The repetitiveness was a big part of the original, too, mostly due to memory constraints, but I think it's part of the charm: the feeling of getting lost in a giant world where you're not sure if you've been that way before. I added some background stuff, at least, to make it a little easier to find your way around, and the second part is a bit more coherent in that regard. As for the save points, they're also right where they are in the original; if you think they're too sparse, I added a lot more in easy mode.