Thanks for playing! Interesting comment on the metroidvania feeling. For us, the biggest defining factor for a metroidvania is a non-linear gameplay loop with ability gated progression. What we did here to play around with the formula was compress this loop into smaller stages, a la wario land 3, with some world-level changes as you progress such as the gravity ability switch and the conveyors. Hence why you might have gotten that puzzle feeling!
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Fair enough.
Like I said, though, there’s also the lack of other living (or, sentient) things that’s at play too. Like, at least in all of the classic entries in the MetroidVania style that I’m aware of, there’s a shared vibe of the levels and layouts to have a sense of lived-in-ness. Different titles get there in different ways, respawning enemies, bits of environmental storytelling, or littering audiologs or scans around a map.
Especially because the puzzle elements tended to get reset on a per-stage basis, they almost felt more like powerups than upgrades.
Speaking of the conveyors specifically: That reminded me of Super Mario World (SNES) and the switch palaces, heh.
It is interesting to see how playing with the formalisms of a game changes the feeling of it.