If I may add my 2 cents: I don't actually disagree with you there. The first few levels still give you a bit of slack so you can familiarize yourself with the way it controls, but around the spiders and especially the graveyard level, the gloves come off, so to speak.
The game is very focused on strategy, and a particular approach to it at that, so after the first stage, using that strategy is mandatory to advance. I know that comparison is all sorts of tired, but it's a little like Dark Souls in that sense, there's a particular way you have to play or you will die. That includes a lot of trial and error until it finally clicks, which some people get a huge kick out of and some are left frustrated by.
Here's the good news though: Once it does click, you'll have a much easier time. You'll get more spells and upgrades, which opens up the options on how you can complete a level, and by the end, you'll probably breeze through, not because it got any easier, but because you mastered its way of thinking.
If that sounds fun to you, trying over and over until you have that satisfying "Aha!" moment, you'll probably have a good time. If it doesn't, you probably won't. And that's okay, it's a very particular kind of game, so of course it'll mostly appeal to a very particular kind of player.
Me, I love it. I mean, I should, I'm one of the developers, but I wasn't at all involved with the design, so I had to figure out what the heck Hackenstein was doing there myself. I do get a massive kick out of that though, but then, I also debug for fun, so what do I know :D