Loved the retro music.
A lot of options were locked with no clear feedback on how to unlock them or knowing if they can be unlocked at all. Maybe they should be removed if they can't be used since it feels odd to try them in vain.
I died in my second combat just after a level up, it felt anti-climatic.
In case it helps I want to point you to some games that use a retro text-based aesthetic combined with more modern elements like crt filters, more usage of color, 3D-like rendering or evolving graphics to a latter era after some time. I feel a lot of time the screen is mostly plain black color or too abstract graphics, maybe you can borrow some art elements from more modern games.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3302080/Effulgence_RPG/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1269950/Buddy_Simulator_1984/
I think the map based combat has a lot of potential, it was interesting. It would be nice to have more elements like obstacles, terrains and maybe a more contrasting and menacing color for the enemies.