yes it's categorically better than Stardew to me but we are talking combat in farming sims so ehh it's fine nothing spectacular but gets the job done. Several weapon types that level up with use and you learn new abilities for the weapons. It feels like Secret of Mana combat actually - you hit the nail on the head for me on that lol.
Then it's perfect! I love basic Harvest Moon farming stuff, I like RPG interactions with NPCs, and I like Secret of Mana.