First off, this game feels like it was made for me. The tone and setting are perfect. I love the idea of upgrading your weapon as you fight stronger foes. The art choice was sublime. I love the fact that you used icons/symbols, it made the game more visually interesting. You have something really good in here.
As a game designer myself, this system here made my brain think. Again, you have something really good here. That's why I felt the need to offer my honest criticisms. I found myself having trouble playing the game because the rock-paper-scissor intention of the game systems didn't really manifest. I feel like there is a piece of the puzzle missing in order to make everything click into place. At this moment, there is essentially no reason to ever choose block over parry/attack. Playing defensively doesn't advance the game state. Another aspect of the game that aggravates this issue is that foes act randomly. I really wanted to get into the flow of the game, envision my moves against my opponent's, but imagining my character ready to parry only to have the opponent block (or also try to parry) kept throwing me out of the fiction.
I don't know if it would be prudent to offer ideas, but I'll just toss my two cents. Feel free to ignore. In playing, I wondered if maybe having a resource (stamina?) that costs differently depending on what kind of action the player wishes to take would help? An incentive to keep players from playing defensively? As for the randomness of foes, maybe an "AI" table foes follow in order, kind of how bosses in action games have patterns players must learn? Again, just a few thoughts. Nothing more.
It bears repeating: I like what you created here, that's why I've gone out of my way to leave feedback. I would love to see you expand on this concept. Thank you for reading, and thank you for making this game!
