LIGHTNINGLORD2'S PROFILE

Alright, we remake terrible games now? Here's what I'd do with Lord of Xulima:

-Change Gaulen's walk speed to about 2-3 times of what it is now.
-Ditch the explorer class and let Gaulen have any class he wants. He still has a fixed diety.
-Upscale the numbers a bit so the combat values and weapon skill usage can raise damage rather than hit rate and also allow both the players and the monsters to take more hits.
-Every attack is 100% accurate.
-Remove level-based damage and ailment resistance and give everyone ailment defense stats.
-Drop out of combat skills into a seperate category from combat skills.
-Every class can only learn certain battle skills and combat talents, but every out-of-combat skill.
-You can switch your skill point investment at any time outside of combat without cost.
-Remove the food mechanic as it doesn't add anything meaningful as the food is easily restocked and only barely limits a broken out of combat heal.
-To keep the tension of wandering far out, random encounter zones still give enemies when cleared and overworld enemies can respawn - those respawned enemies provide no experience points (but you do get money)
-Completely redesign player and enemy skills from scratch to keep combat from being just a DPS race.
-You can no longer heal out of combat other than going back to a healing station. Reviving downed members requires paying a different NPC.
-Bashing open a chest will destroy all content but the money.
-Bashing open a door will trigger a battle while after you're dealt damage.
-Wounding decreases damage dealt and makes your skills cost more PP to compensate for the lack of misses.
-There won't be anything in the game that alters XP yield.
-Zones have low-leveled early areas and grow in levels fast as you progress, encouraging exploration while maintaining the feel of going back later OR challenging the high level zones with a highly specialized party and strong skill.
-Strength will increase damage of all weapons and lets you equip stronger weapons and armor.
-Dexterity increases the ailment infliction and lets you use stronger items.
-Speed determines how many turns you get. You can't allocate stat points from level ups into speed.
-Vitality increases HP and ailment defense.
-Energy increases damage from spells and items, increases healing of any kind and raises maximum PP.

That's a lot and I can certainly think of more about how to fix the game.

How about each of the craters drop unique collectables that can be crafted to better equipment? Equipment is the best way to strengthen the player by progressing. If you can't make a crafting system (or don't want one), have the enemies drop the equipment directly.

Also, I like the random items in chests, which could work with the above - but don't encourage savescumming by having a rare item that's better than the other. You could keep the items in chests balanced by making them have different equip types each - a desert chest, for instance, could have a Scarab Armor, a Sun Staff, a Sandstorm Blade and a Golden Pharao Shield.

While you can make combat deterministic with a timed hit or an input combo, this wasn't exactly what I was looking for. Very few games that are highly strategic attempt a deterministic approach.

Critical hits could be done by hitting an enemy under a certain state, which would make it predictable and allows counterplay (depending on how to inflict this one state). My games don't have any default attacks that miss on their own, making the player rely on things other than trying to force a miss/hit. I know the first Pokémon games added a 25% accuracy penalty for status moves used by the opponent.

Blame shifting seems a poor excuse for luck-based games - whether the player hates you or the RNG, he doesn't want to play your game either way.

I won't say the fighter will be weak, but he might be a little bland to play. The problem with non-casters often is that they don't have any abilities the casters don't (though they do tend to have solid damage with their regular attack).