Thanks for the playthrough! We wanted to make you HAVE to defeat a snake, see a torch light up, and THEN be allowed to explore the rest of the level. But, we ran outta time. Your feedback about the snakes being too obtuse is spot-on and I totally agree.
You CAN drop off a wall by holding away from the wall for 0.2 seconds, but that is too long. He also too eagerly clings to walls, and the trajectory coming off the wall is totally wonky! I think that part needs a huge amount of tuning.
The Lover card was going to provide you with immunity to spikes, hence the extremely difficult and frankly kinda BS platforming section.
Thank you so much for the playthrough! I'll make sure to go play through yours!