Wow, I did not expect it to be as long as it seems to be! Pretty charming from what I've played so far. I take it this is just going to stay a Jam game and not get expanded later?
IMO Carol/Captain sending the player East to do something would've probably allowed the player to more' naturally' level up enough to fight the first boss at the comm tower without intentionally grinding. The progression feels much more natural afterwards, though.
Not fan of the bomber enemy type. I know it's a common RPG trope, but I've never found them fun to deal with.
Not sure if it happens later, but it would've been nice if you could change your respawn point to the city if you helped an NPC with a quest.