Those are not bad ideas.
What I do not like about the game is the possibility of choosing which gems you want to get first.
To me this makes the game repetitive because I would try to work and practice on a specific gem and try to build a strategy.
It takes all the randomness of the game away, because the only way to build a strategy is by practicing to see if it works.
Now the game adds to layers to it, gem selection and gem placement.
This means that someone more experienced, will find shortcuts or better strategies = boring and unfair. It is like knowing the answers before taking a exam.
Modes should be random, not selectable.
This will make each play different! fought in random orders and not in an order that can be selected by the player= random, fair and fun
I think the only input should give is the gem location, and that is already excessive.
Everything else is too much. The game is overly complicated and its repetitiveness in search of a ‘strategy’ is something I am not interested in when I play pinball.
The game needs more randomness in my opinion. It tries too hard to be a ‘make your own adventure’ but it actually backgires making it very repetitive and predictable.
Get 2 gems, get soul gem, defend gem, rinse and repeat.
At the moment it is my least played pin and I only have 2. I find Stranger Things to be leaps and bounds more fun.
I will probably put it on the chopping board soon if the next Stern is a title I like.