I think I might know why, looking through your reviews. This game, in the strictest terms, is an old school style beat'em'up, and thus combat is the main focus of the game (practically the sole focus). While you do play games that have big combat elements, most (if not all of them) are more exploration based, or have some other core gameplay loop aside from fighting enemies.

I appreciate the comment and think you might be right. I had a great time playing Streets of Rage 4 and TMNT Shredders Revenge (no reviews yet) and I did feel like I had a bit more freedom with them. Maybe I'm wrong but I felt like in Scott Pilgrim I was limited to 'punch, kick, move on'.

You definitely need to play with your friend, it is obvious that the game is not made for single people to play. Even though I played on the easiest setting, I couldn't pass a certain level.

Not sure how much time you put in, but I just started it and for my first 20-30 minutes of playing I felt pretty similarly. Controls felt super clunky and I felt like it was obviously balanced for multiplayer. But once I started upgrading my stats and getting new abilities it's started becoming more fun. I feel like they did a disservice to new players by starting you off with the walking speed of a snail as well as not explicitly tell you what each upgrade item does (I have a spreadsheet pulled up, lol)

Thanks team, I appreciate all of the feedback. I've got my brother visiting soon, I might see if I can give it another go in co-op and revisit this rating