Yo this game is like twice as long as it needs to be and all of the negatives that I listed at the bottom of my original post only got more and more annoying because of it. I mainlined the final 5 hours of the game and by the time I was done it felt like a fucking cliche of itself in ways. The final cut-scene is like half an hour long.
Anyway.
Currently playing Sovereign Tower. It's a visual novel meets management game with a nice medieval/court setting. According to my Steamdeck I've ploughed 10 hours into it in 24 hours. I doubt that, but it's besides the point; this game is wonderful.