This scene is essentially meant as a tutorial much like that, yes! I'm not sure whether to make it super fourth-wall-breaking right from the start (or at all really), but we'll see how it goes!

I'd love for there to be seamless transitions between the field and this, but annoyingly the layout is so drastically different between them (a generated grid of tiles vs a fixed circular diorama model floating in a void) that it wouldn't be possible! I wondered whether to have all conversations switch to the battle arena instead of appearing at the bottom of the screen... though maybe that'd just feel weird and disruptive so I probably won't.

I like that the expressions read well enough for you to have made accurate inferences about their mental states! And that's a good idea for Pierce's weapon which I think I will steal! Or maybe I could use it as a chance to introduce his comically pathetic side by having him say something about how it's his only friend? That's an angle I can experiment with!