I love it! I'd like to leave a few thoughts on what I love and where I think there could be some room for improvement, if that's alright! (also I'm not a developer so feel free to yeet my comments into the sun):
Atmosphere: I honestly love the atmosphere of this game, ESPECIALLY as shown in the title screen. One thought though is that the "overworld" music is a little unfitting, and could perhaps be made a bit more meloncholy or adventurous, depending on where you want to go?
Shifting: I like how you did the shifting in this! It's cool to see "shadows" of creatures in the other dimension. My primary concern is clarity. Although I LOVE the little animations and such, as it is implemented, it looks like you are changing the world, perhaps with some sort of time-travel thing, whereas from what I understand, you are trying to go for entering a parallel dimension or something similar. My suggestion would be that when you shift, that "circle" that starts to close on April expands from her in the first place, changing the scenery around her. If it is within the technical limitations, it would be great to see things outside of the circle be the "normal" world while everything on the inside is the "demon" world. That way, it looks like she has an aura around her that temporarily alters the terrain to be more like that parallel world. I have a lot of thoughts on other ways you could make this more clear, but I don't want to bombard you with any more than I already am.
Combat: The combat is quite fun! I think the only issue here is clarity. Would it be possible to make a "hit" sound when your weapon strikes an enemy, not just the enemy hurt sound? That way it feels like your weapon is connecting with the enemy, not just phasing through them. Also, I feel that in a lot of ways, shifting is MUCH more effective than dashing. After all, enemies can't hit you in the other dimension, and it's just as fast as dashing is. One last little thing would be to perhaps make it so that the last attack in the combo feels a bit more different than the others, like maybe a slightly different sound, having it push back enemies, and a delay between finishing the combo and starting a new one.
Movement: Again, I love it! I hate to be nitpicky, but would it be possible to implement something like little dust particles while walking? And I definitely think that adding something like a small dust cloud or something when dashing would make it feel much more "real". Also one last little nitpick which I know would be a huge pain in the ass, would it be possible to add sprites for moving in the diagonal directions? It's not just for looks, it would also make combat more enjoyable, as you'd be able to attack diagonally rather than in just the 4 cardinal directions.
Animation: I hope you're ready for just unending praise, because goddang!!! There are so, SO many little things here that make the game feel so alive and interactive. The way that the bushes and leaves drift, the little bob on the character's movements, the way that you can see them lean into the weight of their attacks, the way the screen shakes when you strike an enemy, even the little animations for your "stamina" being used up and returning, all feel really awesome!
I'm sorry if I came across as overly negative with a lot of this stuff!!! There was a lot that I liked about the game, and I am really excited to see how this game progresses. As-is with the framework, I could see myself paying at least maybe $15 for what I predict the full game would be.