So, first off, i really liked the game. Great art and music combine into great atmosphere and which having a cool twist turns into a beautiful game.
Also, i don't know if this is meant to be a "secret shortcut" but both of the rooms next to the claw can be cheesed:
To cheese the top one you need to pick up Zoomoo in the room to the left and fall into the hole in the ceiling.
And to cheese the room left of the claw you need to get Zoomoo in the level below (which is by extension the top level) and and drop into the altar room (you will be under bottle debuff but you can still jump into the altar). The only sad part is that the second one skips the scene as you will come crashing out of the zone afterwards.