Thank you for the detailed feedback and for playing! I'm really glad you liked the art, soundtrack, and the cutscenes. Our team worked really hard on those during the jam.
And yes, the game was intentionally designed to be quite difficult, but I agree that some parts may lean more toward frustration than fair challenge, especially in the first level. Your points about obstacle pacing and giving the player calmer moments between harder sections make a lot of sense.
The grappling hook control is also something I’ve been thinking about improving, and your suggestions are really helpful. Since this was my first time making a platformer with this kind of mechanic, there are definitely things I’d refine with more time.
Also thanks for pointing out the parallax background issue, that’s a good catch!