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(edited for typos and clarity)

Wow, already an update! Appreciate your response to my previous write up, and all the improvements made for 3.1. 

I gave it another go, followed my hunch and went for 'modern' encounters and it was a much smoother experience. Got back to the Colosseum and managed to fight Bunyan this time. Look forward to finally riding the Great Bird later on, and trying out the other carpenter(s). 

Bugs:

• I'm 'certain' I selected 'save anywhere/anytime', but I currently can only manually save at certain dragon shrines (the first ones in each town). No overworld save, so autosave is  a key feature to keep enabled. 
• Slides/Eye Goos in first hunting zone will put both characters to sleep and soft-lock the game if you've purchased equipment upgrades as they cannot damage/connect attacks and Bow/Ryu will be stuck asleep. No biggie. 
• Bunyan really likes to oil his axe! His AI fight pattern repeatedly added to his max total HP pool, while my Ryu chipped away at leisure. 
  
• Lots of homes in 'Hometown' have tenants upstairs that keep you from going up there. Given these people are named, is there an event flag that allows access? Does getting caught/thrown out by guards have any consequence?

Balance:

• There's so much loot in the first town (all towns, really), a couple Yum-yums  and you've got 10,000 zenny at hand and you'll never worry for money. I love the identify-loot feature, especially for the game in its current state. What if some of the high-value items (Yum-yums) stayed loot exclusive, could not be purchased, and had a sellable value of... 1 zenny?  Treating a lot of loot this way, I think,  would help to manage the economic progression. 
• I notice that consumables and crafting/ingredients all go together in the same [items] section. Is there any value in separating these? It would help at least for quick access to the items you wanted, given the different circumstances.
• Bow, or 'Autocross-Bow' - carries the early game against mobs so much that I forgot he had other abilities. 

Spoilers on mid-point character story arcs and possible end-game character arcs as speculative feedback on the exciting ways you are expanding on it, acknowledging I haven't made it to the end yet.  

Really interested to hear your explanation on Jean and Nimfu*/Mixie, the think the toxicity between these characters could work really well as an expanded concept, rather than something to reject by creating the 'healthy-mature' alternative relationship through Mixie. Certainly this conversation between us has kind of redeemed a portion of the game I used to dread and get stuck at. 

• I think the 'toxicity' Jean and Nimfu's OG relationship plays into the thematic presentation of Jean.  Going off of memory here (and having a really 'charitable' interpretation on the depth of SNES era JRPG morality) Nimfu has gained power, but it has corrupted her through her use of it, leaving her feeling empty, isolated, and depressed. She's kind of like how I imagine Bleu/Dies  might have been when she was a young teen/endless (or even a young Tyr/Miria!) -  a little lost and kind of finding herself (thinking a bit of how Dies' male harem in BoF4 is a bit similar to Nimfu's boy-toy statue collection).  She's Nimfu --> Nympho, afterall - and those below are her playthings.  Jean has inherited power, but lacks desire/ambition to wield it,  embracing instead a simple carefree live.  For Nimfu, maybe that's part of her curiosity/toxicity towards him (Jean has power,  but doesn't use power in a way she understands? "Jean says he likes me, but doesn't 'conquer me', treats me like a princess, but I'm not one. He must be lying to me - so I'll curse him"). They're both living in their own heads, hence the toxicity. You could have Nimfu join at the Cat Cafe as a special dialogue option (instead of Mixie) - and then her journey is trying to learn self-acceptance from Jean, and learn from the team about 'the purpose of power' (perhaps Dies takes on a protege, and Nimfu/Nina clash due to their differing pursuits towards power). Maybe its more satirical than that, Nimfu simply accepts Jean's Quixotic attempt to  place her on a pedestal and be his damsel in distress?  

• With Jean, what seems central to his 16-bit arc is that - he comes from royal privilege, is thus afforded the luxury of naivety and pursuit of artistic passion - but it comes at a cost. He (according to his sister Petape) is living in an irresponsible and unsustainable bubble. There will be rivals, and he has responsibilities to his people that he cannot abdicate.  When Jean2.0 comes along, he's a sort of a darwinian threat that proves the importance of the responsibility to protect that comes with power, otherwise it will be taken from you by those who want it more. In terms of demons in BoF2, I'm maybe reaching  a bit in thinking that Jean2.0  appeals to the deadly sin of Envy? Our Jean cooks and paints for his and others' pleasure, gives away royal signets to appease a melodramatic witch. Hell, Jean proves happy give his name and kingdom away if it means everyone (mainly his sister) would just mellow-out.  Alternatively, Jean2.0 sees cooking and rings as tools to hold power over others: 'Might is Right'. 2.0 would destroy the kingdom, rather than share it. While Petape tries to get Jean to 'step up' and stop being such a trust-fund baby, in trying to help Jean to 'act the prince', she instead proves herself to be the right person to lead Simafort. So Jean doesn't really save the kingdom - his sister and friends do. Does Jean going with our 'troupe' act as a sort of redemption towards becoming a better protector/leader in the world? ...or is he forever happy-go-lucky? It would seem that he does show a level of self-awareness when spoken to nearing the endgame during the Infinity guest. I can't remember if there's much else to his Township dialogue. I guess what I'm saying is that Jean and Nimfu are already rich characters, their toxicity can help them both grow as characters, and you can easily build off these conflicts.  
• In party dialogue - Jean is still be the highborn adventurer you've presented, but one that Katt, Bow and Sten help to keep focused and his naivety in check. He has all the gentlemen skills, but now he has to use and refine them for the real world, developing maturity (the cross-party banter of fencing skills between Bow, Katt, and Sten fit into this - Jean has the 'grace', but demons don't care for the rules and everything is a fight for survival: might is right). He has to learn to become a knight so that he can protect his sister and kingdom but he's awkward and a bit of a Don Quixote? Maybe he keeps trying to treat Bow as his reluctant Sancho Panza side-kick? His dynamic with Nina also has a lot of potential - as she continues to choose duty to her kingdom, despite flat out rejection from that kingdom. At any rate, I'm having too much fun here, and probably twisting  your own creative vision too much. 

While that's my interpretation of Jean's character, and I'm just happy to see someone pick this game/story up, and have a bit of fun with it all these many years later. 

Again, I love that you've given each character a sort of flaw to work through in their cross-party dialogue. Seeing I haven't finished the game, I don't really know what value any of the below offers, but the notion that you haven't finished the story got me excited in thinking 'what could be' for these characters. 

• Sten suffering from PSTD, using alcohol to cope?  In the original game, he had potential as the shameless womaniser as well. Again, really interested to see how Highfort becomes a plot point and your cross-party dialogue features him nicely so far when it comes to Highland tech vs Magic.
• Rand as the superstitious/pious farmer. Does he have a crisis of conservative tradition that resulted in leaving home? I didn't get that far in your story. He was definitely chasing the excitement of the city in the original - Colosseums and Pubs tend to be dens of sin, how would he explain that to his mother, Daisy?  I wonder if Sten (faithless/broken) and Rand (wrestling with his faith) learn from one another?
• Bow as a wannabe Don Juan (but cut from the wrong cloth and lacking social grace?). He put Ryu on the line in the first part of the game - does he carry any guilt, or mature as a consequence? If he's always chasing the next thrill (unavailable women, big heists) - Aspara is a good grounding friend for him. 
• Katt's search for family and those she can trust? You explored this well with the Tiga scene (love vs pragmatism). 
• Nina's learning to embrace vulnerability? Become comfortable in her own shell, not being defined by a curse? Do either Katt or Deis offer her anything for her growth?
• Aspara - a force of nature, but struggles to connect with life and the living on a deeper emotive level? 
• So much you can do with Yua - but I didn't make it far enough to see what you had in store for her and Ryu. It seems like your building morality system could involve her in a significant way later. Are Light/Dark Dragons born, or do they become one or the other later (explaining the schism in BoF1)?
• Barubary was an enigma in the original game - I really like how it seems like you're developing his character further (I presume there is a reason he appears 'miniature' at the start of the game?)

Thanks again!