Definitely one of the most solid and well-executed entries I've reviewed when it comes to the controls, mechanics and overall presentation!
The pixel art for the backgrounds and characters is absolutely gorgeous, with some of my favorites being the main character's portrait in the corner, and the knife-throwing enemies. The music is great too, and I love the sound effects and the sense of feedback on hitting and interacting with things - although the micropause when collecting a big cluster of jewels seemed a bit excessive, unless it was actually unintentional lag!
The auto-attack took a while to get used to, but it turned out to be quite a satisfying and fun mechanic, especially hitting enemies from below or jumping on their heads. Overall, a very clever implementation of the theme! The powerups were fairly basic Metroidvania fare for the most part, but they were well-implemented and fulfilled their role in the progression well. The most interesting one in my opinion was the drop-kick ability, and I wish it had more use throughout the game.
The map was fun to explore and never got so big that backtracking would be a problem, and I enjoyed the various secrets and shortcuts I found on the way. I think my only major complaint was that some of the enemy placements seemed a bit unforgiving (mostly on the final "ascent" section to the last ability), plus I wasn't a fan of the spikes being able to hurt you when touching them from the side - but those are small nitpicks more than anything.
Obviously a final boss would have really helped tie everything together, but considering the time limit and the overall level of quality and effort in everything else, it's hard to complain!