Likewise.
I actually tried doing a fresh run with this patch, and damn, it's really punishing.
The change of frames it takes to complete a smash (f) attack and exp reduction scaling down (I guess logarithmically) has a decent impact on farming levels and skills for sure.
For example, if you save and reload at the bigfoot camp for 4 to 5 days:
- On a vanilla run (without this mod or mods that affect exp gain curve) results in something like level 65 to 80 Main Character
 
- On the Valen_H mod, it's closer to level 15 to 30.
 
It depends on the player's skill and ability to readjust to the changed smash timing between the two examples. The modded example has the smash action command completing more slowly. Unsure if there was damage that was compensated for the change.
Other than that, it's definitely fun and requires a different approach if I wanted to speed run (based on my chosen objectives) this game (or not, depending on how I want to abuse the mod features).
I guess, in a sense, it was designed to redirect the players to utilise adapting with NPCs as an additional assistance to achieve objectives rather than just soloing it through with fast leveling and abusing game inherent features.
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Then again, I made the game more difficult than normal when combining this patch with Yotan's mods he compiled, and I turned on stronger enemies.
It literally creates a situation where any time I use Yona, just getting downed once can literally end the run if I want to preserve her and not lose the battle outright, as she immediately gets almost raped. Especially if you don't manage her stun bar while in combat with anything.