Absolutely amazing game, might even be my favorite out of the ones I've played and also my pick for winner! Had an absolute blast, the game was very polished, and gets a full score in pretty much every category for me, even if it does end pre-emptively. I see you've already gotten tons of (very deserved!) positive feedback, so I won't try and repeat what others have already correctly stated, and you can assume I agree with practically everything that has already been said about this game.
That said, I only have two real critical notes to make of the game: I was very happy realizing that you could also do vertical staff pokes/slashes, including a downwards one which works very similarly to something like Shovel Knight's. However, I feel like that pogo effect could've had a slightly bigger hitbox, and maybe even work by just inputting the down input instead of requiring the attack button as well, since the hitbox made it feel like I missed attacks that should've landed. The second point I'd like to make is that I'd have loved if there was any kind of map, even one that doesn't show the locations of items would be enough, just one that reminds you of which rooms you haven't properly explored yet.
Other than that, absolutely loved my experience, and would definitely play it again if you ever manage to finish it. Hope your finals went well!