Teasing a poor monster who just wants to get by. And have a bite of your flesh. Is that too much to ask?
The melee combat is pretty much what you'd expect. You try to hit your foes with your sharp or blunt hard things while staying away from their claws and whatnot. Textbook melee.
You don't have to play fair though. You can backstab for extra damage, and use your special ranged attacks (aka. off hand items) to take down selected foes from a distance. Those unfair ranged attacks have limited uses, but they'll get replenished at the campfire.
But that's not the only thing that happens when you sit around that welcoming but enigmatic blaze, and stare at the flames for a few moments too long...