A decently challenging puzzle platformer/metroidvania. It's nothing terribly difficult so, for the most part, you're not going to wrack your brain trying to get through game. However, there are issues:

• Color change mechanic is not properly explained.
  
• Game doesn't track lesser collectibles like Orbs and Tears. Major game progression items are recorded but the game is padding its play time by having you backtrack a bit much to rediscover these things.
  
• The penultimate dungeon (Eydie's Keep) and a secret area contain the most frustrating hazard in the game: insta-kill spikes. That, in combination with a gravity flipping mechanic and several jumps where there's barely room for error means having to repeatedly traverse small portions of the area over and over again from the last save point. I get you want to increase the difficulty since it's a late-game area but I think it would have been more reasonable to simply have these spikes deal double damage and warp you to the last safe platform just to make things bearable. Also guilty of needlessly padding the game time.
  
• Adding on to the frustrations of Eydie's Keep are three minibosses whose vulnerability also isn't clearly explained. I'll save you the trouble: it's when they're transitioning from floor to ceiling or vice versa. No other enemy or major boss does this. It doesn't help this miniboss has a deceptively large hitbox and moves and acts quicker than Zoe can react so you wouldn't think to attack during the aforementioned transition because it's so quick.
  
• Not that I'm playing the game for the plot but it was never addressed why Zoe (the protagonist) was brought over to this land or explaining the sudden change from 8-bit to 16-bit visuals at the end of Alwa's Awakening.

Issues aside, it's a decent game to try out if you want something on the short side or something to play between games. Not totally necessary to play the prequel but this does build upon the mechanics so it's probably best to play Alwa's Awakening beforehand if you can.

Runs good on Steam Deck too.

A decently challenging puzzle platformer/metroidvania. It's nothing terribly difficult so, for the most part, you're not going to wrack your brain trying to get through game. However, there are issues: [list] [*] Color change mechanic is not properly explained. [*] Game doesn't track lesser collectibles like Orbs and Tears. Major game progression items are recorded but the game is padding its play time by having you backtrack a bit much to rediscover these things. [*] The penultimate dungeon (Eydie's Keep) and a secret area contain the most frustrating hazard in the game: insta-kill spikes. That, in combination with a gravity flipping mechanic and several jumps where there's barely room for error means having to repeatedly traverse small portions of the area over and over again from the last save point. I get you want to increase the difficulty since it's a late-game area but I think it would have been more reasonable to simply have these spikes deal double damage and warp you to the last safe platform just to make things bearable. Also guilty of needlessly padding the game time. [*] Adding on to the frustrations of Eydie's Keep are three minibosses whose vulnerability also isn't clearly explained. I'll save you the trouble: it's when they're transitioning from floor to ceiling or vice versa. No other enemy or major boss does this. It doesn't help this miniboss has a deceptively large hitbox and moves and acts quicker than Zoe can react so you wouldn't think to attack during the aforementioned transition because it's so quick. [*] Not that I'm playing the game for the plot but it was never addressed why Zoe (the protagonist) was brought over to this land or explaining the sudden change from 8-bit to 16-bit visuals at the end of Alwa's Awakening. [/list] Issues aside, it's a decent game to try out if you want something on the short side or something to play between games. Not totally necessary to play the prequel but this does build upon the mechanics so it's probably best to play Alwa's Awakening beforehand if you can. Runs good on Steam Deck too.