The ominous chanting music sets a tone that hooks me in and immerses me into a different, more sinister world. It really lends credence to how important sound is in games. Just by way of engaging my ears, I want to know more about the story, the gameplay, and delve deeper into whatever you guys have created.
This is perfectly complimented by the incredible pixel art and UI design, which matches the mood and gives visual representation that there are people and places in this world. The environment art of each level and the character portraits of party members are absolutely gorgeous.
The game is coded very well judging by the bug-free experience and functional.
I love the "party quest" game design in general, and initially didn't mind at all the combat system being a clicker. However, this does become repetitive and unchallenging (began to close my eyes while clicking, or watching the soccer game on TV) as the games goes on—to the point that I think it might actually be an improvement if the combat system wasn't interactive, and you are just watching to see if your party won or lost based on the odds (similar to Civilization's attack on cities).
On the topic, I'm not quite sure if there's a strategy to win expeditions. I would randomly add / subtract people into my party until the success rate was the highest I could get it, and then start. But I think a design improvement would be to have a spectrum of weak to strong characters, with the stronger ones locked until winning quests and advancing in the progression can avail them.
The onboarding is tough, and the game could benefit from some overlay instructions and tooltips as to what to do and what certain UI elements are for (I still don't know what any of the party member stats are). With enough time and persistence, the player probably will figure this out for themselves, but jam-wise, many are playing a few minutes at a time for each entry, so a little help goes a long way.
I somewhat ignored the "Expeditions" screen altogether in the earlier half of my playthrough, and didn't realize you could attach items to party members until the clicker became more challenging. Looking at the descriptions, there's little correlation between what the items do and how it can actually help the player, given that the strat is just to maximize the success rate to at least half the bar, and try your luck with the clicker. The items don't seem to affect the combat system that much, and that's where the player needs the most help in later levels. This is compounded on the fact that the items having consequences made me not want to use them (especially since you're already paying to use them with the in-game progression metrics).
Got to the Azure Caves before the clicker bar drained regardless of my clicks, and killed most of my party members. Second attempt with two party members was even more lopsided, and I remain unsure what I was supposed to do.
A solid foundation for a fun party-based RPG, with sound and art stealing the show. Design refinements, better UX, and perhaps more variation with the combat system (or a new one altogether, with the benefit of unlimited time) can take Steps of the Fallen the rest of the way.