I asked this a while back in the JRPG thread, but if you were going to suggest ten Metroidvania games to someone relatively new to gaming, what would you suggest?
Would you want to demonstrate the historical progression of the genre (so starting off with something like Super Metroid, then including Castlevania:SOTN, for example)?
Lets see some general recommendations.
It depends. If you want them to fully understand the genre then yeah, it’s probably important to have them start at the beginning.
However, most of your modern Metroidvanias have REALLY come a long way from those old games.
I can barely play SOTN anymore because the movement is so damn slow I find myself getting annoyed.
So if you want them to experience the progression start with the past. If you just want to show how good the genre is then I’d suggest sticking to more
modern games.
So ten modern ones to show off
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Guacamelee
Hollow Knight
Axiom Verge(this can pull double duty because it is very reminiscent of older games but still plays more modern.)
Timespinners
Shantae and the Pirates Curse
The Messenger(another kind of double duty one)
Chasm
Dead Cells(mix a little rogue like in there)
Ori and the Blind Forest
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Munkus BeaverYou don't have to attend every argument you are invited to.Philosophy: Stoicism. Politics: Democratic SocialistRegistered User, ClubPAregular
so, touhou games, they're not really that, the actual touhou games are all bullet hell shooters. But the maker of those games freely allows anyone to use the IP to make and sell their own stuff because its popularity is based on fanworks, so there's tons of unofficial spinoff games in all sorts of genres like Luna Nights being a SOTN-like.
But getting super in depth with genres is always dumb so if you think it’s a Metroidvania that’s all that matters
Eh, I'll just file it under JRPG. The umbrella is both big enough and I still like everything under it.
Been a while since I played a good Metroidvania. I did pick up Fallen Order on sale recently though, once someone told me it was both a Soulslike AND a Metroidvania since you unlock abilities that let you access new areas to explore.
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L Ron HowardThe duckMinnesotaRegistered Userregular
Must a Metroidvania only be 2D?
If not, I'd recommend Journey to the Savage Planet
One that I have not played that I mean to is Yoku's Island Express. Got it during a bundle on sale some time ago, but haven't made any time.
For someone new to Metroidvanias I'd probably recommend Guacamelee. It's colorful with a simple but engaging story, and does a good job of making clear on the map things you can unlock at new points.
Or Yoku's Island Express, the pinball mechanics might be hard to get into, but the art and world are super engaging, and there's no actual death in the game, so it might not be as frustrating.
I mostly agree, but I find it hard to point my gun outside default and move around and swap between missiles and supers and I dunno if it's just a git gud moment or I could configure the controls to be more innovative.
I mostly agree, but I find it hard to point my gun outside default and move around and swap between missiles and supers and I dunno if it's just a git gud moment or I could configure the controls to be more innovative.
It does have kind of obtuse controls for aiming diagonally and switching subweapons yeah
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BroloBroseidonLord of the BroceanRegistered Userregular
super metroid might be the best looking game on the SNES?
I asked this a while back in the JRPG thread, but if you were going to suggest ten Metroidvania games to someone relatively new to gaming, what would you suggest?
Would you want to demonstrate the historical progression of the genre (so starting off with something like Super Metroid, then including Castlevania:SOTN, for example)?
Lets see some general recommendations.
Super Metroid
Metroid Fusion
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Hollow Knight
Ori (either one)
Guacamelee
Shadow Complex
For a very new player, I think one of the Metroids or Shadow Complex would be the smoothest start, as those were undoubtedly many people's first try at the genre.
I don’t know that I would recommend a metroidvania to someone new to gaming until they feel comfortable with platformers in general. They tend to be difficult and often obtuse.
We suffered through as kids because ALL games were bullshit when a lot of us were kids.
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The GeekOh-Two Crew, OmeganautRegistered User, ClubPAregular
I think having an interconnected game world primarily gated by transversal based abilities is the only real qualifier you need to be a metroidvania, but genres are pretty flexible concepts.
I don’t know that I would recommend a metroidvania to someone new to gaming until they feel comfortable with platformers in general. They tend to be difficult and often obtuse.
We suffered through as kids because ALL games were bullshit when a lot of us were kids.
castlevania 2 was still kinda mind blowing for me, I mostly watched my brother play it, but the idea of being able to go back to a town in a side scroller was just crazy to me, and then you could talk to people!
but then we got inevitably stuck at all the parts you would get stuck on as a kid playing CV2 (yuba lake), and since it was the early 90s, there was no way to look any of this shit up
I think we finally came back to it in like 1999 or so with a FAQ, and by then he was able to beat it in a single sitting
Oh man watching that video reminded me I wrote a funk band medley of Castlevania bangers, and then also rearranged it for brass band (2 scream trumpets, bari sax, ear-splitting boner and slappy sousaphone) and my favorite performance of the latter was marching in a small town parade while wearing T-shirts for my friend’s mom who was running for county auditor
Bloody Tears with 2 badass scream trumpets and the Harmony of Dissonance name entry with thumping bari/trombone will fuck your earholes good I tell you what
Content warning for Axiom Verge: if you are not ok with literally everything around you being alive, pulsing, dripping, you are in for a very bad time.
It's me, I'm the person that had a very bad time with Axiom Verge.
I don’t know that I would recommend a metroidvania to someone new to gaming until they feel comfortable with platformers in general. They tend to be difficult and often obtuse.
We suffered through as kids because ALL games were bullshit when a lot of us were kids.
I think this is kind of bad? If someone isn't interested in the game, yeah those things might turn them away. If they find it intriguing, those will end up being net positives that hook them. It's a really weird assumption that 80s and 90s kids could figure games out by playing them a bunch, but it's impossible for modern audiences to do the same.
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It depends. If you want them to fully understand the genre then yeah, it’s probably important to have them start at the beginning.
However, most of your modern Metroidvanias have REALLY come a long way from those old games.
I can barely play SOTN anymore because the movement is so damn slow I find myself getting annoyed.
So if you want them to experience the progression start with the past. If you just want to show how good the genre is then I’d suggest sticking to more
modern games.
So ten modern ones to show off
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Guacamelee
Hollow Knight
Axiom Verge(this can pull double duty because it is very reminiscent of older games but still plays more modern.)
Timespinners
Shantae and the Pirates Curse
The Messenger(another kind of double duty one)
Chasm
Dead Cells(mix a little rogue like in there)
Ori and the Blind Forest
I liked it for what I played of it, but the balance in that game is pretty bad.
I struggled to get to stage 3 the vast majority of my runs. Then I just got one specific skull and I one shot every zone past 3.
I just replayed it for the fourth time it's one of the best.
I played MOST of Sundered then the very last level just kind of killed it for me and I ended up quitting
Crosscode is fantastic but I can’t quite call it a Metroidvania. I’d call it more of an action/adventure game
Never played any other Touhou games and as far as I know it's the only one that's a metroidvania.
Eh, I'll just file it under JRPG. The umbrella is both big enough and I still like everything under it.
Been a while since I played a good Metroidvania. I did pick up Fallen Order on sale recently though, once someone told me it was both a Soulslike AND a Metroidvania since you unlock abilities that let you access new areas to explore.
If not, I'd recommend Journey to the Savage Planet
One that I have not played that I mean to is Yoku's Island Express. Got it during a bundle on sale some time ago, but haven't made any time.
Or Yoku's Island Express, the pinball mechanics might be hard to get into, but the art and world are super engaging, and there's no actual death in the game, so it might not be as frustrating.
Owlboy I bounced off of pretty hard, but a lot of people seem to like it.
I really wanted to like Chasm, but it was okay at best. The randomization was a neat idea but it needed a lot more variety than it had at launch.
I mostly agree, but I find it hard to point my gun outside default and move around and swap between missiles and supers and I dunno if it's just a git gud moment or I could configure the controls to be more innovative.
Also I enjoyed Carrion recently
It does have kind of obtuse controls for aiming diagonally and switching subweapons yeah
like part of me is still in awe of how confidently they nailed the atmosphere and look back in 1994
it really manages to evoke the creepiness and exploration element of Alien/Aliens but translate it into a 2D sidescroller on a console
This comment confuses me and this is not the only place I've seen this before either. What is it about Super Metroid that is not a metroidvania?
Similarly, I've often wondered whether Zelda 2: Adventures of Link is sort of in the category of part adventure, part RPG, part metroidvania?
Super Metroid
Metroid Fusion
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Hollow Knight
Ori (either one)
Guacamelee
Shadow Complex
For a very new player, I think one of the Metroids or Shadow Complex would be the smoothest start, as those were undoubtedly many people's first try at the genre.
I think that’s a joke, right? It has to be the ur-Queen of the whole genre
We suffered through as kids because ALL games were bullshit when a lot of us were kids.
I mean, the very existence of the Metroid Prime games kinda answers that question.
Those games are phenomenal.
That being said, if I absolutely had to choose between them, on the whole I prefer 2D MVs.
I don't think this is a beginner's Metroidvania, but I do think it's a good'n
castlevania 2 was still kinda mind blowing for me, I mostly watched my brother play it, but the idea of being able to go back to a town in a side scroller was just crazy to me, and then you could talk to people!
but then we got inevitably stuck at all the parts you would get stuck on as a kid playing CV2 (yuba lake), and since it was the early 90s, there was no way to look any of this shit up
I think we finally came back to it in like 1999 or so with a FAQ, and by then he was able to beat it in a single sitting
Just imagine
It's me, I'm the person that had a very bad time with Axiom Verge.
Metroid Prime is both an FPS and a Metroidvania
Super Metroid is both a Platformer and a Metroidvania
Both are also Science Fiction and arguably horror?
2003 internet refused to believe things could be more than one thing
Was joke
I think this is kind of bad? If someone isn't interested in the game, yeah those things might turn them away. If they find it intriguing, those will end up being net positives that hook them. It's a really weird assumption that 80s and 90s kids could figure games out by playing them a bunch, but it's impossible for modern audiences to do the same.