Hahaha, I came back with that new knowledge in hand and the game is so much more fun! Like genuinely awesome. I loved the different bosses, the puns and even the once slow encounters. There was still time that I was just waiting for something to do, but it wasn't a huge deal. I loved when I arrived at the final boss, and after heaps of pushovers, they beat one of my dudes in one hit. Awesome stuff, not sure that you intended that, but it was a great way of saying they mean business. Then the ending... Nice.
Sorry bout the misunderstanding with the mechanics, the extra slots in the party definitely needs to be more obvious, and once I knew, the game was a blast!