big thanks for playing the game and taking the time to write such a detailed response!
the robot in the start is supposed to tell you about the "soul" bar, but in hindsight maybe it's too easy to not notice and just walk past him. also maybe the dialogue isn't clear enough.
sorry about your second run haha, the game is a bit of bug fest right now and we sadly didn't have time to fix all of them :(
still really glad you enjoyed the game! about the secrets: i think you found them all.
wish we had time to add more lore stuff and some more animations and art but maybe in the future...