Alright! That download fixed the essence cap issue!
It showed me one final issue with actually finishing the game, though. To complete the "Hour of Ascension," you need to have 400 faith, but faith is capped at 300.
I feel so bad for reporting nothing but issues with the game because the writing and story all genuinely feel so good. The interface and the progression (once numbers worked) feel paced well and the little random events definitely gave it a great feeling of slowly regaining power and being able to flex that power in more and more direct ways.