Super lineal, which is the opposite I look for in a metroidvania. Has about 6 areas that you have to beat sequentially, needing to clear the boss before moving on. Map design offers the bare minimum, some connections here and there but most stuff is self contained and again, barely makes use of the metroidvania format. There's a few notable unlocks, but you get them all pretty early.

Combat is centered around the time stop / grazing mechanics it introduces, which are a nice gimmick in the beginning, but later become tedious because of how much the gameplay is dependent on them, and how little variety there is outside of it. Variations of how time stop affects enemies later in the game does not suffice to make it more interesting, but rather has the opposite effect of making it more convoluted.

Boss fights are the most serviceable part of the game, but it's not worth playing through just for them. Perhaps better to rid yourself of the metroidvania convictions despite the game's claims of "heavy emphasis on exploration" and think of it as a platformer, but it even accepting its linearity, it's still underwhelming to go through the maps and rooms.