Recently started Catherine; wasn't expecting it to be this good or difficult

Finally got around to playing Catherine and am so glad I did. It's got such a unique premise and the gameplay (for me) is so interesting. The story is really good so far (only on the fifth day right now.) I love the atmosphere and talking to your buddies/patrons in the bar.

And it's hard as shit too. Well to be fair I did choose the hard difficulty, but I wasn't expecting it to this challenging. The game says I have 8 hours logged but I've spent at least an additional 7+ hours on restarting levels. For the most part I'm enjoying the challenge but there are times where it gets really frustrating.

How does everyone else feel about this game? I'm about 5-6 years late but that's the spirit of this sub ey. Please no spoilers if you've beaten it, I think I'm only at the halfway point so far.