I would liken this a lot to Ori and the Will of the Wisps.
Sequels to some of the most popular metroidvanias with obviously larger budgets and a lot more polish, but also leaned harder into typical Metroidvania design, definitely borrowing more from Hollow Knight, simultaneously creating a better game while also losing a lot of its identity/what makes it unique. There could definitely be an analysis of this phenomenon and one day when I have a gaming youtube channel I'll probably make it.
While I do think this game is simultaneously better and worse than the first because of its increased incorporation of MV elements, the thing that put this over the edge for me is the combat. I found the combat a lot more fun and compelling in this game than the first, particularly the boss fights. While the boss fights in the first game were visually incredible, they weren't that compelling gameplay-wise, whereas I thought the boss fights in this one were insanely fun. It's the combat that makes this game better than the first one for me.
Sequels to some of the most popular metroidvanias with obviously larger budgets and a lot more polish, but also leaned harder into typical Metroidvania design, definitely borrowing more from Hollow Knight, simultaneously creating a better game while also losing a lot of its identity/what makes it unique. There could definitely be an analysis of this phenomenon and one day when I have a gaming youtube channel I'll probably make it.
While I do think this game is simultaneously better and worse than the first because of its increased incorporation of MV elements, the thing that put this over the edge for me is the combat. I found the combat a lot more fun and compelling in this game than the first, particularly the boss fights. While the boss fights in the first game were visually incredible, they weren't that compelling gameplay-wise, whereas I thought the boss fights in this one were insanely fun. It's the combat that makes this game better than the first one for me.