If you've played any other Metroidvania, just think about hitting a load screen for every single screen transition and you can quickly realize why that can be a real downer. The visuals also feel like they have too much motion blur on them or some kind of video compression effect that just leads to a muddy look. Maybe someone out there can find some enjoyment here and have fun with its edgelord protagonist and odd design choices, but this was just not a game for me.
I really appreciated the simple gameplay loop of going on a run, finding cool familiars, and figuring out the best order to put them in. I didn't feel bogged down by the systems cause I knew no matter how good or bad a specific run went, I'd still be coming out of one with some currency to work on the next upgrade I wanted. I would have liked some optional modes now that I'm finished with Little Noah, like a daily challenge mode or something, but I still had a fun time and recommend it to anyone curious.
There are even a few times where it recommends you play with an adult. But with the overly hand-holdy approach to some of the gameplay, I fear a lot of younger kids would quickly lose interest when there's a lot of downtime due to control being taken away or a lot of dialogue. I still think the game has some fun moments that made me chuckle and features a lot of great hand-drawn art, but I find it hard to recommend this as the best option for the first game for a young child.