Thank you very much for your feedback!
The grabbing mechanic and corresponding controls are heavily inspired by Super Mario World. I didn't really think about making the hold switchable, but I can add a setting for that. I appreciate the idea!
It's unfortunate that the level appeared to be too long for you. It's actually fairly straight forward and simple, but I suppose you where put off by the many keys and elements in general. You don't actually need to use all of them to beat the level. You only need them to optimize your final score. In the future, I'll try to rethink my level design philosophy for the future and make alternative paths more subtle.
In any case, thank you for playing!