This is excellent! A tactical brawler with additional combat options as a reward for exploration and puzzle solving. Simple but nuanced combat mechanics make gear selection the primary component of fights. Brilliantly, the player can shuffle gear around in the small space between having enough information to extrapolate what they should be doing and the moment where said plans start to manifest / fall apart.
I particularly love the mechanic where the player can choose to play out a fight or just take the damage they suffered in their best previous fight against that enemy type. It's perfectly suited for a puzzle game like this, but I think I'd like to see that migrate into RPGs with levels/grinding.
Last bit of praise - Going into a fight blind means losing, but winning doesn't mean playing "Guess What The Designed Was Thinking". The hint section on this page gives advice on the final fight, and it's not at all in line with how I managed it... and there were a few fights like that, where a couple of varied tactics work. That's the sweet spot of needing player engagement without punishing them for lack of telepathy.
Thanks for all the kind words! I think the secret to having a little bit of variability in the tactics department is being bad at this kind of game myself, so people try things that I wouldn't have even thought of. I made an enemy that I didn't think anyone would be able to beat, but people trounced it!