Thank you for the in-depth review :)
Initially you were not able to change class, that's why it feels less integrated with the other systems. I think the most important part is that all of the classes feels different so replaying stuff is fun
The encumbrance issue you had is prob due to unequipping something that allowed you to equip something else. You can cheese some stuff by doing this, but it's a pretty minor issue imo
Thanks for playing, glad you had fun ^^