Thank you so much for this very detailed and organized comment! I'm glad you had a good time reading it! I agree with the bit about the map absolutely. There's definitely lots of room for more information and details. I'm definitely planning on an expanded version of this when the jam judging is over.
Regarding the question of how the creatures "appeared" do you mean how they came around to this area in the first place or do you mean how they look? Or am I misunderstanding completely?