Hi again,
I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed the game! Let me respond to everything I can:
- Sorry about those platforms looking like background objects. I was clearly not the best at differentiating those.
- To "climb the Spire", you have to stand outside the tower and use your two clouds to slowly move up along the wall. There, you'll find one of the items you're missing.
- I'm not exactly sure about the other item you're missing, but it might be the one in the Bunker? If so, you have to enter the Bunker and immediately roll left.
- References! Portal Gun was spot-on! Never played Metroid, so the similarities here were purely accidental. And maybe the Dream was based on those in Hollow Knight, although I never thought explicitly about it... probably some unconscious inspiration, though.
Thanks for playing my game! I really appreciate it ♥