He's literally under, water, gotcha. Alright yeah, I can see those themes now. I don't think I'd mind the combat at all if I didn't play a ton of souls-like games. Idk if that's what you were going for but that's how it read to me. If you were going for a salt and sanctuary/dead souls kinda combat, just try to remember genre conventions. It can be very interesting when you twist or break them, but people familiar with that genre may feel like the game doesn't fit in if it's missing something. Picture JRPGs without stat/equipment management.