Thanks for playing and reviewing our game!!
As the dev for all the combat elements I totally agree, I really wish I had time to add particle effects, more thumpy hit sounds and knockback, I think it would have made combat way more balanced and impact-y like you said- will probably end up continuing to work on the game to add nice touches like this after the jam ends :)
I don't want to spoil anything, but yeah, that's correct- you pretty much need to beat the game to really get the overall theme
Thanks again and I'm excited to check out your game!