Played it again right now, I am starting to understand more what you are going for.
At first, the controls took a bit getting used to. Which is fine, new game after all. I think having a training mode of sorts for the final release would help with getting used to how the controls work can after doing some messing around, I see the potential lying underneath.
The way how combos is structure, I actually like. It’s surprisingly free-form. At first, I thought, how could I weave the charged punches into this string? Once I realized that I could negative edge cancel while doing the normal punches and kick, it clicked. I saw what you were going for. Cause while only pressing normal attacks could get me through the level, it’s injection of charge moves that really makes it come alive especially with the free-form.
With this extra time, I think I am able to describe in what I think is why the combat felt off. With how free-form it was, I was thinking that after a hit, I could cancel into some form of directional attack (basically if I push the left thumb stick to my left, the next punch from the character will go left), especially considering how much the enemies tend to gang up, as a way to do crowd control.
As for dodging/dash, I think it because it also doesn’t really have a form of directional dodge canceling after a hit towards an enemy. Because of how fast they come and how often they swarm, trying to get away from them felt clunky.
Side note, enemy animations and when I get hit from them feels confusing. Sometimes, I would just get stun-locked with how fast they attack after one another. And even when doing one on one, it seems like when an enemy runs after me, they can also attack while in running animation? Something to look into when possible.
For performance, it runs stable, did get a few frame-drops this time around when multiple enemies exploded. I do have a somewhat strong computer (that’s showing to its age) so bear that in mind.