I have been enlightened, and I'm trying out an INT/TECH build. So far so good.
Few items come to mind, open to any who may wish to chime in:
1. Is there currently a reason to pay down debt? I don't need to know details; it's just that I'm my character is kind of stingy, so don't want to spend a dollar without sufficient justification.
2. Is working at the bar required for the Elena route? Or alternatively, is there any downside to working at the bar? I wouldn't want to tarnish my character's image.
3. I'm still not sure I understand the fetish and sensitivity systems. Is it basically the downside for losing? I can understand that, but sometimes asking the player to resist temptation is asking a bit much...
Possible bug: there seems to be an exception when you try to access the menu after you've acquired mushroomitis.
1. Currently, paying down the debt just unlocks a very basic placeholder ending and has no other benefits. Just in case you're curious and would like to know more the ending is
you decide to go home and let the Demon Queen and the continent of Lucidia be someone else's problem. In the future, there may be a reason to pay off your debt, whether this ties into the Casino of the Capital, the eventual player housing system, or something else is currently not yet known.
2. In the current builds, yes, the only way to move further into Elena's romantic encounters is to work at the bar as a bartender. If you do so, there is a chance you'll encounter her drinking and can spend time with her to increase her affection and potentially even go to bed with her. Eventually, it will be easier to meet her by just going to the bar like how other characters such as Galvi, Beris, and Mara can be more readily met.
The only real downsides to working at the brothel of the Inn are that you will accrue sensitivity and fetish increases depending on the scene you have. Fortunately, these are all temporary levels and can be cleansed at the Church. However, working at the brothel is the only way to either meet some characters early or even progress their potential romantic content. Before Beris, Galvi, and Mara were added to the Bar section, the only way to meet them was to work at the appropriate section of the Inn's brothel. Currently, working is still necessary to engage in Elena's romantic content, increase the romantic content with the Oni Twins (and potentially be able to bypass their fight due to how much they like you a.k.a. massage guy), and helps to speed up progressing through
Kaia the Manticore's affection route given you have to become addicted to her venom and she can only be found on the Mountain during the day and at the Inn prowling the gloryholes at night.
You don't have to worry about tarnishing your image, even if Elena may occasionally drunkenly chastise you before flirting with you, if she likes you enough. In fact, you can instead impress various monster girls, especially if you say have high Virility and single-handedly feed an entire party of Succubi who are crying out for more when your shift at the gloryholes end. It is worth remembering that this adventure is occurring on an enchanted continent where sexual prowess is currently a major marker of one's ability given most traditional methods of combat are currently rendered useless. That, and for a number of monster girls, having a harem is a display of one's quality as a partner with some even pushing you to have at least a small harem of lovers, so working in such an environment also leads to situations where your capacity to handle such situations can be revealed.
3. The fetish and sensitivity systems reflect what your character, and possibly you the player, find arousing. You can consider fetishes to be what physical traits your character finds alluring such as a well-developed bust, long, supple legs, or a round, bouncing bottom as well as what sexual acts performed by monster girls that your character particularly enjoys such as having sex, being kissed, receiving a titfuck, and so on.
Meanwhile sensitivities reflect what types of actions your character enjoys having performed upon you beyond those relating to fetishes while a low sensitivity reflects either turn-offs or conditioning in order to last longer. As a quick example, if your character has a low Ass sensitivity, they may not enjoy being rimmed, pegged, or otherwise having their ass played with and certain characters such as Blue Slimes will ask before attempting such actions and will respect your wishes if you say no. Conversely, if your character has a high Ass sensitivity, Blue Slimes will assume your character enjoys such play and will peg you with their slime without asking.
Beyond this, fetishes and sensitivities can have other impacts. Some characters such as Shizu can gain new attacks based on your fetishes as enemies try to make you surrender by using attacks you enjoy and are weak against. Shizu gains her Bow the Mountain attack if you have a fetish for feet as an example. I have a post
here discussing Shizu's Bow the Mountain unlock and another post
here that goes further in-depth on actions unlocked by fetishes and sensitivities. Some scenes are also expanded by fetishes or sensitivities, such as Elena using her well-endowed chest to tease and tempt you while working at the bar if she likes you enough and you qualify as having a breast fetish.
As for fetish and sensitivity gains, some of them are punishments for losing yes, but those can be removed at the Church. Similarly, the brothel can also increase your sensitivities and fetishes which you could consider as your character giving in to increasing levels of depravity and debauchery as they increasingly focus on having copious amounts of sex, but this to is reversible. So you could even consider it a corruption of your character in a way if such an interpretation and that type of content is appealing to your tastes. Finally, you can gain permanent fetishes and sensitivities, largely via perks but also through a few events that currently do not award a perk
such as becoming Sofia's sub and pet and going through those scenes, which can be viewed as the monster girl in question helping to shape and influence your preferences in order to make you a better mate or to ensure that you enjoy yourself more with them
such as Kotone who influences you to essentially view virtually every physical aspect of herself as divinely alluring when subjected to her hypnosis, ensuring you will never tire of her form as she'll increase most of your fetishes a little while you are her Hypno-slave or Hypno-lover.
As for the temptation aspect and its difficulties for the actual player, that is by design. Tempting the character in game is one thing but reaching out and attempting to sway the player with lurid promises is intentional which is why there are appealing options presented even after the character has succeeded a temptation check to try and get the player to choose and be subjected to the attack anyways. Fortunately, Lucidia is a much safer continent than it has been in the past and there are rarely any lasting effects for losing given fetish and sensitivity gains can be cleansed at the Church. While there could be dangerous foes and such eventually, events of that nature are more likely than not to be clearly telegraphed.
Finally, when errors of that nature are encountered, including the traceback file or the text of the error in a spoiler are always helpful in searching for the issue and having it corrected.
I do hope that this adequately addresses your questions,
ririmudev.