i know this has been a labor of love from a single person over a huge amount of time,

so maybe the baffling design decisions - like the severe punishments for death instead of actual, engaging difficulty or the constant backtracking that makes the subpar level design really stick out - were the result of the inevitable doubts about the audience "getting the point" that tend to fester and take root in such a grueling process

but it's really heartbreaking that such wonderful atmosphere, characters, worldbuilding and a fun, if simple, gameplay loop are all crushed beneath the fruitless attempt to either AGAIN create catharsis through adverse game design, like every soulslike under the sun is trying, or to recreate the childhood experience of learning the Super Metroid map by heart by forcing the player to retread their steps ad nauseam, making the average-at-best level design stick out like a sore thumb