I have seen and played Lustful Desires quite a bit. It was actually one of several games that kind inspired this. Combat is one of the things I kind of have an issue with in Lustful and most turn-based RPGs in this style. They pretty frequently end up being just 'mash attack until you win. If you don't, grind in an easier area until you're strong' Lustful fixes that to a degree with it's potions and item interactions but it can still be a little grindy.
I'd love for you to go in depth about what you don't like about the leveling system honestly. It's early access because I want to know what people think and how they play. It'll be a lot easier for me to make changes to the core systems now rather then later when I have a bunch of content.
(Sorry for not replying sooner. I got very busy with personal stuff)