It feels like a more dynamic quick-time event or a 2D turn-based version of SuperHot. Though instead of time merely slowing to a crawl when standing still, time is paused as you think about your next action. I enjoy how the action pauses when deciding which action to choose, and then it resumes and you can see how what the consequences are.
The attacks are varied and feel like they are specific tools for handling certain scenarios. In particular, I like the anti-air diagonal punches, especially when predicting that an enemy will attempt to jump overhead. I think a useful feature for the player would be to show an outline of what the action would do and it's area of effect should it be chosen. For example, I expected the uppercut to be an anti-air move, but the actual range is smaller than I thought.
Turning around being a free action is very useful, especially for retreating and repositioning yourself. The orientation of the character threw me off initially because I thought that I was facing the side that the smaller off-colour square was on. Having the arrows on the cards point towards the player's current overall horizontal direction would help the player with tracking their current orientation. I do find the minimalist art style charming, especially the "smearing" frames on the fists when emphasising big movements.
I didn't know what the "r" and the 3 rectangles were for. However, I did use the "r" button in order to do nothing and wait for my Heat gauge to lower before engaging with enemies. I don't know if this is the intended use ("r" for "rest"?).
I couldn't tell whether there was an endgame. What would the endgame for this be?
It's got an interesting concept, and I like the artstyle. Good work.