Hmm, I'm not totally convinced by the new tutorial change. It feels like it would've been obtrusive (and made for a worse first impression) if it was there in my initial exploration in my first playthrough, and on the flipside I'm not sure that every player who actually needs it will notice the significance of it.
I think my preferred solution for making the intro more understandable would be (if it's possible in the engine?) to have a small portion of the map leading up the the needle be automatically revealed from the start, with the needle room itself being marked (Ludos' hint could be altered to match with the change, too).
That way, people who're stuck would be easily able to see where to go, while anyone who wants to explore is free to check out everywhere else without repeated visual reminders of which way goes to progress.
If that's not enough the entrance to the needle room could be bigger too, it's a bit easy to miss with the perspective, for being the first required objective at least.