Thanks for the feedback, appreciate you trying out the game.
The playtest will be on-going perpetually and changes will be made based on feedback like yours. Admittedly, there is no tutorial at all and it may be challenging for new players. Personally, I prefer games without in-game tutorials like those in the 1980s, 1990s -- the exploration is part of the fun too. So I decided to experiment with the tutorial omitted to see how far I can push.
Unfortunately as a solo dev with no art skills, love alone is not enough to attract artists to work with me on a project that has no guarantee of succeeding. If this project makes money, I will definitely hire artist to not only replace the AI portraits, but also create cut scenes for the storyline campaign.