@threeblacknoises, I'm afraid that personally, I much prefer the new action version of combat to the old one.
Don't get me wrong, I love some old fashioned D&D style eighties monster bashing, however the old system just didn't have enough choice or options for the player to keep it interesting.
If it had say different styles of attack, different weapons to use, different types of healing potion which could be used at different times, or different ways to attack a monster that would be one thing, but there just wasn't enough for the player to do, beyond constantly attacking.
I'll even say that in the old system I dreaded bosses, not because they were difficult, but because they were very time consuming, and just sitting arround hitting up arrow until Nathan was at %25 health, then hitting right arrow got very boring pretty fast.
Even though the new system just uses the same basic elements, attacking, dodging and potions, the fact that it is! real time keeps the player's attention.
Hopefully in the next game even more can be added, for example, I'd like to see some different weapons or sword styles to use, and maybe some different monster attacks to need to counter, EG perhaps you would have to dodge a crystal dragon's fire a bit before getting close and striking, and maybe you would do more damage to a crystal dragon with a heavy war hammer than with a cutting weapon like a sword, though of course a war hammer would be heavier to swing.
Likewise, how about giving Nathan some armour to protect from attacks, but varying the armour's effectiveness according to the situation, EG heavy plate armour might be good against an arquebus, but less good when trying to combat a swiftly moving reptile man in the swamp.
Actually, playing blind gladiator on my phone the other day, that was one thing which mildly disappointed me, there was never any need to vary your equipment according to what kind of enemy you were fighting, you could just put on what gear you want and wail away, though of course, having to flip a phone around does make things a bit more difficult than they would be using keyboard keys.
With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)