Regarding the QTE sections, they do feel a bit intense relative to the other parts of the game. I understand the desire to have there be a challenge so that the player doesn't just easily 'opt out' of the perils, but on the other hand, the current state adds a fair amount of tedium to the battles, which themselves can turn a bit repetitive after a bit.
Since there's already evidence of the intention to use stacking negative effects in the forms of cursed equipment and bad status passives, I would suggest using some of those to alter the QTE difficulty. Make the baseline struggling and avoidance easier, but have passives add the number of commands needed and/or reduce the time allotted for the inputs. If the difficulty of the QTEs gradually ramps up in this manner, it can create a more organic experience of the player being overconfident at first and then finding themselves in over their head.
Otherwise, there's a solid foundation here; don't let me critique of the QTE take away from the rest of the game. Looking forward to see what is added next.
Oh, and a quick bug report: The Stuffed Sheep seems meant to remove a cursed Cold Hairpin, but it actually removes Silky Stockings. Guessing the curse removal items were cloned from one another when created, but it should be an easy fix.