Game looks good. I feel like giving it away for free could devalue your work, when its clear that you've put a lot effort into it. Maybe consider releasing at a lower price point for early access and increasing it after final release? As far as your dream of finding a way to make games without worrying about them being products, I've seen a few devs doing well releasing games on here for a few $$ each and also making all of their games available for no extra cost to people who support them on patreon (eg Sokpop and PuppetCombo), so that could be a potential route, although I'm not sure how viable that model really is. Also, this model seems to work better with multiple small games that only take a few weeks or months to complete, rather than larger projects like yours.
Interesting example with Sokpop and puppetcombo i didn't know about them. the patreon = free copies of the game is a cool idea.
I keep trying to turn away from the advice of just put a price on it. but basically thats been the unanimous feedback I have gotten.
I apricciate you taking the time and Im going to look more into that paid + patreon idea