Very interesting! I'll be honest and say that initially I was ready to dismiss this game as something that was not for me. The lack of polish in the first impression lowered my expectations of what was to come, but at the same time I understand that this is something that is hard to get right under the time constraints of these projects. Nevertheless, don't underestimate the importance of striking the right notes as early as possible. Just something to think about!
I failed a few times at first not understanding the concept of the movement, I expected it to be an auto-scrolling only requiring me to steer, and so I didn't understand why I would eventually come to a stop and be caught by the net. Once I understood that I had to paddle my movement I was off to the races, and it did honestly feel intuitive.
Aesthetically the game is cool. Audio and visuals feel like they come from the same place and they really play an important role in ushering the player along. There were points where the music swelled up to very intense levels which felt quite jarring, but overall it felt like it carried the message of the game well. As for the visuals, for me it was quite hard to discern positive pickups from negative, so maybe look into making them easier to separate?
There was something that really made me want to go further and keep exploring, expecting new things to find, so If this game was to be taken further I feel like that's where to put your money - into gradually expanding on the world and introducing new places and interactions that all goes into carrying the story that this game wants to tell.
In essence - in isolation none of the features of this game would do much for me, but they don't have to as they together really are a lot more than the sum of their parts. Taking that into consideration you've done a great job.
Keep it up!