At its core, this game is taken straight from old school pen and paper RPG's where your basic party was a Fighter, Rogue, Cleric, and Wizard.
In old school D&D the wizards ability to do damage and lockdown enemies was rather constrained due to the huge saves (for the smart player magic was still a win button, but not through straightforward effects which act directly on the opponents).
When you put a ranged AoE caster on even damage footing with a melee, give him a large hp pool (compared to AD&D) and allow him to lockdown enemies with ease balance goes out the window.
I'd say the game as it stands is more like 3e D&D than old school
