Thank you so much for taking the time to write such detailed feedback — I really appreciate it.
I’m really glad you enjoyed the core loop, music, and overall feel.
About the early difficulty: you’re actually touching on something I’ve been experimenting with a lot. Earlier versions of the game had a noticeably harder opening and a more chaotic early game, but after a lot of testing I decided to step back from very hardcore starts — at least for the first level — to avoid overwhelming new players too quickly.
That said, I completely agree with your point that the perceived difficulty and sense of pressure early on could be much stronger. The feedback about movement speed and imperceptible upgrades is especially helpful — if an upgrade doesn’t feel impactful, it’s failing its job.
Enemy variety, earlier meaningful choices, and better early pressure are all things I want to push further, and your suggestion about punishing weak early builds fits very well with the direction I’m aiming for long-term.
Thanks as well for the smaller notes (visible enemy spawns, typos, arrow key) — those are great catches and easy improvements.
Thanks again for the thoughtful feedback. This kind of input is incredibly valuable at this stage, and I’d love to hear your thoughts again after future updates.