This is a really cool idea! Very satisfying to play.
The fact that all my sword attacks were out of range wasn't clear to me for most of my first attempt. More obvious feedback for failed actions would be good.
I wasn't expecting it to be real-time. That panicked me at first as I tried to figure out the controls, but I thought it was a very interesting twist. I was expecting something like Legend of Bumbo, but this turned out to be a very different game.