Going to this from Half Genie Hero was a good idea. I enjoyed Pirate's Curse more than I thought I would! The pirate mechanics felt very natural in place of dancing and Shantae's moveset felt very fluid and intuitive. Each new item felt like an extension of her abilities instead of a lock-and-key like the dances could be. That and I didnt have to stand still to transform. There still was a lot of backtracking and guide following for some tricky fetchquests but it wasnt as tedious this time around, either because of my expectations going in from the previous game or because there is genuinely less stuff to collect. I may be done with the game but Jake Kaufman's OST is so hot that I'll be listening to it for a long time! If you're thinking of picking this up, IMO it shouldnt be your first shantae. I feel like I appreciated the game's pirate mechanics a lot more after coming from the traditional dance mechanics. That isn't to say you shouldn't play Pirate's curse, I'd reccomend it to any platformer fan or as a light metroidvania.
Almost forgot to mention that the bosses were actually bosses this time and not puzzles, I liked that a lot :)