I think it’s a bug.
I definitely started noticing it after the October 30th update and before the 0.4.4 hotfix, but I’m not sure when.
When my Zoi eats (I tried different types of food), the hunger gauge fills very quickly, while the action bar progresses at normal speed.
If I interrupt the “eat” action when the hunger gauge is full and put the leftovers in the refrigerator, a single portion is enough for three meals.
The game is updated to the latest version; the save started after the October 30th update. I play with the 96-minute option.
It’s because they doubled the animation length (see this topic). Apparently it works a bit better for the 48-minute day length, but completely screws up the hunger needs for every other option.
The action bar takes a million years to complete now…
FAR too long. Maybe it’s fine in 48min, but in 96min and 4hrs it’s stupidly long.
Completely broken.
Also you are 100% correct about the hunger gauge filling too quickly, it’s been increased a lot to even pre-cahaya and even pre-june patch. It should be between 3-5x slower.
They need to fix both sides of the Eating action !