Awesome! Managed to get it working for the less "pure" route in GT haha. As for your hopes of making an standout explicit game on par with your Japanese inspirations, I feel like a bit of a broken record, but personally I think you're totally killing it and look forward to what is coming next :). Out of curiosity, have you thought about potentially updating the Data Crystal so that it carries over unique skills/key items earned in previous chapters as well as maybe levels for further immersion?
Aw, well thanks! Good to hear.
As far as adding more, it's important to manage scope on these things. A lot of stuff isn't carried over by design, because it makes balance and managing various things overcomplicated. I decided on 3, for example, to just stop scaling Mezz's level every game because the games aren't really ABOUT that and balance rapidly becomes over-complicated. I'll also usually have a particular special skill, and battlesex mechanics for each given game, and not carry them over so each has room to breathe on its own.