when you boil it down, it all comes down to punching each other in the face, and then healing when your HP gets too low. the lack of other party members or enemies prevents you from doing any interesting strategies.

so now I ask you, what do you think can be done to make these fights interesting?

a unique gimmick? a twist on the combat system? and how would those come into play?

and I'm asking strictly gameplay-wise. narratively, these fights can work very well. but when you're pushing the buttons, it's just going to be the same combinations over and over.