Sorry to hear that the difficulty was a bit too tough!
I understand what you mean, you want to feel like an unstoppable machine. So stopping to dodge probably kills that feeling. On the bright side, they only go in a straight line!
As for the spikes being one hit kills, unfortunately that was the best way for us to make sure the player doesn't wall jump out of bounds. It also added for some very interesting level design in the final tower. Having to climb up vertically and jumping between walls to avoid the spikes was also a great way to add a bigger sense of danger and fun to the game. Thank you for your feedback on this matter though! It might be possible for a compromise somewhere, but that's something I'll have to discuss with the rest of the team if we continue to work on this post-jam!
Thanks for playing!