I think the attack animation is too slow, the game does not feel much reactive. You can see that on this type of games (Hollow Night, Cuphead or Fury), attacks are fast, and you can chain them quickly. Same for the shield animation, there's some time before the shield is shielding you (what I called the "parry").
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I get it, the attacks are really slow. Because I don't want the boss to die easily, and to make this game a slow-paced game where you have to rethink your actions. But for the parry? There is no shield animation in this game, nor is the a parry; it is like an instant change to the shield state. How can it be slow, or is it a feeling? I really want to know so I can implement it.