More developments! Audible ones! I would have liked to share a video, but it's not the most convenient thing having to upload a video elsewhere and share a link on here.
Two things I want to share is a pretty nifty audio track I found. Not made by me but it was listed as free for use. I think it makes for a pretty fun battle theme. Second are status effects that can affect the battle, such as defending, defense decrease, attack decrease, etc. I'm still working on the sprite art for these however, but just to give an idea,
Shield - Player is defending; reduce incoming damage by 50%
Crybaby - Player's defense is halved
Playtime (Name probably needs work) - Player's attack is halved
The actual effects of these are still subject to change, but I think the rattle image may not completely convey that it's a negative status effect for the player. These would be shown underneath the player's health bar.
Additionally, if this project takes off, I'd like to start working on producing unique soundtracks for the game! If I think it's beyond me though, I'd definitely consider outsourcing audio production to someone a bit more capable than myself. We shall see!