This game made me want to punch my screen.
Then punch myself.
Then punch the person who made this. Repeatedly.

In other words, it accomplishes the goal of the genre beautifully.

Full disclosure: I am not a great fan or expert on the "Unfair Game" kind of experience. Deaths in this game come quickly, cheaply, and without warning.
BUT...
The comedic timing and misdirection employed by the artist made me laugh. A lot. Even as I was shaking my head incredulously and wondering WHY I was restarting once again. There's a real glint of genius to the little sadistic deathtraps, and there's a playful tone to all the schadenfreude.

You learn very quickly that this is one of those games, before you've even left the first screen of the game. And you learn just as quickly that not only can you not trust the game, but you absolutely cannot trust yourself (especially when you start to think you've got it all figured out)

Case in point (with a minor spoiler here): There is a branch laying on the mayor's roof. Walking under it causes it to instantly fall and crack your head open. So you take the meandering long way around, being all paranoid that the butterfly is naturally going to murder you on that path. You take this path at least three or four times, feeling awfully clever for avoiding the branch.
So finally, you make it into the mayor's house, and out, and are all ready to actually begin your journey, so you run out the door with your eyes on the entrance of the town!
........aaaaand the tree branch has moved to the other side of the roof.

I hate this game so much.

Even the battle system becomes a part of the joke on you, with every "random" encounter really acting as a puzzle. Do you fight? Do you run? Are you supposed to be in the battle screen?

To be fair, the game auto-saves and you are sent back to a checkpoint each time you die.
The checkpoints could be spaced a little bit closer together, yes, but they're not too unmerciful.

Overall, I think the game is on a good path. I don't know if I'd have the patience for the full-length version, but I can respect it.
My recommendation? Download this and hand the controller to your friends.
Mind you, they won't be your friends for very much longer.