Wow, Thanks for the long feedback.
I was painfully aware of those unclear indications, and there are more than you had written here, just a really unfinished aspect of the Jam game xD
The dash was intentional; you had 4 frames to execute a chained dash; if you press too soon or too late, it becomes a normal dash.
Not having clear indications is just my skill issues. The alter fire you need to hold to shoot. The saw blade had a cooldown and could only shoot 1.
I was prioritizing QA and fixing a lot of bugs that cost me more time than I wanted.
I would need to make it clearer about "your sawblade", but I really understand the feeling where you get stuck and find out the mechanic you. I think I just captured the AHA moment here, but not really.