The story is very interesting. I felt like I went on a journey!
2a) Definitely successful, there were even ways that using different shades of blue conveyed emotion. It is cool to see the nuance / emotional range of just one color on display here.
2b) The snow part confused me only because it didn't immediately occur to me that I had to go up and around the white blocks of snow. That could've just been specific to me though. Overall the direction of where to go was very clear and intuitive throughout.