I really like the smear and the entire animation style. It's very interesting when enemies push you around - maybe centering the combat around being able to do the same to enemies (and them having a bit less HP) could make the combat less monotone.
I learned how to fly, you can jump and start spamming the sword to zip around - it's actually pretty fun, if you could make it an actual mechanic it would feel like an old school ninja game - like Ninja Spirit on the PC-Engine.