The main hub area. This is where you will end up every time you are defeated in a dungeon or when you successfully complete any dungeon. Canyon Hamlet contains numerous Characters or Characters that you can speak with. They mostly share information about the games world, or they provide useful advice regarding mechanics within the game. Character's can also be tied to side quests.
Starting from the left side, there are 4 buildings in the Hamlet lined up in a row. You have the Bar, the Warehouse, the Inns|Inn, and Fay's Puzzles. I advise visiting the bar in the upper left and speaking with the Barman at the counter. He will provide you with a free Big Riceball after some dialogue. Every time you return to the Canyon Hamlet by any means, you start a new "run." This means that everything is refreshed. Side quests can be progressed to their next stages. One time use Shops or events will regain their uses (Smiths for example,) and most notably, Shiren returns to level 1 with all of his stats reset to their starting values. Keeping this in mind, you can always return to the Barman once per run to receive a free Big Riceball, which can be very helpful.
Whether or not you decide to visit the barman, the next thing you may want to consider doing is entering Fay's Puzzle House to solve some of Fay's puzzles. The puzzles are very educational and teach you about things you can do in the game. Each time you solve 1 puzzle you will receive a random item which may help you out, though don't expect to be overly spoiled by the rewards.
You can find various other friendly Character's here. It is important to note that if you ever hit a Character by any means, they will aggro onto you. You can speak with them safely by pressing the action button while adjacent to them unless they are attacking you. I recommend speaking with the various Characters as many can be tied to quests or they can be helpful partner characters. For specifics on those Character's, refer to the corresponding wiki pages. If you do aggro or kill a Character, they will be friendly towards you again after you start a new run by returning to the hamlet or entering and leaving a building. Character's can also be found inside of the dungeons. They appear as yellow dots on the map.
When you're ready to begin your adventure, head all the way to the right and walk past the man blocking the way. This Character is here to teach you about how to walk through other friendly Character's so feel free to speak with him if you aren't sure how to get past him. After you enter the dungeon for the first time, he will move to a different location in the village and no longer be in your way. It's time to start our ascent!