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[Spukc]

Sometimes, gaf is not the best place for advice. This is one of those times. Hollow Knight, while yes it can be debated forever, it is one of the best Metroidvania, probably the best. Anyone who says otherwise has most likely not finished it or needs to git gud. Be warned it's a very VERY hard game, the hardest I played especially if you go for the full completion as well as the dlc. The slightly inferior versions that I'd go for are: Salt & Sanctuary(ugly art style), Blasphemous (too short and annoying at times), Ori and the Will of the Wisps(highly recommended), Monster Boy(very easy tho), Bloodstained(a bit boring and generic), The Messenger(not that much of a metroidvania but close enough), both Guacamelee(more platformers than anything else but still fantastic and underrated), etc. You might get bored of the genre if you play so many so since you played the first Ori go with Will of the Whisps and then jump to Hollow Knight. play the others after, it's fine.

 

[anthony2690]

I genuinely thought ori will of the wisps was a lot better than hollow Knight myself, maybe I need to go back and give Hollow Knight another go.

 

[Shadowstar39]

Hollow Knight never clicked for in such a sense I felt driven to complete it.. And I adore the metroidvania genre. Gameplay felt tight enough though (very, very important aspect) If I remember correctly I liked how bare bones and pure it was but maybe that was the same reason I disliked it and became boring instead. Especially aesthetic wise. Reminded me of a flash game.. I prefer the Metroid games, Castlevania (GBA/SotN) ofcourse, Ori, Axiom Verge, Blasphemous, Monster boy and some Shantae titles.

That one 360 game, shadow something.. wasn't it developed by epic? Soldier shoot stuff.. Was pretty cool back in the day.

Shantae? the genie chick in the bikini? They are metroidvania's ? i thought they were just old school platformers.
If so please let me know which ones are as there a lot of those games, old ones and remakes, I don't know where to start.

You talking shadow complex?
Also strider on ps4 is a fun metriodvania, totally forgot about it, as it came out near the ps4 launch

 

[Ladioss]

Shantae? the genie chick in the bikini? They are metroidvania's ? i thought they were just old school platformers.
If so please let me know which ones are as there a lot of those games, old ones and remakes, I don't know where to start.

It depends of which episodes you are talking about. Shantae Risky's Revenge and Shantae Pirate's Curse are definitely metroidvania, Half Genie Hero is more of a classic platformer.

Pirate's Curse is probably the peak of the series, but YMMV of course.

 

[BabyYoda]

Hollow Knight is blown out by pure hyperbole. Game's great, but far from being the best Metroidvania. Being one of the core mechanics of a Metroidvania game the map and its traversal, HK has one of the worsts traversal, map, and awful backtracking that becomes more and more tiresome as the game advances, which should be the other way around.

More subjectively, its non-story ala Dark Souls makes nothing for me.

Totally agreed regarding HK, it got to the point where the game became a chore and so I just quit. I recommend the Ori games, also Outland although it is older as is Aquaria and also Cave Story, but worth it I think.

Also for very different metroidvania type games I recommend the Arkham series, Powerslave EX (or wait for the official release that's in the works), the Darksiders series and the newer Prey, oh and also Psychonauts.

All of those games scratched that Metroidvania itch for me.

 

[DGrayson]

Also strider on ps4 is a fun metriodvania, totally forgot about it, as it came out near the ps4 launch

Ya Strider was a lot of fun!

 

[Isleofsancroy]

I thought it was ok, but as much as this may piss fans off, I'm not a fan of the aesthetic and It takes the enjoyment out. Which to be fair is a problem I have with most indie style games.

 

[bender]

Ya Strider was a lot of fun!

 

[Jigsaah]

Gotta go with Symphony of the Night for best MetroidVania.

Both Ori's are good as well, the sequel better than the first. If you want a Castlevania feel, Bloodstained is spot on.

Hollow Night was great. The arena specifically was really challenging and though I didn't 100% it, you sure get your money's worth out of it. Can't wait for SilkSong.

 

[Sejan]

The map mechanic was very inventive and awesome imo.

To me it overly punished new or less skilled players while offering little benefit to veteran and skilled players. I think there is something to the idea, but the specific implementation didn't work well, in my opinion.

 

[Fbh]

I definitely consider it the best one. It's also the only one in the genre I'd put in my personal top 10.
Really loved everything about it, the gameplay, visuals, bosses, amount of content, awesome exploration, lore, etc.


With that said. I don't think it's SO good that it makes you enjoy other games in the genre less. It just does things that really appeal to me but I can definitely see how others might like other games better. So I'd say just play it.

 

[GHG]

To me it overly punished new or less skilled players while offering little benefit to veteran and skilled players. I think there is something to the idea, but the specific implementation didn't work well, in my opinion.

What's punishing about it?

You literally get led to the map guy near the start of every new area.

 

[Hammerite Zealot]

Not enough love for the Blashemous. Everyone should give it a try.
Also I've seen here a lot of great metroidvanias only one I'm missing is Treasure Adventure Game. Really nice free indie game that also got improved version with better graphic.

 

[Spukc]

resident evil 8 is basically a metroidvania after i finished it

 

[Domisto]

Not enough people have said Environmental Station Alpha. It really is very very good. Atmospheric, fun, challenging, and tightly designed.

 

[Fuz]

Psychonauts.

Absolute masterpiece, but not a metroidvania.

 

[Sejan]

What's punishing about it?

You literally get led to the map guy near the start of every new area.

It’s not always apparent where the map guy is and the death system can easily make new players unable to even afford to purchase the map if/when they find him. There were a few times that I had to grind a bit to afford the map.

 

[GHG]

It’s not always apparent where the map guy is and the death system can easily make new players unable to even afford to purchase the map if/when they find him. There were a few times that I had to grind a bit to afford the map.

After you initially find him in a new area if you cant afford it at that time you don't even need to go back to where he was, the maps become available in the store in Dirtmouth. The game tells you this the first time you run in to him. The maps are also dirt cheap.

 

[BabyYoda]

Absolute masterpiece, but not a metroidvania.

Yeah, maybe that was a stretch, it has one of the tropes though, certain items that cannot reached without certain abilities.

 

[The Cockatrice]

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

Are you talking about the Sega Master system game? Thought that was just a standard platformer, it's a metroidvania?
What platform is that on now? Switch?

Also I would like to say Demon Souls, Dark Souls, bloodborne games should count as metroidvania. They are really 3d versions of SOTN structurally.

I wish Konami got their shit together. Can you imagine a real 3d castlevania game in the same style of dark souls.
Have From develop it and it would make bank.

Yes, I mean the Master System game Wonderboy 3: The Dragon's Trap is a Metroidvania - you can get it on Switch and you can even turn off and on the old music and graphics so you can see what it was like in 1989 when it was first released. It's still great. If you do get to replay it and enjoy it, you may also want to check out Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom.

I love souls games but I don't agree with categorizing them as Metroidvanias any more than I agree with categorizing them as Jrpgs, which is an argument that happens in nearly every Jrpg thread. My reasoning is thus: I would say the Metroidvania genre is defined in part by platforming and mostly by meaningful backtracking based around power-ups. Meaning that your character keeps getting new moves and powers that make previously blocked paths available for them to explore. So in a Castlevania game when you get a low dash kick attack that lets you squeeze through a narrow hole to access new parts of a castle, that's Metroidvania. In Metroid, when Samus gets the screw attack move that lets her jump over large gaps to find new areas and treasures, that's Metroidvania. And this is why I say Wonderboy 3 is a Metroidvania. When you get the Mouse-man transformation, you can climb up the side of walls in areas you've already been to, allowing you to find new shops and secrets and dungeons. And when you become Lion-man you can enter new areas by destroying blocks that are beneath you using the unique arc of his sword swing.

In contrast, while there is a lot of backtracking in souls, it's not based around power-ups. It's usually just good old fashioned being lost or stuck and having to beat a boss to get a key or turn a lever before you can go any further. You don't get double jumps or air dashes or morph ball transformations that enhance your combat capabilities while also opening up previously unexplorable pathways. Someone might try to argue that getting the lantern so you can see in the dark in the Tomb of Giants is a power-up, but I'd say no. It's an item. It doesn't overhaul your combat options. And it's also not the only solution to illuminating the Tomb of Giants - you could learn the "Cast Light" spell off of Dusk of Oolacile, or wear the sunlight maggot on your head. Furthermore, you don't actually technically need any light, as unpleasant as it would be you can get through the Tomb of Giants without light if you know where to go. The barriers that lock people out of progressing in Dark Souls tend to be keys or levers or something similar, and when they aren't, they're not hard locks like a platform that's too high to reach or a hole that's too small to squeeze through without a new power-up. they're just difficulty spikes that can be overcome, as evidenced by people doing playthroughs where they beat Dark Souls with a soul level 1 character.

So yeah. That's my explanation of why souls isn't a Metroidvania. Now let's talk about why it isn't a Jrpg! /jk

I do agree that 3D games can be Metroidvanias though. There's no platforming to speak of in Arkham Asylum, really, but it's full of meaningful backtracking based around power-ups like Batman's grappling hook or explosive gel, which both also expand his combat moveset. And Metroid Prime has both platforming and exploration that features back tracking using power-ups to find secrets and new areas. Prime proves you can make an awesome 3D Metroidvania game, and Hollow Knight proves you can make one incorporating elements from souls, so I totally agree that the potential for an awesome 3D Castlevania with a souls flavour is there. Konami could make a lot of people happy and make a lot of money if they did it right.

 

[ShadowNate]

Hollow Knight was fun for the most part, and I liked the visuals very much. But the controls are not tight. They went for fluid motion which clashes with responsiveness of the controls and sometimes it may not even register key presses.

On occasion it will require precision platforming and then it *can* become the worst thing ever. Especially towards the end, there's a whole section that is pure nightmare which goes for way, way, wayheheeeee too long. And it's a requirement for the "true" ending, so good times.

Some of that kind of platforming is still fun -- outside that aforementioned area -- because it reveals interesting mechanics of the game. A bit frustrating still, but fun.

The grinding is bad but, only in retrospect, it turns out it's not as "necessary" as it initially may seem. And yeah there's lots of backtracking which can get a bit boring -- but I was very late into the game when this particular aspect started being annoying.

I guess I'd recommend Shadow Complex as a starter course. I loved it back when I played it. It has nice visuals, a small-ish map, it's fun and does not overstay its welcome. It's also mostly on the easy side, and you can 100% it without much hassle (yes of course there's backtracking that some times can get frustrating)

 

[Arsic]

The lack of Blasphemous replies is sad.

It's on sale right now on steam.

It's my favorite metroidvania.

I'd also recommend Dead Cells but it is also a rogue like.

 

[Airola]

Special recommendation: La-Mulana 1 and 2. Possibly the best adventure games ever made, but they contain heavy graphic adventure elements and are a nightmare if you expect a “classic” Metroidvania. Recommended only for people with an iron will. Not your everyday Metroidvania, for sure. And each of the two is easily longer than HK.

THANK you!

God damn it, it took 74 posts in this thread to mention the two best games in the whole history of video games.

By the way, new DLC for La-Mulana 2 has just been announced. It's the "Hell Temple" for the sequel.