I didn't hate it as much as I found it frustrating for a single reason: half the gameplay is about finding secret areas and hidden items with only a few of them being slightly hinted at. Since I can't memorize a dozen secrets for each level there were two possible choices: check every wall for a secret switch and run out of food or pull up a guide and ALT+TAB every minute, neither approach was fun and they broke my immersion. After a while getting to the next level was like unlocking an easter egg in other Dungeon Crawler or Hack & Slash games, it was combat that broke the flow of a puzzle game rather than the other way around. I wish this was split into two games instead, I would've loved the combat half where I was shoved into a cramped dungeon and had to punch my way out through armies of giant slugs and shrieking mushrooms - 4/5 for that.
