I found the mechanics pretty simple to work with. Not sure what peeps why peeps are complaining about the game. big fish eats little fish, rinse repeat.
when you get to the viral stages just make sure you are larger than the other microbes regardless of infection and consume your way to victory.
using the [ shift ] key transports your party to the character your controlling which helps with pathing. also you can put your party on inactive and use one character to bait single or smaller groups of monsters if you're worried about getting swarmed. make sure you switch back to active before attacking.
Thanks for the suggestions, let me see if we can make something happen