Is his moves predetermined? Is there any way to manipulate his moves? Does distance matter when he's running around?
They're completely random. You can test it by slashing him before he completes his own slash. He'll parry it then double back and either go for another hit, or shoot at you/do the triple slash. Each triple slash will generally have a pre-determined distance but he'll always try and predict where YOU'RE going to go.
RIP, unlucky. So we're left to RNG if we get a gun-phase in between each hit or we get lucky with 3 separate hits/triple slash attach off the bat.
To my knowledge, yeah. The game can be kinda broken at times if you play for long enough, which can be really frustrating, but it's still an all time favorite for me.
You can actually force him out of a gun-phase early. I published a new guide on this:
