I have plans to swap the level gen system from specific sets of hazard per level to picking from a random suite of presets; I think an interesting caveat to that system would be choosing between 2 presets, say a pirate-heavy level or spiller-heavy level, to allow players who struggle with specific obstacles to see them less often
Shortcuts are something I intend to revisit, moving the unlock for a shortcut to finishing the area as opposed to first seeing it to avoid players approaching progression with grinding. As a countermeasure to the difficulty inherent in starting in a later area with fewer resources, I can guarantee that you will start with additional HP starting in later areas, and potentially an item draft if that can be done seamlessly
Metaprogression is not something I like in most games, I find it misused more often than not, gating off essential mechanics or trivializing the game. While I plan to add unlockable items tied to achievements ingame I'm hesitant to add metaprogression in the form of permanent and innate upgrades