You scammer you lured me in with cool eyepatch guy and I get this? You smart scam artist you XD
I was onboard with the oddness of the game at the start, but I admit I quickly lost interest once the combat (which felt very undercooked and unbalanced) started to be common. The encounter rate is so high and the escape rate so low, I kept dying. Enemies, even the most basic ones take way too long and just get in the way of what could have been otherwise a quirky and strange experience. I might have continued, but the battles really got on my nerves.
Overall even without the combat I'd suggest making a second pass on the story and clarifying what's happening a bit more: some beats are quirky, but some are just unexplained and confusing.