Hey, first of all, thanks for your detailed feedback.
I understand a lot of these issues you are having as i know about them, just didn't have enough time to fully address them.
So ... 144 FPS is still not enough since the timing was aimed for 300-400 FPS (with no v-sync), i realized the issue too late into the Jam so i did not have enough time to revise it. (if you download the game, it should have a default setting with no v-sync and a target frame of 400 FPS.
i agree, it should have been more clear that you only need to clear the bottom line of keys.
I put a little pause before the 3-2-1 start since if music was causing our of sync problem if it starts early while other objects is still loading/initializing. i should have put some kind of visual indicator to let the player know to wait.
for the game music, i put it at 30% because everyone's volume's set differently, and i didn't want it to blow anyone's ear off. That's why i had put a reminder on main menu to have each player adjust their volume setting before playing (with a bg music for them to hear).
I agree with the UI inconsistencies, mouse was working in the main menu and i had put an UI panel over it for scene transition and that blocked the mouse clicking. i realize that issue but did not have time to revise it in time.
I understand how you feel about the story where nothing had changed. since it was just a small project, not a full production game, it was meant to be a joke: Player has been doing this for a while and just to realize that is only the beginning of the same thing all over.
I was using WASD and spacebar myself, so i didn't think about how it'd be backwards for people using arrow keys and spacebar. I can see how it would be frustrating. A solution could be letting player select if they are using WASD or arrow keys and make visual adjustment around it.
Your feedback is well appreciated, it definitely gives me something to think about on the next project.