I've done some rpg work. My latest was for the Dungeon Crawlers 2022 game jam. It used my Bt Builder engine which is an open source implementation of the Bard's Tale Construction Set. It works but it not exactly nice to use. The combat system comes from the original. For Color Monsters and OpenGameArt Movie Video Game, I designed the combat systems but they are both bad. In OpenGameArt Movie Video Game, I even disabled it before putting the prototype here. I totally underestimated the time needed to make that game.
I'm afraid I go in the opposite direction as you. The combats should be fun but I'm most interested in the story. I recently played Danger Crew. Most of the time the combats were not a challenge which made me really enjoy the game.