I generally agree with the strategy being very linear and I'm working on a few different ways to fix this and one of them is the "randomized buffs based on the area" which you mentioned. The other one is adding a few "objectives" to the player at the start of each area which gives you tasks like "deal X damage using Y weapon" and rewards the player with global buffs and coins.
The difficulty scaling is designed the way it is on purpose although I would definitely agree that it ramps up way too slow later in the game. The early game jumps are rough so that "weak" runs die off early and they act as a knowledge check as well so the player cannot just pick random weapons and get through the game.
Thanks for your feedback! ❤️