If you can't make progress through this game you're just not thinking straight. There's a pretty simple manner that you have to reach place x by expending minimum stamina. There's not much more to it. You can also escape a fight and keep story progress you've made, although you may lose food. It's usually as simple as "do the minimum stamina to win a fight and you'll make it to the next point". Eg, use the strong attack to survive, and the weak attack to conserve stamina, and progress with min hp and max stamina. There's nothing more complex to it than that. I played to the end of the available content in one afternoon on my first attempt. And actually, I had a blast. Like for the first time ever on a game from here, I enjoyed the game for what it was. Read all the content, and was more in it for the progress than the lewdness.
It's the most like a "proper" game I've ever seen on here. It's beyond the normal scope of a VN, and has real tactics involved, it feels way more like a Persona or similar that other people have lauded to try and recreate, simply because you repeat days over and over, but while having a very very clear direction. It's a real winner IMO.
The number one great thing about this game, is that you have to work hard to achieve a goal, and the goal is more survivors. It never even occurred to me before but what feels like a better motivator in a game like this, than to unlock more girls? I've never wanted to progress in a lewd game more than I do rn for those new lewds. Such a great idea to start with one, and have the goal of trying to get more.
There's a few cons. I would say searching for items is made way too easy with the magnifying glass overlay. It's basically go through each room and click the magnifying glass to proceed. If that could be expanded somehow, without going too far the other way and becoming a chore, you'd feel a lot more accomplished for finding the way forward.
The biggest gripe... Unfortunately the MC is just... intolerable. As always. I see the same thing in so many of these games - they're always so self-righteous, so smart, so right-all-the-time, so putting-stupid-women-in-their-place. If you were to strip all the porn out of this game, there's one thing that would keep it from being generally well received: the unlikeable MC. Your best bet and the most common RPG option: make them pretty much silent except for the options you choose. Second best bet? Make them a goofball. The worst option is for them to have deep, strung out opinions, argue with NPCs and put them in their place all the time. It allows no room to imagine yourself in their shoes and if you disagree with their mindset, it's kinda unsettling.