I've not played much metroidvanias but I've still played some of the prominent ones to know the general structure to one (the most recent have been hollow knight and Nine Sols)

reason for bringing this up is that this was really good for its length all things considered. the game-play felt really nice, nothing significantly out of order with it. the progression was clear and easy to acknowledge, the combat was simple yet effective, the application of parrying made some boss interactions quite fun if not trivial. the bosses felt challenging but fair when compared to the player and I've not really had issue with anything in the game feeling "unfair" to the player. its laid out really well and allows the player to grasp new mechanics obtained throughout the game, even if it be a few.

the art has an appeal to it and it's what initially drew me into trying the game in the first place, its consistency leaves a charm to be appreciated on it

all in all it was great to play through!