I think this game does a LOT really well. The bosses all get killed in one hit, but you have to spend attempts figuring out how to access their singular weak spot, which is a fun challenge and is balanced basically perfectly by you also being killed in one hit. My big issue is that the environment is just too big for its own good with no easy/quick way to traverse it, so it ends up being a lot of running to the bosses, only to die within a few seconds because a lot of bosses are supposed to be killed really fast. In a world where this wasn't the developers' first game and condensed the world to just be hallways between each boss, this game would be incredible, but what we get is still a very fun game that I enjoyed quite a bit.

Saves the best mechanic and what I think would have made an incredibly interesting and fun game on its own for essentially one actual (and pretty basic) level and it makes me pretty sad because I think if they did more with it that this game would be really something special. As is though, the level design never got me too interested in its admittedly interesting core mechanics and it ended before it could really shine. Really dug the visual aesthetic of the game though, the levels seamlessly transitioning between each other in this large 3D world was pretty cool.

Basically the metroidvania for me: someone who's not great at action but loves puzzles and exploration. The atmosphere of this game is immaculate, with such a unique visual style to it that really shows the attention to detail put into the game. The world overall is very well designed, with only a select few places where I struggled to figure out what to do, and its well connected enough to where backtracking never felt annoying (altho now that im beginning my postgame egg hunt, that opinion may change). Overall an extremely well made game that can be added to the collection of "games that make me feel incompetent as a developer cuz this guy made something this good all on his own."

I will say that I do actively recommend this to anyone who enjoys sokoban-esque puzzle games, I just have quite a few issues that make it very hard for me to rate it any higher. (I'm still going through beating levels; this just means that I've reached the "ending"). The biggest issue with this game is the fact that the pacing is horrendous, with so many levels that feel like I learned nothing from playing. So many of the main (white) levels were trivial, with the challenge (red and blue) levels feeling far more worth my time. Unlike Linelith, this game struggles to balance its scale with worthwhile content, because what's the point in having 350+ levels when 50% of them are a slog to go through. What edges it above other games that have a similar issue (The Talos Principle II for example), is that there still is quite a large volume of well-designed and intriguing levels. All the mechanics still do get their time to breathe and develop as mechanics before being introduced to anything else, with it building on each previous mechanic very well. For all the issues I have with the volume of levels, there is still quite a bit of really good content here that I think with a good bit of pruning that this game would be so much better.

It's wild how little this game has aged despite being so openly in the public eye for all of its lifespan. Despite 7 years of me engaging with content surrounding this game, all of the emotional, comedic, and dramatic moments of the game hit just as hard. I cried during both my neutral run and pacifist run that I did this time around. This game fundamentally changed how I viewed and interpreted games, yet it hasn't lost its luster at all 7 years since my first playthrough. Forever will be one of the greatest pieces of interactive media to exist.

Oh yea I also finally beat sans for the first time :)

This completion is a LONG time coming (still have one level + 2 medals left but I have assignments to do rn and I'll get to it at some point anyways) as I pre-ordered this and played it literally the moment it activated on my switch. The best and most imaginative 2D Mario has been ever, the only thing holding this back from the perfect 5 for me is the base physics not feeling the best to play at times. The level designers are just, so talented and good at their job, and the wonder flowers are just such a good and fun mechanics where every level felt like a new surprise that almost always blew me away. Just, overall a fantastic game that makes me so happy for the future of 2D Mario after so many years of New Soup games.