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(I am now in a rush to test as many games as possible to help, so please do not mind the cursory reviewing style.)

1. I like the graphic and audio retro style! And as others said, the cinematic introduction. It reminds me of the Game Boy, I am not sure why.
2. Instructions screen is clear and to the point. (I made some for previous games and am always afraid to put too much to take!)
3. ‘Note: Don't be sad’; very caring instructions! XD
4. Controls are QWERTY-only instead of layout-independent (I have an AZERTY keyboard), BUT arrow keys are enabled.
5. I have trouble understanding how movement works… :o Sometimes, it looks like some keys do not respond, but I may have badly made the concept out. As sparklewing, I am dying a lot of times against the very first enemy without getting what is going on.
6. Aaaaaah, finally figured it out: this is somewhat of a semi-turn-based, semi-real-time handling of combat! :) I think you would need some visual and/or audio cues to let the player understand when he can move or not. Currently, when you try moving when there is no attacks, you still see your character somewhat shaking / trying to move, and this made me feel like I COULD move, but that the controls were buggy — which was not the case.
7. BUT what is the upper-left bar for? Apparently, both the hero and the enemies die in one hit, so it cannot be a health bar — or it is one of very little use. X) (Got it against the third enemy: more health later.)
8. Cutscene (with a damsel in distress, as in PAWN THE BRAVE); good work with the dramatisation. :) By the way, this boy-looking hero wanting to get out from the underground reminds me of Undertale’s premise!
9. Beat the second enemy on my first try! :) Really understood how the game works.
10. Cinematic; oh no, died! XD It is a new type of level; nice, some variety!
11. Third enemy; is it a helmet on the hero’s face? This would explain the 2-hit health bar.
12. The Return key can also make you move to the next line; you could add it in the instructions screen or/and the game page.
13. At one point, ‘managed’ to get my two health points removed in one attack! :o Is this a bug?
14. That third enemy is hard!
15. Fourth enemy: hooded figure, reminds me of Death from the Castlevania series (perhaps you drew inspiration from there?), or Sonia (a witch?) from 1993 Equinox.
16. I only really used Up and Down until now, and I realize that Right seems to do Left’s work (ie A’s work)!
17. Spoiler: apparently, going left seems to handle ALL attacks. XD You still have to press at the right time, which can be tricky.
18. That fifth big boss bad guy is HARD!! :O
19. BEAT HIM!! Yay! … But the last cinematic must be the shortest and simplest one! :o You probably figured out that not so many people would have the patience to get there. XD

In conclusion: great concept based on the constraint, I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would! :) The game just really needs some additional cues, or an interactive tutorial, to properly show how the system works the first time around. Narration is great. There was an effort in variety as can be seen with the stalactites sequence.

This could well be the basis for a full-fledged game! :) I said the story reminds me from Undertale, but another common feature is the mix of adventure and real-time dexterity fighting phases.

(By the way, just putting here that my game is pending until I get the submission form.)

It is great to have a story with graphics at the beginning of the game. And the camera cut-ins when you defeat an enemy are so cool! I couldn’t figure out how to defeat the first enemy and got killed many times. It would be good to know how many more attacks to avoid to feel progress.

I liked the story you built here. The sprite work was nice, and the idea of getting your character locked in different positions is rather fun. Made me remember punch out on the bosses.

Sometimes the dodge to the left fails for some reason, and the final boss is a bit painfull to fight against, but once you get the attack pattern it is manageable. It was fun, keep it up!