Remember that you can dodge while blocking. That means you can get out of range or even shove enemies to get some breathing room.
"Dodging" forwards can also give your punches better range if you use it right.
And yeah, the orb used to be just an orb and you had a number in the top center to tell you how many strikes were left. I'm still not sure if I want mickey-mouse-ears style haloes or actual 3D objects orbiting the central body.
Dreamlike is good. I'm glad you think that. The player's animations are gonna get an overhaul before next DD, so hopefully slightly more horrifying and slightly less funny by then.