I've been really out of the loop for a while, what changes were made gameplay-wise if I start over from the beginning?
As in, do I still have to do the old way (grind) until 0.83 then new way (no grind) from there onwards? Or is it completely new way (no grind) from the start?
first: i think you might want to start a new playthrough since it's been awhile you played the game and probably don't remember everything clearly.
that leads us to
second: with all the changes in gameplay starting from scratch is like a breeze compairing to the old grind. faerin really shortened all the necessary steps in building your relationship with the girls so you get points most the time in increments of 5 on events and progress much faster throughout the whole game.
also the new hint system is pure golden and makes a walkthrough almost completly unnecessary except for the dates and the locations of those naughty collectables
so all in all i really can recommend everyone to start a new playthrough and enjoy all those little helpers faerin implemented