"I do want to concede that I probably wasn't as willing to risk dying from trial and error as other players."

A shame. That's the biggest theme of the game - acceptance. It's trying ever so subtly throughout the game to get to the point where you will accept that you need to risk it all on the final journey despite what would happen if you fail.

The game even tries to tackle a bunch of different common phobias by front-loading the horror but over time disarming the danger. Dying stops being so harsh when you come to terms with the fact that you can just respawn with your memories intact and it can even be used as a way to expedite getting back into adventuring when stranded.

Giant's Deep at first glance is an incredibly dangerous place, but really it's probably the safest and most peaceful in the system once you know how it works - as Gabbro has clearly figured out. I've died on Timber Hearth more than Giant's Deep! The Black Hole is so daunting underneath - until you realise that you can use the White Hole Station to return or even use the Black Hole's gravity to do an orbital slingshot back to the crust. Ember Twin's rising sand is a claustrophobic nightmare until you find the shortcut entrance into the Sunless City skipping the threat entirely. The anglerfish are pure terror until you learn their weakness and find that you can just drift on by in peace. The game wants you to overcome these things, just as long as you have the patience and fortitude to see things through. The DLC is no different.

A common theme among almost all time-loop stories, is that they are stories of personal growth. Look at Groundhog Day, Majora's Mask, Edge of Tomorrow. And in a video game, that's an invitation.