interest or lust, rather than telling us we gain 1 when afterwards we're still at 0, it tells us that interest cap is reached. And for skills, rather than showing nothing, it tells us the skill is capped (though for that, ideally only when we first cap the skill).
Some other things I'd like to see adjusted:
1) Suntan Lotion - should go to an open item slot, like other items, rather than into inventory storage.
2) Having the Modern Outfit in your Inventory Storage, aka Wardrobe, should allow you to go to the party. It shouldn't require being in an item slot (especially since the text tells you go to your room to change).
Anyway, I'm enjoying the game and looking forward to more.