I started playing some more, and wanted to share some of my more notable thoughts. for context, i just got into "LvCh4Labs" and into the digital space:
- how long do stat changes last?? this is a big one for me, because my lead is a buff/debuff heavy one (maya) and so having next to no indication how much vigor/belly drum buffs, how long it lasts, if they stack, etc. is really frustrating. same with status conditions: you don't know how long stun/fear/etc lasts until you're about to attack a target.
- The balloon creature seems kinda useless in a fight? he can amp his speed and heal some statuses, which was useful for exactly one battle, but can't do much of what you'd want a support to do besides curing ailments. no heals, no buffs, no debuffs, just... sitting there and doing jack for damage. i really wanted to make them work, but i gave up on them after a while.
- what do the flash items do, and why are they character(?) locked? reveal evil? what does that mean in this context?
-the game menu stops responding for a second while an attack is going off. this was annoying at first but otherwise fine, but it became actively detrimental during fights with a really fast opponent, because i couldn't tell if i was safe in a menu or not; you need to pick a ready character first in order to freeze time, and while they do flash (once) to indicate ready status, i'm not looking there; i'm looking at the health bars on the bottom or the menu on the other end. i ended up resorting to opening the skills menu just to see who i was attacking with at a given time.
- does the gas mask actually work?? it says it prevents poison, and poison is brutal if you're playing solo (which i did, on occasion), and yet i seem to get this condition where i lose hp on every attack, ally or enemy? dunno what's causing it, if i'm causing it or an enemy is, because the move descriptions sometimes aren't helpful and there's again, no feedback on what i'm inflicted with besides a sprite change indicating something is wrong.
- the chest double check is... kinda silly, imo. most people won't look twice in these chests, and it's lead to at least one moment where i open a chest, forget to look again, and have to walk back just for it to be blank. just... give me the items the first time? it's a funny idea in theory but tedious in practice.
- this one's a personal gripe, but Aroma is barely a cameo because she doesn't even have a portrait, just a line stating she's Aroma. :( (also you can walk forward into the door after shopping fsr)
These are all the thoughts i have about the gameplay so far, (not to mention stuff like the music, with which my only gripe with that is the regular battle theme is slightly lacking). The characters are actually quite endearing and they all feel mostly distinct, while still having their own niches (buffs, debuffs, support, mage, dps, tank)
I know this game isn't being worked on at all, but i hope some of these points will be considered for the sequel and onwards.