Difficulty: Normal or Hard?

[7ChaosTheory]

Aside from extra challenges: If I choose hard mode, will it unlock certain scenarios or scenes that normal mode doesn't have?

[JimmyKaz]

no, the same. choose normal if want to f your sis early. hard mode, you need to grind stats or you most likely will loose the battles and get the bad endings.

[Hydra_360ci]

i don't remember getting any shower image/text with the other girls on my first playthru of the game (which was on normal), but I'm getting them fairly often on Hard. I also got some side events that I didn't see on normal mode. But those could be complete RNG events, idk. One was of some granny getting robbed (returing home from the guild/bar) and you having to defeat the robber alone. Just saw a scenero of some restaurant with crying babies in it and all the female customers complaning about the crying babies. Guess it was supposed to be funny... but it was more ...whatever.

[Harpo Mungis]

I can confirm that you can get the shower and rescue events on Normal. The thing about those RNG events is that you need to have at least 20 energy left over after finishing your training to even get one of those "second half of the day" events, and most people aren't going to have enough most of the time on their first run. My first time through, I never even managed to trigger any events that raised Kana's affection and so I didn't get her EX skill or follow-up attack.

[rocknk1d]

good to know, I would have started on hard mode if there was anything special, guess I’ll be on normal mode on newgame+

[leonitus_magnum]

do not bother with hard there is NO reward or Story/Event change for the challenge.