Thanks for the feedback. As for picking your units at the start, I just wanted to try something different where they get unlocked in more of a long term progression system similar to a cardgame or gacha and the in game progression revolves around items. However as soon as I started playtesting it I realized it just wasn't as fun, so yeah that aspect is probably getting scrapped. To be honest the only reason it's even like that now is I didn't have time to redo it before DD.
Note taken in terms of the status effects being too complex, I originally had the mechanics more spread out between characters and it seems that was probably the better option.
As for AI, it was partly for fast prototyping, partly to see what it's capable of. Even though I think a lot of the images look great on their own, it just doesn't come together. Felt really hard to create any style or direction, on the other hand I have almost 0 actual art experience. Either way a more finished version would definitely have character specific animations (and sound) .