12 thoughts on “Saturday Morning Gaming: Metroidvanias

  1. I was a massive fan of Castlevania while the vast majority of my friends were into Metroid and Rygar (which, I suppose, was more akin to Ninja Gaiden than Metroid). Not really sure why that was…I suppose it was a combination of not wanting to compete with my friends in trying to beat Metroid and preferring the D&D-adjacency of Castlevania. And I never played Simon’s Quest…

    I, also, believe I have Hollow Knight floating around in my Steam collection. Suppose I should check it out.Report

    1. Hollow Knight does not hold your hand. I’m not calling it a “soulslike” or anything like that because, so far, I haven’t needed twitch skills as much as mere hand-eye coordination and puzzle-solving abilities.

      But it dumps you into the world and tells you “go nuts” without explaining what nuts are.

      I’m having a blast and have only had to google “what in the heck do I do now?!?” once (the answer involved using a down attack on the purple mushrooms).Report

  2. Hollow Knight is great. It was one of the first non-console games I had played in a long time and one of the first I got from Steam, and the fact that it was cheap and not in shrinkwrap made me assume it was going to be a trivial thing, but it was quite deep. And definitely difficult, at least for an average gamer like me — I did defeat what I assume was the “final boss” but there were other battles available that I knew I had no chance at.

    I struggle sometimes with these game genre definitions though — to me, a “metroidvania” suggests not just the features you mentioned but also a 2-D platformer, i.e. something like original or super Metroid (I never played the “vania” part of the term). I would never have considered any of the Arkham games to be metroidvanias, though they may have some metroidvania-like elements. But I understand my own definition is not the only valid one — I’ve sometimes found that out the hard way by buying a game listed in that category that totally did not feel like an MV to me.Report

    1. The “Can a MV be 3D?” debate has resulted in many broken hearts and broken bones, but I think that it absolutely can be.

      That was one of the big eye-openers for me in the first few hours of Arkham Asylum. The fact that they translated it to 3D is one of the (many) reasons I love the game.Report

  3. Metroid Prime was a pretty good argument for “Metroidvania can be 3D” up until the last, I dunno, 20%? And then I guess it wasn’t so much a counterargument as just I stopped enjoying it (never played either sequel), though I did grind my way through the endgame. For me, at least, if it’s got that “somewhat nonlinear world / sometimes backtrack with new tools” motif going on, I’m happy to file it under Metroidvania, particularly if it seems like it emphasizes exploration over combat.

    If my memory doesn’t fail me, I think the last one I actually finished was Timespinner (interesting, only has a mild case of Kickstarter syndrome), but I want to shout out Astalon: Tears of the Earth as a slightly older-school take on the formula.

    As for what I’m playing now: I’ve been trying to play more strategy games, which at the moment means revisiting Civilization IV and dipping my toes into Age of Mythology: Retold. I’m also slowly working my way through Legend of Heroes: Trails From Zero.Report

    1. One minor rule that Hollow Knight seems to be bending is the boss fight. You should have to hit a boss three times. Maybe the vulnerability point is hidden behind an unbreakable shield for 20 seconds and so you have to dodge for a bit… but then the shield gets lowered, you hit the point, the boss yells. If you don’t want to do it like that, GIVE A HEALTH BAR.

      I find myself asking “HOW MANY HIT POINTS DOES THIS GUY HAVE?!?” every time I fight one of the bosses and he keeps not freakin’ dying.Report

      1. That sounds about right from what I’ve seen of Hollow Knight (I think I beat the first boss and got slightly into the second area at some point, but only sort of remember the start of the game).

        I wonder if there’s some perk you get and can spend equip slots on at some point to make the health bar show up.Report

        1. I’ve gone through Hollow Knight a few times now (my first file is at 112% completion with something like 125 hours played) and have various other playthrough at different progress amounts.

          Sadly, there is no charm that shows enemy health bars. You just got a upgrade your nail and then keep smacking. Once the Boss falls over panting/immobile you’ve landed enough hits to stun them and either hit them for actual damage or get in bonus hits. (I’m someone who gets caught up in watching the health bars drain during Boss fights, resulting in taking damage cuz I’m not paying attention. so personally I like the no health bars, but that’s me.)

          There are ways to further enhance your nail with charms (there are some killer charm combos.) You have a charm that hits harder, one that hits faster, and a few that extend reach/push back. You can also get summons to help out by attacking enemies.

          I will say this though, Hollow Knight (IMO) is a bad game to play blind. There are just WAY too many things to get, find, places to explore etc ..
          Maybe you enjoy beating your head against a wall trying to figure out where to go next, but for my first playthrough I used a guide after a while.Report

          1. I have cheated a couple of times. I was stuck at having 3-of-4 mask pieces and looked up the ones I missed and, apparently, I missed a boatload.

            So I’m going back and getting them and hoping that maybe I’ll find something that will let me upgrade my nail because, seriously.Report

  4. Currently I’m playing through Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist. It’s pretty good so far. A bit on the easy side though, I think I’ve only died 10 or so times, with two of those being from platforming mess-ups, 2 from bosses, and 6 or so times from regular enemies. The exploration is pretty weak on this game. The map system is FANTASTIC, but it’s let down by very little backtracking. You get multiple exploration enhancements but they are underutilized. It’s much more combat focused than it’s predecessor, which was pretty combat heavy. The different amount of builds you can make is pretty cool, but I’ve found myself sticking to a handful of the 30 different weapons/powers you can unlock. The story is easier to follow in this one as well. The side characters are interesting, especially the different Homunculi. I’m currently rating it as a 7/10.Report

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