Let's see... Out of all the things I pointed out, I'd have to say the most important thing would be to give Bearclaw some more presence in the story. Make him react to NPCs, give him some more opinions of Lance and Martin's personalities and goals, etc.
Honestly, it's a toss up between that and revamp the battles to make them interesting. I'm the type of guy that can forgive a lot of gameplay issues as long as the story is interesting, so that's why I went with Bearclaw's presence.