Hi, thanks for the feedback! Really good stuff here!
You are right that it's harder than intended - unfortunately the submission is locked from updates atm, so the workaround is level-up at the cheat crystal before you start your adventure. This is noted at the top of the game's description page, but sadly it seems like most folks miss that note and just play on hard mode. For context, The party feels balanced around level 6+ entering the tower, but you start at level 3. My bad XD
It's worth observing that nearly every stat/formula in the combat system was tweaked a bit, almost nothing runs on the "default RPG maker" formulas. Details are in the game design document if curious - part of why that document is so dang long! This includes the default hit/evasion calculation you refer to, Which is not in use in this game. Cause yep, it sucked, so I changed it to be a single combined dice roll rather than 2 separate rolls the default uses. However, both %'s scale a little bit with primary stats - So if under levelled facing a strong enemy, you will miss more and dodge less. I believe that's what you experienced.
To answer the question; This is demo v0.0.1! The very first iteration. The "level 1-3 Story so far" is just a raw copy paste from my rough draft notes at the last minute. So, I wouldn't focus too much feedback on the story at this time - This is very much a mechanical and systems test. Think more "PTR for MMORPG balance testing", and less "Demo on steam trying to hook you into buying". Luckily, you gave some great mechanical feedback too :)
As for an actual tutorial/opening cutscene, that is one of the very last things added to a game of this scale. The reason is that it needs to be informed by everything that comes after -- To design it now would mean redesigning it a hundred times before the project is complete. Doing it later means it will benefit from all the lessons I learn making the rest of the game, and the first level will be the BEST level. This is advice from other published game makers, so I'll be sticking to it.
But that leaves us a problem... I totally agree with your feedback about getting lost (I watched another streamer in the other game jam do the same thing!) So.. The Playtest NPC will learn some new tricks for next time to be a better guide for playtesters, rather than being a wall of text machine as he is now :) It was his job to make sure players knew where to go and what to do, and it seems like he sucked at it.
Thanks much for the detailed feedback and for spending time in Asqueria. Hope we'll see you again in the next version!