To be fair, the combat in Symphony of the Night and other Metroidvania games wasn't great outside of bosses either. Most of the game is fun for the backtracking, minimal puzzle-solving, and progressive exploration.
That "You Died" screen is way too close to the Souls games, though. It's supposed to be inspired by the games, not a straight-up ripoff.
This game really needs some damn good music to be really good. They should aim more for Castlevania than Souls in general.