Looks great Cash, good luck!
I think you can disable ZREAD or ZWRITE on an alpha transparent particle to get it looking better, try them both. I'm sure my particles are fine after adding that - I could post up the particle initiate stuff I use, seems very good for alpha transparency.
As for viewpoint, well if you can fix the particles and stuff, I think it would be great to have a few modes, like a top down, maybe top down with a narrow FOV and a slight angle - Auxiliary view is more like the more recent Ultima games. Isometric as well, but true isometric really has to involve that FOV hack, but it is possible to say, recreate Marble Madness quite easily this way. To get perfect 2D style 3D, you have to narrow that FOV and take about a thousand steps back. But my point is that when it comes to adventure games, people should be able to play them in whatever mode they like, 3rd person, first person, Auxiliary, Isometric, top down - whatever works for the game. That's how people fall in love with these games, because it fulfills just one of their wishes, like having that old 45 degree top down view of the classic Ultima game, but in a 3D engine.
