It’s not just the platforming, either; the enemies are incredibly well-designed to slay you. I had gotten quite far and took a break for months and then when I returned to it when I was in the difficult, bottom-left region of the map, my skill had deteriorated so much from my pause that I died within 10 min. Then I died again when trying to reclaim my last corpse’s stash, which made me perma-rage-quit the game.

It is just so diabolically difficult that by that point I didn’t find it fun any more. There is just something about melee Metroidvanias that I can’t stand; I’ve tried many. I absolutely love the relentless treacherousness of Noita, which somehow feels so different when you can keep your distance when firing at foes.