Yeah the demon meter was something we didn't really get to balance out, since we were so tight on time (game was submitted real late, due to some issues trying to get the link and all that)
I toned it for the sake of being completable, but I wanted the demon meter to be more ruthless. And we kinda thought we'd have a bit more time to add a boss that would of pushed it's use alot. Though I do really like the suggestions, since it makes the demon meter feel more like "living on the edge" rather than "instant doom"
Though if you saw my other game I was working on, you'd know I rather enjoy the feeling of "A curse to die" quite a bit. Though that one is more long form.
Anyway, yeah enemies basically die in one hit because I didn't get enough time to actually buff enemy health. Which caused some enemies that really needed more to basically be glass cannons. Though it was meant to be extremely strong to incentivize use, especially with it's more unique wall piercing utility. (I wanted to make the player less fearful at the start, increase that confidence so they don't get scared away from using it straight up. But tweaks needed to be made)
Anyway, the animations and level design are all on Mallvmo this time around. So I won't speak on that.
Thanks for checking our game out.