I got a game over and fully succumbed to the curse on my first attempt. The game is doing everything to turn you into a fox, which surprised me at first. However, on my 2nd attempt, I managed to rid myself of the curse and got to stage 3 of the transformation. I got to later stages of the transformation in my subsequent attempts and found that there was a hidden path leading to the apothecary if I explored the forest long enough.
I'm not sure if it is possible to beat the game fully as a human, but I liked playing the game repeatedly to find new things. And I'm pretty sure there are some things I've missed. Great game!