Thank you for the kind words and thorough write-up. I'm not sure about the cave being a clear transition to the Dark World. The idea was cool, go into a mystical cave for a long way and come out in what you thought was the same spot but actually in another world but a lot of people were confused by it.
I 100% agree about the map and mouse cursor. This is a painful one to play without a map but these things were cut.
I'm glad the "torch shield" is a hit, it's something that I figured would feel very rewarding considering the tradeoff between shield and torch. But I'm not surprised people are switching before every fight - I originally figured it would be outside vs inside but then I made the outside darker and ... you know how it goes!
I was hoping the momentum system would give you fights like the Necromancer fight through the whole game but I think the balance is out of whack. Heavy attacks are very OP for sure.
The "you beat the game" transition got cut, it was supposed to happen as soon as you kill the Necromancer.
I dunno if the beast sword is buggy or not, but I suspect the monsters are mostly just bad at dodging.