I cruised through a first playthrough right up until the point where I thought the game ought to throw a bit more difficulty at me; the swordfish have particularly awkward attacks which can be even harder to dodge or parry with sharks in the mix, but each of them fills a fair role in diversifying the battlefield. Right before I found myself obligated to a second playthrough via achievements, I had decided that simply parrying all the boss shark's attacks was much simpler than dipping in and out of his range. With that bout of practice, the rest of the game was not only easier but also more engaging, yet I don't know if it was quite so engaging that I'd make an attempt for each of the full game challenge achievements, but I appreciate them all the same.
The game is a lean Nerve beater that potentially has some Land elements sprinkled in judging by hidden achievements, but from a "core gameplay" perspective those elements would be definitively negligible. That said, the sand castles are an effective cultural referent that takes your utilitarian 3d and elevates it to a more rounded and resonant aesthetic of plastic pool toys.
I admit that I'm tragically inexperienced with Hideki Kamiya's gamography, but from what I know about Wonderful 101, it feels as though the character's design here could have been further levied into the game. Perhaps something akin Pikmin where the player can shoot krill onto the enemies with different stick behavior whether you fire in solo or swarm mode? On a broader note, I definitely tend to prefer the clear box telegraphs over something dazzling and unreadable like more recent Final Fantasy, and if it is visually dazzling, then the specifics of combat should be a tertiary design concern such as in Shadow of the Colossus; or rather it is that the minutiae of the objective in combat is sensational instead of tactical. Either way, attempting to mix both priorities isn't soluble, so you'd surely need three A's to bAke thAt cAke.