26 hours later, I got the true ending for Ender: Magnolia.

Excellent metroidvania.
Medium difficulty is just above average, meaning I had to customize my gear for certain bosses, and not just use my exploration build all the time, but I was rarely frustrated from failing encounters.
Controls are good, and hit boxes feel fair.

I missed metroidvanias that aren't 2D Darksouls, not everything has to be so brutal that I have to memorize enemy patterns and animations, they're no longer enemies at that point, they're state machines.
It takes me out of the game.

Thankfully Ender Magnolia was not like that.

9/10 much recommend

@coded_artist the obsession with making every game ball bustingly difficult was already bad enough when it started over a decade ago. Feels like every other game is chasing that now. Like how am I supposed to immerse myself in a world if I keep getting destroyed and then punished for it? Not my thing at all.