One thing to clarify, I misspoke when I said OBS as I am actually using Streamlabs. I do have it set to capture a screen/display rather than an application or window, which is what surprised me about it failing to grab my testing footage. Still, I can try the non-windowed approach if I run into a similar issue with this (or another) game in the future. It sounds like you may have a viable workaround moving forward, as well.
The mouse cursor can't leave the game window when set in fullscreen mode, which is what I meant by "hijacking". I know this is not entirely uncommon, though I had a controller plugged in and for some reason expected that to take priority, allowing the mouse to interact with the OS or other applications.
Sprite work is tricky and time-consuming so I get that compromise. To me it does affect the readability of the game, rather than just being about presentation, and I'd personally prefer even very simple animations over having no visual indicators at all. But you'll of course need to weigh that versus the level of effort and how many other players have even mentioned it. I think quick, punchy animations like SaGa I's could work, but you'd want to avoid more elaborate sequences like the ones added to certain DQ III remakes.
I did see that status icons were displayed, I just wasn't sure how to easily identify what certain states did (especially the ones added by monster attacks). It's possible there was something I missed in the game guide or an NPC dialog.
I do remember checking the in-game manual for stat info regarding Defense, etc. and must have missed this one, or was perhaps overloaded and didn't absorb it.
The difficulty and economy are curious design choices to me because I generally associate transforming magical girl squads being much better aligned to a flashy power fantasy than to a sort of grindy, attrition-based experience. I'm not saying it can't work, though there are some points where I felt like there was a major disconnect between how our protagonists are framed, versus how they actually functioned in combat. And it's one of those things where, if subverting audience expectations was the goal, it may actually need to be more overt to really drive the point home.
I do agree it would be best to at least convey for the purpose of stat allocation that these choices will permanently impact equipment selection. Just because "cannot be changed" could come across more like "you cannot respec your build" rather than how it's actually intended. At least in my case, I saw that and assumed that I couldn't fiddle with the base scores after leaving char gen but they would still grow as we went through the game, either via items or possibly just levelling.
I didn't try changing any of my back row characters to better weapons mainly because it felt like their spells were barely keeping up as-is, and I was skeptical about conceding any additional spell power. While having slightly more meaningful basic attacks would improve MP economy, it's generally better to have one good skill with a cost and one bad free skill, than two mediocre skills (even if one of them is free).
The weight system seems OK to me. I may have been more inclined to theorycraft if I knew how much of a difference in hit rate 5 or 10 Defense might incur, since I could then compare that to average incoming damage and decide if it's worth the trade based on those criteria. But I think my friction was due to some game systems being a bit opaque not the system itself.
If it helps, I found the technical writing better than the characterizations. But either way, nothing to be sorry about!
Being able to flip the controls is welcome, it just struck me as an odd default configuration. Again, pretty subjective. Though I suppose even flipping that setting won't necessarily resolve the enemy back rows being partially hidden by the front rows.
I don't think there's a problem necessarily with the support skills being less "gimmick" driven compared to melee and direct damage abilities. Though support skills often get used less when healing is a frequent need, and MP reserves are very limited. So it may be worth revisiting costs for some of the peripheral stuff, before increasing / tuning their effects.