So I just defeated Gebel and got a short short cutscene and then a game over message. I feel like there's probably more game here or whatever since I 've barely gone over 50% of the map.. but I dont know what to do! my save brings me right back to before the fight and i did it again and same thing.

I feel like I've missed something sizable but i'm also feeling more than just a little put off about going back in. Did this happen to anyone else? For whatever it's worth i'm playing on a Switch Lite.

Yeah, you got the equivalent of the "killed Richter" ending of SotN. Keep exploring castle and looking for other things to do. It took me a while to find out what the way forward was.

I think this happens to everyone. Personally I suggest just looking up how to advance the game from there. The answer is a bit obscure and while it's a call back to SOTN it wasn't fun to try and figure out for me.

The SotN style Castlevanias always do this. There's a thing you need to do in the final boss fight. There's no shame in looking it up. I imagine you could figure this one out with enough exploration and experimentation, though.

Bad end.

There's a lot more. I recommend just looking it up. Probably something you can figure out by wandering around but I don't remember how vague it was.

There are other areas to play through. Eventually you'll be given an item. Read the description.

Thank you everyone! I've found another area to go and by accident (or high drop rate) i'm able to get around in it.

Good luck and enjoy. I thought Bloodstained turned out great, playing it as a Metroidvania. I hated the crops/food/item quests and didn't finish those.