I liked this one a lot, and I would say that I disagree with your evaluation about the game having too much Stuff. While I do think the balance could stand to be harsher which, yes, would have been something you could do more comfortably with a more trim scope, I can't really see removing any of these elements. Touch encounters provide clarity in decision-making. Two base enemy types enable moment-to-moment decision making while a stronger one adds tension, and a boss provides a climax and clarifies where the "goal" is, while also emphasizing the unique setup of needing to *exit* the dungeon after finishing it - which itself made my brain sparkle and is not something I would want this sketch to lack. The gates *need* to swap with this setup, otherwise it will always be a free path to the exit, and disallowing that is part of what makes the return trip interesting. Perhaps the most extraneous element would be the MP and spells, especially since I think it's paralysis that most heavily unbalances the game (and you could possibly lean into the Blind item instead as a "replacement" for it), *but* two-resource management is easier to make interesting than single-resource management, and without it I get the feeling I would have been making fewer Interesting Decisions. There's a lot to chew on here and it feels "complete" within its scope, and that's a big part of why this one may actually be my favorite of your sketches so far.
With all that in mind - I do agree with what you're saying about truly embracing the hour, mainly in that I think it wouldn't hurt to embrace the result more, especially when your hour-long experiments regularly produce more interesting exploration by themselves than some entire commercial games do. A greedy, self-serving part of me absolutely wants to see what you can do with an extra half-hour, but I do think that being able to see more of the magic in what you've made is a sensible goal as a designer - especially since I've found these sketches inspiring and plenty magical already.
Then again, I can say all that, but I get the feeling I might also struggle to feel fully happy with something made in a time limit that was too tight for its scope - I definitely felt that way about my "worst" game. I suppose I'll find out soon enough. Regardless - good work!