It seems some people have fallen prey to "it didn't happen to me therefore it doesn't happen." Replying here to multiple people who've said "there's no grind, everything is straightforward, can't imagine how anyone could get stuck."
People do get stuck sometimes. Could be just bad luck, didn't make exactly the right choices because it's not always clear what to do. I don't think it's about "understanding the game."
Playing the same scenes/day multiple times with no progression is ultimately not fun. This is where a hint is useful. The fun comes back because now you can move on and continue to play without hints until next time you get stuck.
I didn't get stuck until bookmark 54 in chapter 2, so would not have checked hints until then.
There's a difference between grind in a VN style game and something like Tetris. In Tetris the point is repetition, with progressive difficulty until inevitably you lose. It's about seeing how far you can get before game over, each time trying to push a little further. It's also all action.
If you got stuck on a Tetris level and it never progressed in difficulty, or the blocks just kept coming in the same order until you figured out what you'd missed to get them to change again, the fun might evaporate. Or not. Maybe you like doing exactly the same thing over and over.
I think the addition of the gallery hints system (which I hope eventually makes it into the earlier parts of the game) is a good choice as it allows those who want the game to stay as is, as well as those who occasionally would like a small clue, to be happy playing what, underneath it all, is a fun game with some of the hottest girls in any I've played.
So how about when people get stuck we choose one of the following: offer them assistance, or let them use the gallery hints without criticism?