Ah, that's all fair then! and good point with portal, been a long while since portal has been on my brain.
If multiple routes would be beyond the scope of code difficulties, then perhaps the puzzles would need a difficulty tweak. My previous statement about the bimbonomicon feels valid still. I feel like it'd need a hint over the dialogue option, something like "I'd have to be stupid to try this..." which would at least allude to what the player would need to do. I also couldn't reach the kraken prior to getting the dragon, so being able to reach the goal should also be put into consideration for the future.
The only reason I assumed it to be a rogue-like would be due to the map lay out. It gives off vibes like slay the spire's mapping. Perhaps a map lay out like how darkest dungeon 1 (still sorta a rogue-like) would fix the rogue-like appeal, because the inability to backtrack does heavy mileage in building the rogue-like vibes. I do really love how this looks! I hope to see more from this, keep it up dude!