This is the Beautifully Dark World of Minoria.
Minoria is a 2.5D MetroidVania developed by Bombservice, the studio behind the Momodora series. You take the role of Sister Semilla, who is accompanied by Sister Anne Fran, both of whom are missionaries from the Church. They set out on a journey to stop a witch's ceremony, but, of course, things aren't what they seem to be.
Minoria is fairly similar to the Momodora series, including the somewhat Soulsborne-ian take on lore and story. Throughout the world, you'll find plenty of lore bits to explore, little lore bits that not only give you information pertinent to the actual journey at hand but also give you insights as to other people in the world that aren't necessarily a part of the main game itself. These sorts of lore collectibles are always nice additions to games.
Exploration
For fans of the MetroidVania genre, the game doesn't really have too much backtracking, nor do you unlock that many mobility abilities.
To be fair, there is some backtracking, but not nearly as much as the average MetroidVania. Many lot of areas in the game are gated off using keys rather than abilities. There are also hidden rooms in the game as well that can be discovered via attacking specific walls. The only issue I could see is that this game has no map whatsoever, no in-game map, and no in-game mapping tools either. So you either have to remember where you need to go or perhaps trial and error. I do think exploration is weaker here compared to most MetroidVanias, but, of course, this is a more combat-oriented MetroidVania.
Combat
You have multiple different options during combat. You have attacks, dodges, parries, and you have access to incenses, which are your magical items.
You start out with one incense, the ability to heal yourself, but as you progress through the game, you can find more and more instances, many of which are either long-range attacks or special buffs. You do unlock new weapons. They're more like stat upgrades than actual, truly new weapons. A few weapons do have unique move sets, though.
The game has multiple different bosses you can fight, each with their own unique strategy and stakes in the story, many of which will completely obliterate you if you're not careful. Additionally, beating a boss without taking a hit will give you an additional optional reward as well, so there is an incentive to master the boss fights.
Conclusion
I do quite like 'Minoria', but it is a bit on the short side. I do wish there was more of an emphasis on platforming and exploration and more meaningful upgrades such as mobility upgrades, but I do think this is a short and sweet MetroidVania. To be fair, the game itself is only $20.
Obligatory Steam Deck section
The game is Steam Deck verified and it runs perfectly. It barely uses any power, and there's practically never a time where it dips below 60 FPS. I didn't even have to change graphical details. What more could you want?
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