Even if it's a great and clear upgrade to the first chapter, from the gameplay to the exploration, I still think that the first one was the best of them to my taste.

I found it quite a little bit too easy until the last section of the game, and quite a bit shorter than what I expected. Take into account that this last remark is more of a feeling by comparing to the first one with all the DLC included, so it's probably more my fault than the game.

Aside from the comparison with the previous title I enjoyed all the game had to offer and I would clearly recommend it as a really good metroidvania. I found the balance of the game a bit on the weak side, the exploration and the base enemy are way too easy and I played the whole game, probably aside from the final zone, without a true risk of death outside of boss and combat challenge arena. This fact in particular affects the most the feeling of the game compared to the first one. Probably balancing out the damage output of some weapon and of normal enemies would help with the game feeling itself.

One last notice should be made about the cutscene, I preferred the ones in pixel art from the previous title.