Glad that you had a good time with it!
You are supposed to start off with a magic shot (the one that fires horizontally), so that was working as intended (though plans in future involve all spells spending MP once I fix the melee attack, so it won't be infinitely spammable as it currently is). The new spell in the desert dungeon (which is selectable with Shift/Select, and should change the spell number on your HUD at the bottom) is an upward angled shot to hit higher targets (it is intended to be an arcing attack, similar to Castlevania's Axe, but I was unable to get that working in time in the engine).
And yeah, it definitely needs more polish. I have plans to add polish, music, and a lot more content in the future, so I hope you'll come check out any future releases! ^___^