This is definitely your classic 2D Metroid game with some high-anxiety inducing moments when you deal with the crazy E.M.M.I. bots. Just don't expect the usual Morph Ball right away. Had a blast playing through all the different environments and getting the new story (which from what I can tell seems to take place after Metroid Fusion).

This is a fantastic game. One thing I found interesting for the physical copy is it actually comes with a small instruction manual! Something I haven't seen in ages with really fun art and information inside.

The game has this interesting mix of platforming combat, weapon/armor crafting + material gathering, and rice-focused farming simulator. There's a season + day/night cycle through the game. During this time you grow rice in what seems to be a fairly accurate in its steps from growing and planting seeds, tilling, managing fertilizer, dealing with pests and other complexities during the process. You'll want to get better at growing this rice as time goes on because it not only provides you with the ability to make good food to buff Sakuna, your main character, but also determines the rate of natural stat growth. The better you grow the rice, the more powerful she becomes.

You will revisit areas to perform objectives to unlock new areas, gather materials for crafting, and gather food to keep yourself fed and provide temporary buffs for your exploration. You'll learn new abilities for both combat and farming to deal with the multitude of enemies and boss fights that I swear has decent AI as I noticed they would change their fighting style each time I would die and come back for another round. I'm fairly surprised at how much complexity is actually packed into this game. I recommend giving it a try.