i definitely like the idea a lot - any sort of improvements in depth, where a system could reward skill and not just button mashing is a good thing in my opinion, the only thoughts i had on things that i would potentially change are the default button maps
i know super user can remap whatever buttons they want to whatever controls they want, but i feel like moving combat functionality to keys away from mouse clicks when the rest of the game is based around mouse clicks, might be a little jarring to a default setup user
i know there is the technical capability to detect the different between a mouse click and a slight longer mouse click, not quite a hold(nothing crazy like charging a punch or anything like that) just a subtle timing difference that i think could be used for situations like the hook and the uppercuts - while also reducing the key usage
for instance, maybe the following set up could be used:
left jab - left click
straight right - right click
left hook - long left click
right uppercut - long right click
left upper cut - long left click immediately after any right punch
i think the q&e leans could be turned into a head juke if the fists are raised - maybe the new player controller combined with the animations may smooth this out so that it would actually be functional and not clunky, who knows