I totally get why some people might be put off by how different this is to the first Axiom Verge. It took a couple of hours before it really clicked for me how incredibly ambitious of a follow-up/prequel this is.

You can't really play these games as normal metroidvanias. To fully appreciate what Tom Happ has created here, you need to read every document, absorb the crazy detailed environmental storytelling, and fill in the blanks using your own brainpower.