Aye~ I hope everything goes well for the game's development.
I agree with the fact that perhaps the swordsman's moveset would be pretty limited, unless he gets RPG-style attacks like fking "Tornado Slash" or "Sword Flurry", lmao. In any case, unless the swordsman can use a bit of magic, has magic equipment, or is really good with the sword, his attacks would be kinda plain.
As for the idea I had, I think it clashes with your "unlock spells by using points" system, so I understand if it doesn't fit into your vision of the game. This also got very long and detailed, so apologies for the wall of text:
Basically, I imagined the "incantations" as a moveset-building mechanic. It would involve 2 or more types of magic (I'll use the 4 classic elements as an example here) and a strong attack option (either a "Skill" button or holding the "Attack" button). Maybe the character begins with all the elements acquired, or he has to learn them during his journey.
Either way, aside from the elements, the character could also acquire "incantations" from certain areas:
- Learning from certain mages along the way
- Reading certain books in different places; or
- Creating them himself based on an attack from the boss he just defeated
The incantations would be different methods of using his magic. Examples would be a "Dash" incantation, a "Summon Familiar" incantation, a "Crowd Control" incantation, a "Multi-Hit" incantation, etc. Basically, spell chants that any type of magic can do. Then, you can mix and match the elements and incantations to create a spell, while assigning the spell to (Spell attack), (UP + Spell attack), (DOWN + Spell attack), and, if you want, (LEFT/RIGHT + Spell attack). Pretty much like Hollow Knight's fireball, shriek, and dive spell, but customizable.
Each element would create a completely different version of an incantation spell, which essentially creates several unique spell combinations. That means players get to customize their skills based on how they wanna fight/play.
Example spell combinations:
- Water + "Dash" = leaves a slippery trail behind
- Fire + "Multi-Hit" = flamethrower
- Air + "Crowd Control" = small tornado that sucks enemies in
- Earth + "Summon Familiar" = summons a slow golem who can fling enemies airborne
The downside is; this is probably very complex and would take forever to implement properly. There's also the balancing for each spell so that there aren't any single overpowered/underpowered spell. The amount of animations would also increase. Overall, it's a biiit overambitious of an idea for a first game, but yeah, that's the idea I had from seeing "spell incantations".