Yeah, it caught me offguard too when it was introduced.
Up until the start of act 3, Arc didn’t seem to be one for minigames. But I then learned he’s the type of dev that has to keep moving, trying new things or else he’ll get bored.
Also, in terms of narrative I can’t think of how the process of “taking back the town” would’ve gone without a battle system.
About Ophelia. Right, you know you don’t have to seduce her. You can choose the strategy you want, but some work better than others depending on the enemy.
Tanks will keep defending, so seduction works best against them. Seducers are resistant to seduction so you might want to attack them instead.
Aside from dialogue and some visuals, the only difference between a HP and a WP win are that the girls will need more… sessions to get them on your side. Hell, you can even use shatter, haven’t used it meself but it’s an option.
In the case of Ophelia, I saw a lot of WP for a combat enemy and ditched the seduction strat right away.
My strat for her was to have Hazel as frontline with MC as support.
If she attacks, attack back. If she’s going to counter, use Hazel’s skill to boost PHY. If she’s going to impale, block it.
That was it. Didn’t die or use consumables.
But maybe someday I could convince Arc to add something for the folks allergic to minigames. Emphasis on the maybe.