this is my favorite platformer, which is saying a lot for me.

i have a youtube video where i talk about this game, though that was made by a 15 year old trying to be funny (who's also really wrong sometimes), so i'll more or less relay my thoughts again here.

a spiritual successor to Super Meat Boy, TEIN is Edmund McMillen's greatest work in level design, coupled with what i would say is near-flawless tight movement.
one of the greatest strengths of the game is that it always shows you the entire level you're in at the moment, letting you evaluate your possible moves before you go and execute them.

TEIN's levels largely avoid annoyingly inconsistent obstacles which tended to plague the latter half of Super Meat Boy, while doubling down on the precision without in practice making the levels just a repeating series of narrow spike tunnels, as some modern "hard" platformers tend to do.

and as much as i hate using this word, TEIN can be very charming. for as little time that we get to know Ash, i freakin' love the guy. though as you'd come to expect, the environments in The End Is Nigh are largely depressing, harsh and hostile, hammering in the sense of desperation present when trying to trudge through these ruthless levels.

needless to say, i love this game to bits.
i even own a TEIN poster, which is still the only video game merchandise i've ever bought.