Thank you for playing! When I decide to work on this game again, I'm definitely either making the starting part easier or adding multiple (easier) levels beforehand, so the player can get used to the controls and the game's difficulty.
For the controls, I have no idea how to make them more responsive, since the unresponsiveness comes from the velocity you accumulate with swinging due to the physics. I think I will try messing with the speed variables a bit, and maybe secretly slightly lower the rope pivot point out of view as you descend, to help with the increased difficulty at higher rope lengths
I also agree that the music can get repetitive pretty fast. Thank you for the feedback!