Onomotopoeia

The easier option may be in the troop event; some of the troop event controls may need a little explaining, though.

Also, I just downloaded and played your sample; I didn't really find anything quite so "cringe-worthy" in the narrative. Well, it was a bit odd, after escaping, to have your traveling companion try to tell you about "that's where babies come from" or something; but that might just be that it feels to me like an out-of-place joke. Actually, in the very first bit, if you are trying to give the impression of a character waking up after some head trauma, it may be better to event or script in some scene-shake, kind of like some SNES Mode-7 effects I haven't really seen since SNES was a major thing. And head trauma does not disappear immediately after waking up, so, scene-shakes at random times (for maybe the first few rooms) to give the impression of potential lingering injury; match this up to the companion's increasingly-worried reaction speech, and you may have your player likewise feeling concern for the player. Remember, it's not necessarily about what is literally said, but about how the opening scene is presented to the player, that will make-or-break a good game.

Some very interesting and valuable bits of advice in this thread. But. I have one meta-advice that may tie everything together, in a simpler manner: The best characters imitate or exemplify real-life people. People are people. Regardless of age, sex, race or nationality, whatever distinction you choose to make your character(s), no matter how "alien" they appear to us, the REAL reason for making a story is to showcase some aspect of our own selves, our own humanity, -- and therefore, how characters act and react should likely be not all that different from yourself and the people around you. That's really just it. Do some of what I call "people-watching", merely being observational (without becoming rude with a perpetual stare). It's like bird-watching, except you are noticing the people around you: older, younger, male, female, whatever. (Actually, everyone alive does this, to some extent; but now you have a reason to be silently watching others and wondering the how and why of who they are...) And then, write the story and dialog. -- I had a half-remembered quote from Mark Twain about writing characters, or was it another writer of that same era?, but ... dang it I cannot find the citation again....

This has been a rather interesting question I haven't really dug too deep into, if not for my own current development projects, at least then for other games I've played, where formations are a thing. I do know that in the case of Suikoden II, formation was generally simple, as in, 2 rows of 3 positions each, for a maximum of 6 party characters (plus, 2 extra characters for special events, but that doesn't count for formation). You can put short-ranged/weapon'd fighters in front, long-range attackers and healers in back, but there were also medium-ranged characters that could go either front or back. The short-ranged ones would not be able to do anything in their turn, if they ended up in a back-row position. So, for that, it was straightforward -- except in my case, I didn't really think of them in terms of "tank", "healer", or whatever, I only look for an 'S', 'M', or 'L' as the need may be. Not having actually finished an RM game yet, or even come to the point of battle systems, I guess that formation is entirely dependent upon the situation and/or game. For example, in the typical "medieval fantasy" that RM is based in, formation would be almost intensely important. But if I were to create an RM scifi-themed game where combat positions were not attacks from the characters, but rather the result of characters manning key ship systems, then formation isn't so important to me, because I'd probably jury-rig a battle layout showing both opponents and party characters at their ship stations -- or, would my "battle layout" be equivalent of a "formation"? It's questions like that, which would keep me awake all night. (As if I didn't already have enough to think about.)

I recall the YouTube channel Extra Credits did an episode about the above general topic, quite recently. If you haven't yet seen it, it would be an interesting video to watch. However, for the flip side of the coin, they also have done videos about the positives of gaming, games that make the player think about consequences, and about the inner choices. I really LOVE the Extra Credits team for their videos, because they really "take on" many of the gamers' issues, even if it's only to provide a conversation starting point for some things that have gone unsaid. Again, if you haven't already. Highly recommended to watch their videos.

http://admiralthornton.deviantart.com/ <-- Nevermind the actual channel name; it's a reference from a sci-fi novel main character I've been writing since ... eh, the early nineties, or thereabouts.... I don't have much; I've just tinkered a bit with Blender 3d and even some with Minecraft modding

That seems like an unnecessary nuisance. Should we debuff our own party to maximize healing? Why would the recipient try to resist a healing spell in the first place? I think the solution to the boring healer problem is to go back to pen and paper DnD. I don't know what clerics are like in modern DnD, but back in the day, they were badass. They had a wide variety of spells besides healing, could wear heavy armor and tank almost as well as the fighter, and could mess up undead seven ways from Sunday with a stern look. JRPGs need more healers like that, and less sissy girls with sticks who can't do anything but heal. Give them something else they can do. As for healing mechanics, I'd rather just have a single healing spell that scales with the caster's magic power or level, and a second one that targets the whole party with a lower multiplier. Tiered spells never really made sense to me and don't seem to serve any purpose except to pad out the number of spells in the game. Why would the person try to resist the healers magic? Well, from a realistic view, if they were naturally resistant to magic, then it would make sense for them to be naturally resistant to all magic including the healing arts. And I must agree with DnD healing tanks, more like medics that are fully weaponized rather than the stereotypical healer... Reminds me of an army Chaplain I met a while back who had the option (as a chaplain) to be noncombatant unit but instead used a heavy assault weapon. Well, first I must preface this with "No, I don't believe in Magic", because in my personal beliefs it is demonic. But if you are going to use magic in a game sense, for healing or for damage, then the premise seems to be that the magic used is on the magical effectiveness of the player. Characters and enemies have a magic defense stat, which means there is an inherent resistance itself to external magic. And this is where my argument is: It does not matter whether the character is in your own party or that of an opponent party -- magic for healing or magic for damage is a penetrative, almost rape-like forcing of the source's magical properties, that the target body has or must have resistance to. No difference, other than whether the result is supplemental "healing" or combative "damage". Therefore, the resistance of the target MUST be a part of healing as well as damage. (But I digress; I don't believe in magic for real -- I only "put up with it" in the games I play.)

And, if you REALLY wanted to extend it, why not take into account the healed one's magic and magic-defense stats? The higher the recipient's magic, the higher the amount to be healed; the higher the magic defense, the higher the "obstruction" to an outside magic, healing or not.

This looks to be incredibly useful, thus the favorite and the follow-thread.

I agree with @When Bugs Roam Ur House because I don't like swearing IRL or IG either. It's a DRASTIC turnoff, for me. Kilravok may contradict this, but I most certainly do believe swearing is a "modern disease" -- I grew up with the saying, that any time you see someone swearing, imaging putrid festering fish-guts spewing from their mouth. (Come to think of it, I cannot stand fish either, and this may be the source of my disgust, as well.......... ya think?) Edit. It's also hard to "correct" other people on their use of foul language and get the results we expect. I know for example that I've partially enjoyed some of Indrah's game reviews, and I know that they would certainly be a bit more enjoyable without so many of those "blue words"; it certainly does get a bit un-listenable with every-other-word a swear-word. Not that I'll tell her this.