hey, thank you so much for writing such a detailed reply :D You've definitely put thought into this! This is a proof of concept slice, but I'll try to polish the combat more. The explanations that follow aren't meant to be reflexive/defensive, I'm just laying out the use-cases I've found in testing:
The power-attack has much longer range than the normal one, so I mainly use it to more safely deal with the melee range enemies who charge at you, and the normal grab is mostly useful because you can throw enemies at each other, dealing damage + stagger. Also for using the benches - I have plans for more interactible environmental objects where you need the grab.
You're right about the 'light attack staggering crowds into a corner' strategy. I want to nerf that somewhat, maybe by letting enemies duck out of light attacks somehow. The 2 items are a light-weight feature for now, I use them both as panic-buttons - the bomb deals 4 damge to everything in range, so if you hit 4-5 enemies it's quite efficient, and the missile is nice for just getting rid of an enemy or dealing massive damage to the boss.
Block and parry works as intended, so there's some miscomunication about what the intention is I guess. Is it he parry window that felt inconsistent to you? If it needs better explanation in game I want to fix that.
I am planning on having a 'free mode' in between levels where you're on the spaceship and can play around with the girls. 'One handed play mode' you might call it xD