Thanks a lot for your comments! And you've got an eye for good ideas, haha. We're currently much further in development and although the basic formula remains the same, a lot of your suggestions were implemented in one form or another! Refined movement, more weapons, healing spells that require combat engagement, combat modifiers etc. You can check our Kickstarter updates to see how it's progressing. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/osarion/unsung-warriors-a-story-driven-acti...
Some things we've tried but didn't work out. Vertical directional combat doesn't fit our hack-slash influence. Faster pacing made p1 and p2 get out of screen too quickly. But that's game development: trying and scrapping.