Even playing at 0 Respect settings was still too hard?
I was playing at +1 respect comfortably until the vertical rooms. I failed a bit then went down a notch. I was still having a bit of an issue, but I got a couple of wins, though one of them was a fluke since there were no false turns. I also came to realize that I was forgetting to buy traits, so there was fewer hearts available too. Besides the added depth, another killer were the vertical rooms with slime on the bottom. It felt like whenever I messed up and fell in it may as well be gameover. If I was engaging with the game mechanics more, the solution would be to practice the rooms at base.
Nice to know the feedback was of some use to you.