Yeah since it's not that hard to have in Godot i always try to have controller support when it suits the game XD
The permadeth aspect isn't really intentional, it's more that for jams i never end up having time for a save system or thinking ahead and make a respawn upon death so i usually end up with a quick and dirty full scene reload ^^' so sorry about that.
The enemy difficulty is also a product of poor time management on my part, i didn't end up calibrating them all that well and so they are absolutely too fast, so they are harder to hit then intended and thus seem more tanky then they actually are, plus the gun upgrade is glitched and doesn't work as intended so they are not easier to kill with it as is supposed to be the case :/
All that being said, i'm happy that you like the core concept and gameplayand that you thought the metroidvania aspects work ^_^
I put the "secret" upgrade there cause i knew people would probably be curious about what's up there and see the upgrade when jumping and then think of coming back after obtaining the jet boots and felt rewarded :p
Anyway, thanks for playing and giving detailed feedback about your experience, much apreciated :)