Now this is a Metroid love letter. I played Axiom Verge earlier this year and it's hard to not draw direct comparisons - with Environmental Station Alpha coming out ahead (in my opinion)

ESA is basically a deconstructed, minimalist Metroid: Fusion, in visuals obviously, but also in narrative and mechanics. In spite of this paring back it manages to cut much closer to the "spirit" of a good metroidvania (or perhaps the paring back just made the spirit more visible)

The story and plot are a bit simpler than Fusion, almost as if to match the lower res graphics. Many pieces are almost directly stolen: a research space station orbiting a subject planet; different sectors of the station dedicated to different biomes; a straightforward system malfunction that slowly morphs into a malevolent sentience wreaking havoc. It's so clearly homage that i immediately forgave it, and the simple text-log presentation activated the nostalgia in my brain without pulling me into judging favourites

Mechanically it's a very traditional metroidvania, and i mean that in the good sense. Abilities are almost always fundamental changes to the way your character moves and engages with the world, rather than disguised key-cards (a small few are this though). A nice feature is the option of turning off individual upgrades in the status screen, allowing the game to have areas that require you to survive without an ability you've come to rely on - it doesn't do this as much as it should've though

One of the divergence points in ESA is over its post game content, with opinions seeming to split sharply in either direction. While everything above does technically describe both halves, it's angled more towards the main game. The post game is much more experimental, adding cryptic puzzles that require lateral thinking, hidden areas that come close to pixel hunts, instant-death dash mazes, and of course, crushing super-bosses and secret endings.

Personally, i lean more towards the less-enjoying camp with this stuff, but i will recognise that this part of the game is just not for me, but for the over-achieving secret hunters who want to squeeze every drop out. The problem (and this is definitely still a personal one), is that a bunch of achievements need me to engage with this half, and so i had to bash my skull against the deadly dash maze for a good hour or so.

Just be aware of this part of the game if you're thinking of diving in yourself, but that ends my PSA about ESA's post game

Otherwise, lovely little metroidvania. It's almost sad that i missed this gem for so long, and that it was only the (recent) achievement addition that brought me round to it