Sekiro is a wierd one because there's only two buttons during combat for awhile, until you start getting upgrades. Attack and guard. You get more options later on.
The clunkyness is part of the selling point. Dark Souls 1 is massively clunky and it's my favorite. You have to go into each fight realizing you're facing off agianst the enemy, you're not just running in and killing them.
The last boat was destroyed. Everyone on this boat could die, too. Those people are insanely brave doing this. hopefully they all come out of this alive and are able to help those in need.
I sent it to four people already