I don't know how you pull of wordless storytelling so well. Somehow I could feel a connection to the characters, although I admit I was a bit confused by the story. I think the opening scene flashed by too fast to gather what it was communicating, as did the ending scenes.
Combat was clever and challenging, though I found having to refuel so often to slow down combat too much, especially against the many many mobs throughout. I liked the challenge of the boss - I definitely picked the wrong enemy to target the first time around. Character sprites and enemies, I thought were really cool looking.
The title screen change is always quite cool. I love how you do that, though I started a new game and didn't see anything different. Did I miss something?