The aesthetic of the game is very nice! The music suits this very well. I can see this getting frustrating if you're repeatedly dying, but I also get that having the checkpoint with you means there needs to be some difficulty involved. What if the player can find a one-time-use-per-level item that will call the totem to you? Maybe that will help people who aren't as good with platformers to use their one shot wisely, while those that like the challenge don't have to use it. This is well put together and certainly fun to figure out. Nice work!