I agree with all of these points. They really need to embrace the relaxing aspect of the game's overall vibe a bit more I think. Being rushed to finish objectives gives you no time to breathe and let your guard down, which lessens the impact of the creepy events when they occur imo.
I like all of the new minigames and added depth of the new features, though. Just need some tweaking to make them a bit less punishing early game.