+4 energy really is the GOAT of every single run, I also used and abused of those +1 energy and +1 draw cards just so I could complet a request lmao. I mainly handled the background art and left the gameplay loop for our programmers, but I believe there were a few mechanics that were cut due to time constraints, making the deck building part a bit more complex.
For the Joy and Anguish meters, they pretty much just couldn't reach the bottom. If any of them did, it would lead to a game over, but it's true that if you played the game well enough you could keep them on the same level consistently. As for the dialogues, they were implemented on the last day, we had 2 special NPCs but they didn't make it to this final version of the game jam, if it gets updated I hope we can bring them to the game :p