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[thefoolishbrave]

I've been spending a lot more time on these forums over the past 2 months, and it seems to me like I can't bat an eye lash before seeing a new metroidvania pop up. What was the game that sparked this frenzy? Presently I can say I get at least 20% less interested off the bat is I see the term metroidvania in a game. I guess I like fun games but in general the story telling these days is what pulls me in considering many things that can be done in current gaming has been done, and I haven't necessarily known them to be renowned for their storytelling!

[cynicalsandel]

Metroidvanias have been a popular genre in the devlog section the entirety of my time here, and that's near 7 years. (A lot of which never get finished)

You can thank Cave Story (Even though it's relatively more linear), Super Metroid, Castlevania SOTN. I wouldn't say more recent entries have had as much of an impact inspiration wise, but it's possible. It's a niche that's unfulfilled by games with larger budgets. Perfect for indies.

Also, this should probably be in the games section? (edit: topic moved)

[Schoq]

cave story

it obviously got massively popular and its elements seemed simple enough that lots of aspiring young game devs felt like "hey I could do that"

[Photon]

"hey I could do that"

Famous last words, amirite?

I think a big part of it has to do with scarcity. In the absence of a proper Metroid game (which is about to change,) there was an opportunity to meet an unfulfilled need. I think that's part of the reason Axiom Verge took off, personally.

[Schoq]

also 800 not even that good sotn sequels

[Cobralad]

im actually dont see a lot of them, many linear platformers and much more jrpg maker type games.

[Raptor85]

im actually dont see a lot of them, many linear platformers and much more jrpg maker type games.

agreed, for every metroidvania i see theres about 500 of these

[s0]

sick of em

[ThemsAllTook]

I still like the genre a lot, but it doesn't make a bad game good or vice versa. It's just one of many structural patterns a game can follow. I feel like Hollow Knight would still have been just as great with a completely different structure. I found Axiom Verge to be aggressively mediocre, which wasn't particularly helped by being a metroidvania... I might have actually liked it better as a linear run and gun sort of thing.

[Photon]

I found Axiom Verge to be aggressively mediocre, which wasn't particularly helped by being a metroidvania... I might have actually liked it better as a linear run and gun sort of thing.

I'd have to agree with you on the latter part, mostly because Axiom Verge took the whole "getting lost" thing to a rather big extreme.

[Türbo Bröther]

Can something even be called a Metroidvania if it is neither Metroid nor Castlevania?

[Photon]

Can something even be called a Metroidvania if it is neither Metroid nor Castlevania?

Wouldn't you just call those two games by their real names? Wouldn't that mean the only thing worth calling a Metroidvania is something that combined Metroid and Castlevania?

[Türbo Bröther]

Wouldn't that mean the only thing worth calling a Metroidvania is something that combined Metroid and Castlevania?

Well yeah, considering why that portmanteau came into being.

[Schoq]

It started as a nickname for sotn iirc. Castlevania only cloned elements from metroid without improving anything and deserves none of the glory. These games should really only be called metroids.

[Cobralad]

i vote for renaming genre "Xanadash ExilYs 3"

[Razz]

I still enjoy them but they need to be you know, actually good. lots aren't

[solid_snake17]

Amazing, just looking at games like Dead Cells and Hollow Knight that has so much depth in it that makes me realize that 2D platform games can have the potential to position itself in the market to become something even desirable in the future

[Oskuro]

Guacamelee is a pretty good Metroidvania with its own twist on the game mechanics and a very neat art style.

It also has ChozoChuzo statues in it, so it's more Metroid than others 

[-Ross]

It seems like a natural next step for a 2D sidescroller to me. In some early games you had to move right at a constant speed, then later games let you stop, then later they let you go backwards if you wanted. So, being freed from set "levels" and able to explore in any direction sounds cool. But actual implementations tend to just be annoying. The whole forced backtracking thing is such a bad idea. I get the same thrill when photoshop crashes and I realize I hadn't saved it for the last hour or two. You can have fun core gameplay and make good design decisions to lessen the pain, but you're still just making it "less bad".

I really liked Hollow Knight, but after the first several hours I always played it with a full map image open in another window. I imagine it being a huge waste of time to play it without that.

Rain World I actually haven't played as much as Hollow Knight, but I liked the exploration part of it much better. No arbitrary locked doors that you need a special ability to open, you're only restricted by your own skill. (Toki Tori 2 is really good like that too from what I hear.) Sure I did some back-tracking, but it was always my choice. Maybe I wanted to go back to an area because it was a fun playground to fight lizards in, or I just wanted to chillax and eat fruit for a few cycles, or because the Shaded Citadel sucks and I decided to go look for other pathways.

[dspencer]

 

I really liked Hollow Knight, but after the first several hours I always played it with a full map image open in another window. I imagine it being a huge waste of time to play it without that.

Dude, you missed out on an awesome experience. Hollow knight did a really great job of having awesome job of always having something worthwhile hidden *everywhere*. I had a really good time cracking my map open (in game), and looking around and being like "Aha - There's a place I should maybe investigate!" Many times I'd get distracted on the way to what I was trying to find, or I'd wander way too far and then get really worried about finding my way to safety (often times to somewhere ELSE than where I had wandered in from, which is always cool) and constantly just opening new opportunities.

That hollow knight experience is what appeals to me about metroidvanias, really. TBH I think it's probably my best experience playing something in the genre, even over the namesakes.