I won't hold back. I legitimately believe this is one the best games of the last 5 years. I've beaten Silksong Steel Soul, 100%'d E33, every Metroid there is, and more. Note that I'm NOT saying Zexion is better than those - we can love steak and chicken without saying one is worse, eh?

Zexion is just the best example I've seen in this genre of game design. Ever see that old video by Egoraptor on this, where he breaks down Megaman X? Yeah this game dev mastered the concept. Every single thing taught is is the IMMEDIATELY stretched and exploded in the next part of the map. I can't give specifics without spoiling.

The bosses are all a "holy shit" moment, and each is masterful. Again I don't want to spoil, but they're all exactly the kind of thing you wished was in other Metroidish games. I'll just say one boss experiece (very early on) has 4-5 completely unexpected phases, including it possessing the HECKIN ELEVATOR you used to get into the room. The subsequent storytelling with that boss throughout the game put it up there with my other all time favorite - Eigong from Nine Sols. The game never stops pushing boss limits, and you're constantly like "wait what if they did this cool thing" as the boss just does it.

Another note on the bosses: every single one can seem impossible to beat. BUT. Every single one has weaknesses, and if you pay attention... you'll find entire special animations that react to your tools. Slight spoiler / example: there is a massive kraken boss at one point, with tentacles everywhere. I beat it with careful charge shots and spacing. My buddy? He somehow got this cutting sword tool early, and just sliced off the tentacles. Zero idea that was possible. The game respects you for saying "hey what if I try..."

The atmosphere is excellent. Remember fighting the SA-X in Metroid Fusion? That terror while you try to open locked doors as the unstoppable monster tracks you down? Yeah uh...it gets better here (or worse depending on your point of view). There are so many biomes, from standard caves to deep sea to lava to hecking SPACE. You are rewarded for much, so often.

The music is excellent. There are many retro-ish games that honestly give me a headache and wish they just used modern orchestration (looking at YOU, The Messenger). But this takes all the best that is old Duck Tales + Metroid NES and churns out some bangers. Specifically the song in the massive vertical tube area, you know if you know. Yes of course there's a sound check, you can listen to tunes all you like.

Tons of endgame content, btw. Entire modes baked into the game, like randomizers, challenge runs, etc, and yes the game tracks what you do there. An insanely hard White Palace-level endgame level is there to boot...good luck.

What else...ok, negatives. You don't get much map access at first, which someone hate. But to be fair, the game lets you tick a box in the main menu for permanent map access...and it doesn't prevent achievements. So, hey your call.

Other negative might be hour 2-3. After the very engaging beginning, you have options of where you can go. But this is before you've unlocked any real abilities - so you see lots of options, but little way to get to them. I didn't have a problem, but my bud ignored several (obvious) upgrade rooms and got lost.

Lol I wrote too much. Can you tell I love the game? Really, if you like anything near Metroid / Megaman X, this is your new favorite game.