This game has a lot of potential for something bigger. Expand the map, with more shortcuts like the one in the beginning area, make some more mechanics to avoid repetitiveness and you might turn this into a new unique top-down metroidvania. I do know about Minit, which has a gameplay similar to this, but it also works around different mechanics, so IMO this game really deserves a spotlight and a bit more support.
Great concept I wish could be expanded further upon. At first I wanted to complain about the fact you can't deselect the NPCs if you know someone else might tell you a story that suits the condition well, but I realized that'd make the game too cheeseable, so I guess I had to go with that :p