Decided to finally go around checking the game since I was observing it for a while
First thing, the art is really great, both foreground and background.
Not having issues with the default controls, I don't think there's anything wrong with them.
I like that enemy grabs aren't a hp drain you have to wrestle out of like in many other games.
Also glad that defeating a boss is permanent progress rather than having to reach a next savepoint not to lose it.
I also like the way the secret paths are set up, took me a moment but I managed to notice them, and it felt satisfying.
In terms of issues:
On the gray humanoid enemy the attack feels like it hits a few frames too early compared to the animation
Interacting with Lise after the first dialogue just restarts it from the beginning
Is there supposed to be something at the top in the room after Lise, with the ladder you have to jump on? Felt like there'd be something to find, but there's nothing and an invisible wall at end of the level
Brittle platform un-breaking sound seems to play twice
Eye cloud enemy triggers the grab animation even while charmed, they also seem to prioritise grab attack over regular one. They also appear to be able to float up into the void.
There are no i-frames after getting out of a grab, leading to immediate damage.
Jumping onto ladders is extremely annoying, as you get very few frames for that and the input is ignored if you hit the key even a little too early.
I'll admit, I'm not the most skilled platformer player, my coordination is kinda bad, but the secret path to the chest with blood wine, with the three mushrooms gave me a lot of frustration, in the way that I already figured out what I have to do, the puzzle is solved, but I keep making very slight mistakes on the input that send me all the way back every time. The reward doesn't necessarily feel worth it.
Flamethrower hitbox remains active when the fire already dissipates.
There is no way out of the room with the plushie. Actually not sure if the chest contents are set or randomised, it's the chest room with one of the bull enemies in the big room with a savepoint.
May be a skill issue, but the constant instadeath in the fire areas is really annoying. Even if you don't fall in the lava, something is likely to push you in. And it's hard to be careful running through the same area for the 7th time.
When you make a stage like this, please at least put a save right before it, I feel like I could almost do the previous two stages between this and the save blindfolded. I'm not sure what the little soul things are even for but getting them can be attributed to two of many deaths I suffered over this. The character not jumping because of me hitting spacebar in what felt like should still be valid area is gonna be half of them. The fact that fireballs most of the time will knock you straight into the lava if you hit them is just evil.
It genuinely feels like the platform hitboxes are just slightly too small compared to their visual size, which is extremely important to get right in a platformer.
Blocking feels unreactive at times.
Ira's contact damage hitbox on teleport slash attack becomes active before she's visible in any capacity.
I was writing this out as I went through the game, and I admit over time I went from "whoa this games looks nice" to "my goodness please just let me progress". I decided to stop after dying to Ira a few times, the parkour section right before has made well and thoroughly soft already. While the concept invites you to play one-handed, the difficulty does not. Not a game that lets you wank while playing it unfortunately. I do still think it's a great game in the making, it just needs some adjustments in terms of what it's requiring from what audience, and some mild fixes, so I was trying to be thorough in the things I noted down.
I'll see if I end up trying again any soon or gonna play after some more updates.