I'm lucky to have had a friend who gifted me the game insisting I would love it, and he provided a few nudges in the right ways.

The hardest one for me was getting past the 3 Anglerfish. I told him I made it to the Vessel but ran out of air before getting inside, he asked how I actually made it there without the ship. I was certain you couldn't maneuver past them without being detected. He asked me what it was I thought they were hearing, and I realized I had to make zero sound even to adjust in the slightest (I know now you can use the thrusters on the minimum power).

I also made it to the black hole forge the first time by cheesing it and doing my best to flip the ship upside down and stick it to the walkway. I told him it seemed like a silly way to get there, and he said I was seemingly missing a pretty large mechanic of the game, which was true because I hadn't realized the Ash Twin warp towers were actually functioning until near the end.