i wonder if the size of the flesh zone could be the reason for no day one reports, the thing is huge after all. as for the boss not harmfull but a small oddity seems if you somehow deal enough damage to them in phase 2 before the cover effect kicks in they stay alive with 0 hp. as for how i was able to do this... sorry it was sheer luck. got a question what will we be doing with the rescured rena after the fight? i dont think this system could do partymembers well... at least not in the standard format people are used to anyway.
its meant to be kept alive until phase 3, the boss is unkillable until then specifically in case something like that happens.
and uhhhh iono.
definitely not basic party members, no. MAYBE you can bring them into specific places or they try to help sometimes or i make a town for them to do stuff, perhaps some secret events with some hidden items or a relationship thing, or pretty much nothing.
its up in the air
would be neat to bring them along as an assist of somesort... maybe they could count as a buff that does a random action from a set list? or a striker/summon? i've actually seen that last one done rather interestingly in annother game called slave girls rising where a temp party member would drop in and do an action then drop out during one segment of the game. either way even if its just a town or nothing it can still add to the story in the form of potental plot points. looking forward to how this shapes out trap.