I restarted this game three times before I beat it.

ESA is one of those games that's just super hard to come back to after a break. Every time I'd start a new file, I'd have a great time breezing through its opening hours before stopping for the day, and realizing a week later that I hadn't played it since and had no idea what I was supposed to be doing anymore. This wasn't helped by the retro-hard difficulty and some obtuse progression. For a while I was reserved to the idea that I would never complete ESA.

I restarted this game three times, and then it clicked.

I've spent some twenty hours in this game over the past three days. It's consumed my time and my thoughts. I dedicated myself to it, and ESA rewarded my investment.

ESA has a ludicrously dense Metroidvania map.
ESA has an atmospheric world that reacts to your actions.
ESA has enthralling, puzzling endgame content.
ESA has difficult, multi-phase boss fights, and tough platforming challenges.

I can't think of much more that I could want from this game. The only issues I have with it are little polish things that are very understandable coming from a lone developer.

I think this game is very much worth your time.