I'm torn. On a technical level I can see it's pushing twine more than most games within this fetish, yet the execution isn't what I hoped for when I saw the premise and playtested the demo.
I'm glad you enjoyed the gameplay, at least to some extent. I'll try to break down each of your criticisms and give you my thoughts on them.
"Meh:"
-I understand your apprehension regarding the addition of roguelike elements, and I agree that variety is lacking at present. The ideal first release also would've included every layer and a final boss, but that simply wouldn't be possible if I didn't want to spend months or even years in development hell. Adding more stuff to increase variety and actually give the roguelike elements more of a purpose is one of my most important priorities right now, so this is one of the biggest points I'm trying to address in future updates.
-All of the characters except Aria have buff/debuff/utility skills that can be used when their damage type(s) are resisted, and laser isn't very commonly resisted, so I don't think that there are many points where Aria struggles to be useful.
-I like powerful items, but I also don't want winning to be reliant on getting good ones. I think that the existence of broken combos is cool, but I think that player skill is most important. Starting items are something that I've considered, though.
"Cons:"
-Well... I don't really know what to tell you on this one. This is just my writing style, so I'm sorry if you don't like it. FYI, I also never use AI when it comes to writing. I do agree about the intro, though, and I've done my best to shave off some of the unnecessary parts over time. It could probably still use a bit more work, though.
-Agree to disagree. I think that having multiple different locales that provide little "slices" of vastly differing settings is really enjoyable to work with, as it gives me lots of freedom to realize different concepts. The bits of worldbuilding throughout are meant to spark your curiosity about each layer's inhabitants and what their actual world may have been like (though there isn't actually a ton of this physically in the game currently).
-A free version with about a third of the content removed exists on Itch. Past that, there's not really much I can or want to change here. Working on this game without funding isn't really feasible (and would be very de-motivating), and I've seen from my first game just how little people actually donate without incentive. Granted, it only had Itch donations, but I still made more from Fataclysm in its first 10 minutes than I did throughout my first game's entire lifespan.
"???:"
-The sands of time aren't quite as robust as I would've wanted (mostly in part due to limitations in Twine), but their purpose is to provide an instant redo of whatever just happened. Missed an attack? Redo. Got hit by a crit? Redo. Made a mistake? Redo. I created this feature with the idea in mind that crits in Darkest Dungeon are total RNG BS, and having some resource that could be used to negate them would be good for skilled players, while also simultaneously allowing newer players to fix their mistakes.
-Also addressing the second half of the above point, there's a fair chance I'll add some kind of "rest" node. This would allow characters both interact with one another and potentially heal. However, I will say, as some who really likes fat girls - I don't really like watching them become not fat. That's why healing is so limited.
-I don't really know what you mean by "the game tells you not to use them." Energy is a resource, and you have to manage it throughout a layer. Whether that means using it on normal enemies or events to get stronger, or to save it all up for beating the boss, is up to you.
-I wouldn't really call Estelle the "stealth character." Stealth is essentially a tertiary mechanic, and is intended mostly as a powerful, isolated method of self-sufficient protection, though there are skills for players that want to lean more into it. If you don't find the stealth useful, then there's nothing forcing you to use it. Characters have multiple different mechanics to play around so that players aren't forced to always run them a certain way.
Anyways, I hope this isn't too huge of a wall of text. I imagine that the only kind of person who would type up such a large list of pros and cons does it with the intention of trying to improve the game, though, so thanks for taking the time to provide your thoughts.
