I'm a long time Metroid fan but by no mean a blind one; I'm one of those who are skeptical of post-Prime 3 games and were sorely unimpressed by Metroid Dread and how simultaneously stuck in the past it was, unheeding of genre evolutions brought forth by games like Hollow Knight or Blasphemous, while simultaneously continuing to misunderstand what made Metroid such a powerhouse once. 

So all of that is to say that I'm not easily impressed and went into this game not caring about XGA's top rated state. After all, many swear up and down that Metroid Dread is amazing and I hate it.

So I can say, without even any hesitation, that this is not just one of the best fan games I played but one that, if it were expanded, I'd gladly pay money to buy and then recommend to people. I can't stress how impressed I am by this game.

The graphics do feel amateur-ish but the amount of polish give them a Hollow Knight style uniqueness, in a way that it take an old school Flash game esthetic and then polish it to something more professional-looking. While the portraits and unsuited human characters do look a bit awkward, I actually like the designs of the enemies, monsters, and characters in general. Our unnamed protagonist is simultaneously a shameless rip-off of Samus while landing in his own identity and feel, which is a middle ground that is very difficult to achieve. And the atmosphere given by the music is top notch.

But all of that is secondary to why XGA is so impressive: what it does with the humble Metroid formula. XGA take a familiar take on it, the Metroid Fusion linear ride, trading exploration for a bit of light survival horror and a wordier and more overt story, and then go into incredibly interesting directions with it. The greatest evolution is that XGA is both far less linear and closer to traditional Metroid, while having much heavier survival horror elements; our unnamed clone trooper is no Samus Aran and it's reflected in your relative fragility. This encourage you to actually interact with the game's less linear nature rather than just rush the story, as to give yourself an edge in your chances of survival, while making save points a relief when you see them. But most importantly, the lesser linearity causes the second half of the game to become absolutely brillant. I won't spoil it in this review, in case Itch reviews are publically viewable, but the less linear design allow the non-scripted survival horror monster elements to actually fit in like a glove.

Something just clicked when I realized that the familiar loops and interconnections of Metroid design made for a perfect playground to play cat and mouse with a survival horror monster, using my abilities to plan out routes and avoid dead ends while listening to sound cues to make sure I'm not running straight to my doom. This propelled XGA from "nice game inspired from Fusion" to "absolutely amazing" to me.

The story and world are also surprisingly interesting. While this ain't Blasphemous or Hollow Knight's ridiculously fleshed out worlds, XGA got a surprisingly dark and gritty dark sci-fi setting that I feel really complement the tone of the game. There is a sense of being alone in a sea of madness, where monsters don't all look like monsters, with your sole friendly connection being one you cling to like a lifeline (until it's taken from you). To be honest, by the time the ending rolled, I was engrossed and wished we had seen more of it through the game.

Is there are any flaws to this? Yes. While the game has a generally great difficulty curve and balance and the feeling of becoming stronger is important and does feel great, the game does swing a bit too far into the other direction by the end. The last few bosses do not have the HP to survive an endgame protagonist's assault and go down disappointingly quickly, especially given how awesome they look. The final boss, however, is one I'll forgive; thematically, it make sense, and I actually enjoyed the turned tables lore-wise and gameplay-wise, where you're now the unstoppable melee-killing character while the boss is trying to keep you at bay with projectiles. Given how it fits into the ending, I actually find it interesting. Likewise, a New Game + mode or harder mode with decreased recovery item drops could be a neat addition.

Overall, XGA blew my expectations to pieces. I expected a smaller fan-made Metroid Fusion with its own amateur but charming setting. Instead, I got a surprisingly lengthy and polished game that legitimately take the Metroid Fusion concept and evolve it into a legitimately interesting direction.

You have done an amazing job and you absolutely deserve every bit of praise you got for your game. I don't know if you'll read this but I definitely appreciate your dedication in finishing it.