Whew! Had a moment to beat the game! There are definitely some issues jam-wise. I only figured out that some slots were exclusive at the fourth gem, so I wasted a ton of resources trying to beef up some characters with armor, only to be confused by why their slots were still empty. Also I really wanted to play lots of characters, but I felt too invested in my 5 person team after they already leveled up their skills and normal levels, so I was pretty much locked into the first random 5 characters. Also of course overwhelming amounts of skills. Since battles were a drain on resources and healing was free, I just always trekked back to the free healing spots, which wasn't very exciting.
I did find the battles really enjoyable, and I didn't have the capacity to come up with a coherent strategy, but getting crits with my targeted skills was satisfying, as were all the buffs I could use to power up and tank up my crew. I think I was lucky with the Oldhar battle and came in with just the right abilities and items - some aoe barriers and plenty of full party heals. This pulled me through despite him one shotting many team members.
Aside from the opening scenes and the ending ones, there wasn't much real story, but there's something just so enjoyable about the expansion into the wider RM universe, above and beyond the Haroldverse. It's almost like a cultural satisfaction to recognize these characters (and also want to get to know a few) that are probably meaningless to nearly every living human being on earth.
It's great to see the HBW storyline continue and I'm excited for what next year has in store! TBA!!!!!