For what it's worth, I do not think that the difficulty is a bad thing. The difficulty-to-fun ratio is more art than science (and highly subjective), but I like when my games have something to work towards. Even games where the main goal is coziness and chill vibes. Challenging, not frustrating is the goal. And I think you guys did a good job of achieving that here.
I do intend to come back and get the rest of the items, but there's only so much time in the day haha!