Thank you for playing. I could not reduce the game to the starting area (the city) because the theme is about connections, and they are to be found if you use the portals - which you obviously did, and far as well, even without the help of the crystal. Congratulations!
Today I uploaded a fix for that so it is easier to find more connections.
94% of the game size are textures; I could make them smaller (and worse) but I could not reverse the process or I had to handle two versions of the game. I don't want more overhead, and the game does not get better when it looks worse. Regarding the world itself, the starting area is optional after a minute; you can leave quickly. But when you examine your surroundings as in any decent RPG, you find information or people you can talk to - they provide more story background. So I wouldn't reduce dialogues, books, notes.
I'm not quite sure what you mean by "showing off your intent and mechanics will help 'sell' your game better". The intent was to make an action RPG as good as possible in 10 days, beginning with the most important mechanics like moving, talking, fighting, using objects (there is a help page for that). Secondary, the special mechanics for travelling through portals and orientation including the necessary lore. And, a variation of places to travel to. Of course a wood or a swamp may seem empty but there are castle-like places, too, and often you find monsters which hunt you. I had scripts which would add still more variations but I had to fix some bugs on the way so I was unable to complete them. For ten days, I think the game is rather decent, and after the review period I will continue to add content, of course.