The metroidvania thread

[Turbo Kid]

I used to hate the term "metroidvania" but it's become so commonly used that I've just accepted it. What are some of your faves? There is always some debate over what truly qualifies as a metroidvania. Don't stress over it with your choices. I won't make a fuss LOL Here are some of mine:

 

[eyixon]

Guacamelee is so fun. I'm playing the first one before i go to the sequel. There's another one called Afterimage. I played it for a few hours but stopped because i was having so too much fun with Guacamelee.

 

[Bonkers225]

Always loved the Turrican series if those count. Also Metal Warriors. The modern Blaster Master 1-3 were great too.

 

[PSVitaForever]

I clearly remember I played "Batman" on PSVita, and enjoyed it though I don't like the modern Batman very much; my only other "Metroidvania" has been a real Metroid, "Samus Returns" on 3ds. I'm not very much into this genre, though.

 

[dropsmegamega]

I am a big fan of the Castlevania series, even the less popular GBA titles. Plus I liked Bloodstained a lot too. But other than that I can't say I am really into the genre, whenever I try those other SotN inspired indies and whatnot I end up disappointed somehow.

 

[Tonberry]

As shrimple as that.

 

[Yousef]

All Metroidvania fans should absolutely try momodora. It’s also my favorite 2D game of all time.

 

[mortuz]

It's the reason why metroidvania got popular

 

[PhrawzT]

As shrimple as that.

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Super Metroid will always be my favorite, followed by Symphony of the night.

Started playing Harmony of Dissonance again on Friday and forgot how good it was.

 

[Vexicrypt]

I don't play a lot of them because they tend to be samey in a lot of ways, but I guess the ones I actually finished and enjoyed would be my farovite. So here you go:

 

[Isegrim]

The Castlevania ones and Infernax are my actual favorites but since no one mentioned this one yet...

On Steam though, you'll need to fiddle with the steam controller set up to make the d-pad useable for controlling your character unless you opt for the analog stick...which is unlikely since there's this horrific (but mercifully, optional) testing ground to get a certain power if you want to 100% it and frankly, a stick will most likely never cut it.

But whether you're playing console or PC, this is one of the harder ones.

 

[Clippy]

 

[eyixon]

It's the reason why metroidvania got popular

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Indeed. I haven't finished the original game yet. There are two awesome new mods: "Scarlet Alternate Symphony" and "Rondo of the Night".

 

[Yousef]

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This is delisted from steam but the keys for it are still fairly cheap. It’s still on the psn store though.

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I haven’t finished this but i remember it being pretty hard. Bullet hell stuff trips me up.

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Never heard of this. I’ll check it out!

 

[PSVitaForever]

I don't see "Velocity 2X" so I will mention it (@Spike if you want it would be a great addiction for the Vita, I played it when it came out in physical version): there's a ship and it plays more or less like the first "Velocity" on PSP (linked), but there are parts in which you play as the girls inside caves, enemy factories and things like those, and the maps are A BIT like Metroid (2d platform). It's a bit stretched to make this comparing, maybe, but it's worth to check it out.

Velocity (USA) PSP ISO – RGT Repository

Velocity (USA) PSP ISO Game ID: NPUZ-00252. Languages: English. For Sony PlayStation Portable.

retrogametalk.com

 

[Graw]

Super Metroid, Hollow Knight, Axiom Verge, Aria of Sorrow, Order of Ecclessia, AM2R, Symphony of the Night, Blasphemous 2, and Salt and Sanctuary are probably my favourites. In that order. I also enjoyed HAAK and Afterimage but Afterimage dragged on way too long. I also thought Animal Well was pretty cool when I played it but I'll probably never play it again. I also really enjoyed Crystal Project which is a jrpg with metroidvania style world progression in the form of rideable mounts with different powers.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

I have been bamboozled by Guacamelee thinking it was a standard platformer yet I liked it since it had beat'em up elements.

Yoku's Island Express is also neat if you like Pinball (but like me, got bored from standard flippers) and it looks absolutely beautiful (I almost wish a DKC game had that art style). The story is cliche but still neat.

Monster Boy is a great successor to Wonder Boy (especially The Dragon's Trap which was also a Metroidvania in a way).

I still need to try F.I.S.T.

 

[Caped_Plumber]

Legendary status: Symphony of the night

Symphony of the night is one of the greatest games of all time in my view. It did so much so well without feeling like it was a chore to put together. A gaming masterpiece. It released during the dawn of 3D games - some of which are the earliest examples of games attempting to adopt a more cinematic approach. And yet symphony of the night is the quintessential video game. If you’re a kid of the 80s or 90s or a fan of that era of games, you’ll understand. Symphony has such an accessible, pick up and play quality to it while also being an expansive adventure. There is no 2D game world / map that has ever come close in my view. Phenomenal controls and mechanics. Many “ah ha!” moments when you find an ability or item and think “yes! This is what I needed!!” (Spike boots, mist, bat, etc)… brilliant puzzles weaved into the game world and which aren’t tacked on. The puzzles are integrated into the world so well that they are a part of the world experience… I feel that symphony is one of the final masterpieces of the classic (and quintessential) video game… a time when games were very video gamey rather than being cinematic…

Legendary status: Super Metroid

I have to admit but I haven’t completed super Metroid yet!! But I’ve played and gotten far enough to recognise its greatness.

It is interesting that the two games that inspired an entire genre are still the best of that genre.

Phenomenal games:
- Demons Crest
- Aria of Sorrow
- Deaths Gambit (afterlife)

Excellent games:
-Dawn of sorrow
-Portrait of ruin
-Order of ecclesia
(they just couldn’t match the quality of symphony or even aria of sorrow but they were still very good). While these might feel derivative, when considered by themselves, they’re all excellent.

I’ve tried some of the more modern Metroidvania and I couldn’t get into most of them. There was one or two that I enjoyed quite a bit and both are visually very impressive:

- Blade chimera (I preferred this)
- deedlit in wonder labyrinth

Check out a game called Satgat: the devil within

Tomba doesn’t feel like a Metroidvania to me but it has some things in common. It’s fun adventure - but not always forgiving.

And while it’s not a Metroidvania AT ALL, if you haven’t played Katana Zero, check it out. Very cool game. I just have a feeling that Metroidvania fans might like it.

 

[Rocket2049]

Tevi, from the creators of Rabi-ribi, it's freaking wild and super metroidvania styled, very fun one of the top Metroidvania's ive seen.

Bloodstained is a very fun game, if you liked any castlevania metroidvania game (especially Aria/Dawn of sorrow specifically)
ps don't get it on Switch its (still) broken, PS4 game works fine, and PC

Guacamelee 1 and 2 are very fun in 4 PLAYER LOCAL COOP THE ENTIRE GAME, i can't stress that enough it makes the game so much more fun

also check out the recent Shinobi Act of vengance, it's metroidvania ish with backtrack to old levels to find new stuff.

 

[DrunkGecko]

shovel knight and shantae and the pirate's curse are my faves

 

[Muftie2809]

About Metroidvania games, I'm not exactly love it, but I played few of them.

I started discovering it out of accident while browsing a new game to play; Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, J2ME version.
At that time, I never know the game was a ported version of the DS version (as I never have it before), and I'm really impressed with many things, specially seeing how the mapping system works on the 2D platformer-ish games.

The second game I tried is the prequel of Dawn of Sorrow itself, the ported version for older mobile phones (or J2ME); Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. The game is... quite stuttering by low framerates, but I managed to complete it without any single clues what's going on. Comparing with the two, while this one is worse in graphics, but it managed to provide slightly more contents to the game.

And then, many years of silent, I got a new phone (which still used to this date, even for writing this), and knows about emulation, I tried Metroid Fusion. At my first impression, I have no idea about the story, and after playing it a bit, it looks like some overly sci-fi games (which I'm not into it that time), but I immediately love it as this one can be a horror game by being chased all around by SA-X when least expected. About how hard it is, it's decent. It took me few times to beat the final boss, but I did it.

After that, I tried the other Castlevania games. While I like Portrait of Ruin, I think Order of Ecclesia is much more worth mentioning for some reason.

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia is an interesting one for me. I love the glyph system, and as well with different maps to play (even though it's not as good as how Portrait of Ruin implement it). I sometimes saw few comments that mentioning how hard Order of Ecclesia is, but for me, it's not really that hard, as I managed to beat Dracula the second time without weapon/magic with light attributes.

I think that is all I can pour my thought about Metroidvania games. I did played much more of them, but it's probably just a rom hacks, so I don't want to mention it here.

Thanks for reading up to this point, and have a nice day out there.

 

[breremarer]

Ohhh I love metroidvanias! I happened to get both Metroid Fusion and Castlevania: COTM for the GBA back near release, and they ignited a real adoration for the genre in me, and it persists to this day.

All Metroidvania fans should absolutely try momodora. It’s also my favorite 2D game of all time.

I've never heard of Momodora, but the art style is gorgeous! I'll give it a shot!

My all-time faves:
Metroid Fusion, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, Bloodstained, Symphony of the Night, and probably Super Metroid. They're just undeniable to me, even with their shortcomings. Honorable mention to the Blasphemous games! They can be really frustrating, but man their art design and world are just so memorable and gorgeous.

Last year I also played an indie metroidvania roguelike called Withering Rooms, which I really liked. I haven't quite beaten it, but I thought it was a really excellent game for a solo-dev. I'm currently playing Hollow Knight for the first time, because of all the Silksong hype, and it is fuckin great. It'll probably move into the all-times before I'm done with it. Right now I'm just having a blast!