Hey, thanks a lot for the kind words and the suggestions. I highly appreciate both, so don't worry about coming off as condescending.
Some of the things you mentioned are planned for the future, like switching character positions (as soon as a fourth fighter joins the fray, though Gina will mostly remain in the middle) and more skills for the characters are of course planned. Also changing the third boss to survive a round of numbers would actually be easy. Might change it or use the concept for another boss, so thanks for that 😁
Some of the limited aspects are intentional though, like Stella being a glass cannon with the highest single-target damage, thus relying on protection of some kind (tug assassins away, tug archers to her side, pocket sand, summoning gnome, Gina's help with block breaking enemies on her flank or simply feed her the healing potions). Admittingly, none of these options are as good as the protection the proper bruisers have, but that is the fate of a damage dealer. My design philosophy was limiting options, therefore forcing the players to make the best of a situation that not always has the ideal answer (for example Akari can skip an attack through Battojutsu, Gina can flank but lose damage, etc.).
Thanks again for the compliment on the writing. We did have a vote about Xici's fate on Patreon in the past, so our little gremlin may yet get her chance at redemption and make up with Jade and the Greatarms. It was a wish shared by the majority of patrons and aligns nicely with our story concept.
As for Tanya... you're right on that one. She doesn't even know the meaning of honour or gratitude, but she seems to be loyal. I'm just gonna say that we have some fun plans for her and Susan already.
I completely missed Stella being a glass cannon type of character, it makes a lots of sense. It also fits very nicely with the narrative since Gina and Akary train in martial arts while she doesn't, obviously she wouldn't be as good at defending from enemy attacks.
I was probably blinded by my distaste for high damage-low precision attack and played her in a mostly support role, putting the foe with the least attack output in front of her to minimize the damage she received while using Tug of War intesively for formation manipulation. Often that meant placing an archer in front of her, that she had issues hitting because of the skill difference.
Maybe a more aggressive style, using her to quicky dispatch of high health and low skill enemies, would prove to be more effective. I'll keep it in mind for the next playthrough.
Also, I noticed something suspicious: Gina can use magic and has an evil fighting alter ego and she is aided by a sharply dressed young man that arrives from nowhere, gives a few words of encouragment and disappears without actually doing nothing.
If Xici becomes the antagonistic foil to Gina that undergoes a change of heart and becomes an ally would be the last proof to my scandalous theory: Gina's Gym is actually a Magical Girl Anime in disguise!
I definitely didn't watch an excessive amount of Sailor Moon in my childhood! No magical girls here... and Gina can't even use magic properly, only summon spirits... sooo...
A Magical Girl anime, but them transforming also means getting big muscles, now that is something I would watch. 😋
Also, while Stella can deal excessive amounts of damage once her flank is cleared, using her skills defensively was always meant to be a viable approach too. So I think you didn't do anything wrong there 😉