Hi there,
Thanks a bunch for all the feedback! It helps to hear what people like and dislike.
The "shoot to move" mechanic is by far the most contentious issue people have with the game. Some people really like it, and others really really dislike it. For the time being, we're planning to keep this mechanic since our target is mobile devices, and we like this control scheme on mobile. If we decide to move to PC or console, we'll definitely have to reconsider.
On that note, I do like the fact that shoot-to-move has a decision making balance where you're incentivized to select a variety of movement, damage, and utility items. I want to try and play up this decision making process by giving the player more foresight as to what the coming level will be like. On the other hand, the shoot-to-move design does mean that I have to carefully balance the weapons to make sure that none are too powerful or too weak in that regard.
The ambushes - thanks for bringing that to my attention! I'll definitely reconsider where and how often they're used. I'm planning to add a metagame progression to the game (bonus hearts, shielding, damage bonuses, etc), and I'm considering the idea of giving enemies a chance to drop hearts so the player can restore some health in combat. For the time being, I'll definitely do some adjusting to give the player more time to respond to ambushes. That said, I do really like the sword in the stone ambush, and I've gotten a lot of positive feedback on that one.
Lastly, thanks for your comment on combat stats! I'm still working on the best implementation, but I hope once I get it in it'll satisfy what you're looking for :)
Cheers,
- Dpodz