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The game has grown a lot from where we started. We are currently transitioning from a faster paced game focused on the combat, to adding more RPG elements. Our next update, which should be before the end of the month, will be reworking the towns to include a new UI and the start of more to do there. We have some ideas on allowing item use between battles. In the next update you will be able to open the inventory at any time you are not in combat, or during certain events, but the use of items from that screen is not ready.
The inventory has filters and sorting of your bag, to help with finding the items you want. We plan to refine these in the future. One of the main things being added to the towns in the future are ways to clear out your inventory, such as by sending excess items back to your clan as food for your main quest. We are also working on how we want to implement the shops and the potential for selling items.
The loot assignment is a core part of the strategy for the game. Picking who gets which items that they can best use, and that are best for the enemies they are currently fighting, not too mention personal play style, will affect the way the game feels. We are thinking on some options for auto-moving items to personal bags, but it would be based on what the player chooses. The items the Slimes consume are going to be getting additional gameplay effects as things progress, including more influence on each Slime's special abilities.
We plan to redo the tutorial once some new systems are in place. We are thinking on how best to communicate all the info, but not be too wordy. We liked the idea of training before leaving (I was thinking of Final Fantasy 3/6 with the building of instructors), but it is not working well, so we are discussing ideas on how to split it out and make it still fit into the story. I am thinking of having prompts asking if you want details on different parts, rather than all of it at once, and seeing what can be moved to later in the story.
We just recently swapped the art over to our own art, with just basics to start. We are working on polishing it up now, and adding additional accessories and little details to make each character more distinct.
The combat will be re-balanced as we play through, and we do plan to have difficulty settings in the final version, including a very easy "Story Mode". We enjoy classic JRPGs from NES through early PS1 era, and are taking some inspiration from them as we add more RPG elements. In the future we plan to do a full JRPG, but settled on this style as a bit simpler and quicker to make than a full world to explore.
The game is also meant to have saving, but that is currently disabled until it can be updated for all the new features we've added.