The point of using those customized assets was just that I hate the way RTP looks, and the only sideview sprites I have have RTP faces, so RIP frontview it is 😔
Overall, a lot of this is just time constraints. I was essentially relearning 70% of how to use MV at all with a 5-day deadline while I was already injured. The game itself was made in about 2 and a half days. Things like the tacked-on skills were just because I knew the battle system was difficult, but I couldn't balance it without taking some trial and error time, so I just slapped on skills that would speed up the process. Same with the tiers being walkable; because I drew a map that relied on being able to walk on those tiles, it was just faster to make it possible to walk on than redraw an entire 3rd of the map from scratch. I had NO time.
It's actually interesting to see how much "no time; apply the most superficial version of my idea" looks just like "idea unfulfilled" from a player's point of view. There's obvious problems I have to really focus on and remember when making a new game, but also stuff that I would never do if I had even a tiny bit more freedom. It's good for mindfulness, especially the need to make cuts rather than leave in unfinished stuff.