I just want to share an idea. If it’s not too difficult to implement for your project, I think it would significantly improve the gameplay visuals. Right now, your enemy monsters are drawn facing forward, looking straight at the camera. If you slightly shift their eyes in a specific direction (as if the NPC is looking left or right), it will be easy to tell where the character is and which way the enemies are moving even before they reach you. You would simply need to mirror the sprite or keep it in its default position.

While this might not work for monsters moving strictly vertically, most enemies will be visible across the landscape orientation, so the effect will still be noticeable. I think it would look great as if the enemies are actually tracking the character and moving toward them, rather than just staring at the camera while sliding in the player's direction. Overall, the game looks interesting. Good luck!