Honestly, I think you've put a lot of effort into criticising a game you clearly don't "get".
It's a bit like criticising a bullet-hell game for being unrelenting, or a roguelike for permanent death. If it's not the sort of game you enjoy, then perhaps spend some time on other games?
Your criticism also appears rather contradictory - you want it to be easy to explore the maze AND to have a map of the maze given to you?
The fact that this is not like "todays games" is exactly the point.