Thanks for playing the demo!
I'll be sure to go through your feedback for future changes. 👍
To answer your questions:
Are there canonical team members?
Nope! The design goal is intended for you to bring your own original characters and experiment with any team composition.
I found f1n3w1 on the second floor. What is this?
That's an exploration puzzle!
Were the spiders meant to be the strongest enemies for the demo?
Yup.
In my first spider fight, I tried to escape for the first time ever and it used spider web to trap me. I don't think I would've successfully escaped regardless but did the game read my input?
The game didn't read your input. Sounds like bad luck to me! 😁
Are there plans for a hardcore permadeath mode?
As of now, there are no plans for a hardcore mode.