Firtly, this is a genius idea. I do generally tend to prefer games with more moment to moment action, visuals and/or more lore/narrative though, and I think specifically more lore/narrative would improve the experience here.
The opening also feels a bit slow and slightly disrupts the tense momentum you built last playthrough. Difficulty options, or a faster initial difficulty increase could help maintain it.
This is definitely one of the best submissions. Amazing work.