Retro Studios' first official foray into games in general is a great game as much as it is a fantastic step in 3D action-adventure that still holds up. There's lots of rocky issues that could've certainly used some ironing out like the world design being interconnected in very aloof uninteresting ways or how simple the mechanics still are, but what's here is still a monument in terms of one to one level design, exploration, and nonlinear worldbuilding. It's also capped off with probably one of a very few metroidvanias that actually requests that you took note of what you saw as you traveled (although not 100% gracefully done with a few keys that are in absolute what-the-fuck areas). While not particularly wowing it still holds such a strong grasp of level design pillars and atmospheric storytelling that it deserves a large part of the merit it gathers.