Thank you @Taztempest!
TL;DR: Yes, you have hit the nail on the head!
Interactive novels have quite a niche audience. Our decision behind the decision was due to the commitment risks of team members, skills requirements, and workload balancing. This was our first time using Twine, and I admit, we learned A LOT about the challenges regarding this genre such as story and sensory communication over the dependency of technology.
You also mentioned a key design element -limited artwork-. Initially we thought about artwork for every page, but decided to only do artwork for main environment changes to quickly guide the player and reduce cognitive fatigue caused by all the reading in poetry-like style. This allows the player to formulate their own mental image when approach the detailed areas, and this also contributed to the decision of using an impressionistic art style.
The use of ambient sounds was critical to set the tone of an environment, such as when moving in the World of Grief. For example, the footsteps, the crows, and the leaves and tree in the wind sfx really help subconsciously.