Yeah, I was told a couple of times the font and colour are not exactly doing favours. I'm probably going to make a custom pixel font to match the game's style. Would non pixel font be too jarring? I just don't find pixel fonts very fun to read from a visual stance. I think I'll start the inventory at 10 and give an option to do a quick quest during the "tutorial phase" to get to 20 pretty quickly. Max is looking like 90.
But yeah As for the menu, EVERYONE agrees that the instant menu is better because after the first time seeing the cute animation, it's going to be a nuisance.
Probably will depend on how the letters are put together when forming words I suppose. Hopefully you can find one that suits the need best in terms of visual display (if non pixel). I can understand that pixel can be a little too close-knit together when it comes to some words. Fsir assessment on the inventory situation.