If it's any consolation, my experience playing was emotionally similar to the good points you describe but without the frustration of weighing what could or couldn't be in done in the time limit? The reroute was actually a novel surprise to me since not a lot of RPGs actually make the "get out" a thing, let alone something that hinges with how you play in the "get in". So the gotcha ended up being pretty tense, and with a few unlucky Paralysis misses during the game I just barely managed to get out with no items left and 18ish hit points (and not enough MP to do anything with). Had to leave the chest in the NE behind the minotaur alone since if I went for it I wouldn't have enough HP to reach the stairs.
So just from the outside I found it tight and tense with appropriate resource balance, so was good! And the tension of throwing attacks out and praying the stun doesn't wear off is a clockable feeling, yes XD
Curious to play the other ones and stay tuned for others. Making something in just an hour sounds really hard ^^;