After over 30 hours I'd say I'm in quite late game (six Guardians defeated, etc.) but it hasn't been easy, even with occasionally consulting some community hint guides. And in most cases when I finally get unstuck on a puzzle it turns out the clues were already there and I just hadn't put them together to make the solution yet.

For example, I got stuck in Annwfn early on because I didn't realize you could climb the statue, despite the clear hint nearby AND receiving a message from Fobos that not all ladders actually look like ladders. I also got stuck in Valhalla chasing the Trickster around, and somehow failing to notice his latest hiding spot (literally one or two steps away from unlocking the Ankh to fight the boss with), I didn't figure out how to properly navigate the Corridor of Blood (and in hindsight, the clue was RIGHT THERE on the tablet by the door). Got stuck on the Griffin puzzle, because when I saw that falling Griffin-shaped pushblock I thought it was another Lamp of Time puzzle, not a Gale Fibula puzzle (and the hint I looked up gave an impression that you could softlock the puzzle if you did it wrong -- not true, the puzzle can be reset). That's another one that I actually had to look up the solution, then sort of facepalm because I felt so certain assuming the solution was something I was missing, I didn't try experimenting with literally any tool I had (and yes, I did read the tablet that hinted at the puzzle -- I just didn't match it to the puzzle nor arrive at the correct answer). (And the Gale Fibula is not something you can just keep active during your general explorations, unlike basically everything else in your inventory....)

But so far I think the worst thing I've gotten stuck on is the "Song of Paradise" puzzle, because I was sitting at approximately 0G (thanks, Charon) needing to farm out over 1,000G to acquire the song. I'd already collected gold from almost all pots I knew had money in them. And yes, I had unlocked all four Fairies but don't have the ability to summon specific ones, implying my only option was to spend hours upon hours grinding coins from random enemy drops. Ugh! Why?

I found Anubis but he wouldn't talk to me, Ammit was blocking the entrance to the Room of Judgment, Fenrir and Vidofnir are immune to normal damage (though I finally found Balor, why did I never check up on that one room after melting the ice?), don't even think about fighting Anzu yet, it seemed like absolutely all my progress was at a brick wall named either "Cog of Antiquity" or "Lamp of Time". At least I had a rough idea where to start looking for the former, given a few of the available hints and one miniboss room in a peculiar room that zaps you if you try to chant just any Mantra (but I didn't want to spoil myself on looking up the solution, I wanted to find the proper clue first!). I also knew of at least two puzzles involving a Key Fairy but wasn't sure if they'd provide main or lateral progression at this point...

But once I actually got the 1000G together, turns out I was right because a whole lot of things started falling into place one after another! What really broke it wide open was me (re?)-discovering the fairy exploit:
Much like when you summon a fairy in the first game, if you leave the screen before the animation finishes and the Fairy actually appears it cancels the summon, and you can try again immediately. The summoning spot in the Shrine of the Frost Giants is conveniently near the edge of the screen, so I could trigger it repeatedly until receiving the green money Fairy. Then I warped over to that room in Icefire Treetops with that long row of pots to smash, and by the time the Fairy despawned I had collected about 300G. Repeat two more times and now I can go purchase that one item from that one shop, talk to this one NPC about the Song of Paradise, go purchase a different (but still relevant) item from a shop, then finally go solve that dang puzzle and be on my way. (And, hey, there's the clue I refused to look up a guide for!)

I'm making the Hall of Malice my next target for now, since it's alive and hopping with minibosses (and a great new BGM to rock along with). Not exactly sure what I should do after that but I'll worry about it as I make progress.

So that's me. What about you guys?