Submitted 10 hours ago by CileTheSane@lemmy.ca to games@lemmy.world
I haven’t played a Metroidvania in a while and I’m looking for suggestions of some good ones to try. Some I would recommend:
Ender’s: Lilies (Magnolias is good too, but play Lilies first. The setting and theme hits better.)
Ori and the Blind Forest / Will of the Wisps (Will of the Wisps did bring a tear to my eye)
Monster Sanctuary (a creature capture metroidvania)
Any system is good, interested to hear of other good ones that are out there.
Super Metroid will always be my favourite. I also enjoyed Axiom Verge and Bloodstained ROTN.
I generally like shorter Metroidvania like Iconoclasts and some of the Shantae series or even Yoku’s Island Express which has some backtracking.
The Metroidvania tag is a bit like Dubstep in music, a lot of those Dubstep tracks aren’t Dubstep but they can still be fun for some people.
Ghost Song is one of my favorites that doesn’t look like its been mentioned yet.
Guacomelee should get more love, it’s a really stylish game and there is even coop if you want to play together with someone.
New school: Hollow Knight and Silksong
Old school: Super Metroid
when oldschool is actually more accessible than newschool
More accessible? Please explain.
As in easier?
Hollow Knight didn’t really do it for me so I haven’t tried Silksong yet (I hated not having a map for each area until I purchased one).
I may have to try putting an emulator on my Steam Deck and seeing if Super Metroid holds up.
Super Metroid definitely holds up
If you didn’t like Hollow Knight you probably won’t like Silksong either.
The game is good, and incredibly polished, but feels aimed at the people who 100% the first game and wanted more.
La mulana 1 and 2, animal well for puzzles.
Metroid dread, highly recommend for combat.
Dead cells and rouge legacy two for rouge lite bits
terraria for minecraft + metroidvania
time spinner, bloodsworn for more typical metroidvania
the old castlevania games are on steam, so there is that
almost metroidvania suggestion is Outer wilds. Progression based learning. just not in a 2d plane and no fighting.
Animal Well is stellar
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Just so it’s not forgotten to time I want to recommend AM2R (Another Metroid 2 Remake). It’s basically what if Metroid 2 was made in the Super Metroid engine.
I’d recommend any of the 2D Metroids, but if you’re going to play Metroid 2, that’s the version to play.
Aria of Sorrow
People calling search action games metroidvania is a big pet peeve of mine. No idea why it bothers me. Anyways hollow knight is my favorite, followed closely by silksong.
I was shocked to see no mention of Ori in any of the comments here before I realized you had already recommended it in the OP. I have no issues with seconding that, the Ori series is really good.
I don’t know if it’s “favorite”, but an old classic was Aquaria. It had a surprising amount of content, even to the point of several secret bosses, and an absolutely excellent soundtrack. Sadly, the main guy behind it is dead now. Ori was also fantastic.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. The game so good it created the term “Metroidvania” even though the formula was basically “Metroid”.
Does it hold up well for someone who doesn’t have nostalgia for it?
I still play it once every few years. Love that game. Tons of secrets, dont look at any guides until you beat it, and have explored thoroughly.
You don’t have to have nostalgia for the game to appreciate how wonderfully crafted and expansive it is. It has one of the best soundtracks of any game, period. It has a ton of secrets (including one MAJOR secret) and a couple of extra game modes that enhance the replayability.
I would say the game seems to get better every time I play it. Is that nostalgia or something else? There are a lot of games I played before I had ever seen SOTN, yet I don’t feel the same desire to keep replaying them. I think it’s like a piece of classical music or a great movie. The more you replay it, the more details you come to appreciate. The original Deus Ex is like that for me as well.
Absolutely yes. It’s timelessly good. I played a bunch of the post-SotN Castlevanias on GBA and such and even with the more advanced systems and everything, none of them hit the same. It’s insane how well they nailed it on their first go.
Usually old ps1 games just don’t do it for me, but sotn was one of the two exceptions.
As someone who played later entries first and then went back to SotN, IMO it's a bit rough around the edges in comparison. Still a fantastic game, but I think later games managed to improve on it.
i can tell you the one that surprised me the most: Yoku’s Island Express! utterly adorable pinball metroidvania. you’re a little dung beetle pushing a big ball around to deliver mail.
That one was a delightful surprise. I enjoyed it thoroughly because I’ve always liked digital pinball as well.
Yoku’s is my favorite pinball platformer metroidvania. I don’t hear about many other people playing it.
A few other good ones that come to mind:
Axiom Verge
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Guacamelee
Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight
Rabi-Ribi
A Robot Named Fight (it's basically if super metroid was a roguelike)
Touhou Luna Nights
Cave Story
Also, the Castlevania Advance Collection is there GBA metroidvanias, definitely worth getting if you wanna play/replay any of those.
I haven’t played very many, and these might not be pure Metroidvanias, but I recommend:
I was not expecting to fall in love with tunic! What a great game!
Tunic is so damn good.
Pretty spot on video.
I just ordered the plushy because it’s on sale and I love Chewnic so much. I love the fox.
Played a lot of these in the last two years, with Ender Magnolia and Nine Sols being my favorites among them.
All-time I think I’d still go with Super Metroid, despite its age and having completed multiple playthroughs I still end up playing for hours anytime I boot it.
Honorable mentions for Rabi-Ribi (don’t let the cutesy anime artstyle fool you, this is a fantastic non-linear game with some of the best boss battles in the genre), the recent Momodora games and the Team Ladybug games (with Touhou Luna Nights being my favorite of the three).
Some titles here I haven’t heard before, thanks, I’ll check them out!
The combat in Nine Sols was too difficult for my tastes. Played for an hour or two and made very little progress repeatedly dying to normal enemies.
FYI that Nine Sols has a “Story Mode” that lets you tweak damage numbers (and AFAIK only locks you out of a single achievement).
Rogue Legacy 2 if it counts. If not, Axiom Verge.
Axiom verge had such a cool atmosphere. Never finished the 2nd one, not sure why it didn’t grab me.
A bunch of good ones have already been mentioned (SOTN, Nine Sols, Super Metroid), so I’ll just mention some that were missed.
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (sequel to SOTN, just as good if you can get past the DS touchscreen BS. The new remaster might get rid of it)
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (made by Iga, creator of Castlevania: SOTN, Dawn of Sorrow, and others)
Salt and Sanctuary
The Messenger
ROTN is one of my favorites. I can’t wait for the sequel.
I also love that it has built in randomizer support.
I fucking love the more “linear” first half of The Messenger, but didn’t enjoy the “metroidvania” second half nearly as much.
Still a great game though.
Rope dart and story was great
I leaned the other way, but both were good.
if you can get past the DS touchscreen BS.
I always cry internally when somebody doesn’t like the DS and 3DS gimmicks :(
Thanks to you guys we all will only have Steam Deck clones as handhelds from now on! /s
To be honest I think most of the people that don’t like the touch gimmicks are emulating… But I have heard people with stock hardware complaining too :/
The DS is quite literally the only system that I ever sold going as far back as the Atari 2600. I hate, hate , hate how they forced the touch screen gimmicks for it in games that it didn’t belong. It was the only blemish on an otherwise outstanding game in Dawn of Sorrow. It ruined all of the Zelda games made directly for the system IMO.
Metroid Prime.
It’s insane to me how many Souls Likes could be 3D Metroidvanias if they used special powers to clear obstacles instead of just keys or random triggers to unlock new areas. That’s really the only thing I see that separates the genres.
The Tomb Raider survivor trilogy comes pretty close.
3D games are still pretty difficult for a small team to pull off with a small budget.
I’ve heard High on Life is a metroidvania, but I haven’t played it myself. You’re right that 3D metroidvanias are exceptionally rare.
I suppose it is. 🤔
You have traversal tools, but also the different guns are used to solve puzzles and progression may be locked behind having the right guns.
A fantastic game, and the remaster looks gorgeous.
The option to use bothe joystick was great.
I love this style of game. I always have one on the go. Some times they scratch the itch, others they miss just a bit. I found that the blasphemous series more dark souls than Metroidvania. Biogun, chasm, bloodstained, any of the ori games, haiku, the mummy demastered, turnip boy commits tax evasion, dust an Elysian tale… I have more but that’s a solid chunk. I’d love to hear from others if they do or don’t consider these in the same family.
Do you consider Zelda64 a MetroidVania? If so then Darksiders has that action, similarly control, soul reaver 1 and 2, and blood omen 2.
I haven’t seen Shadow Complex on here yet.
It’s an older title (2009) and even the remastered version is from 2016.
Still one of my favorite Metroidvania type games.
I also really liked Ender Lilies/Magnolias.
Other metroidvanias I’ve really enjoyed that haven’t been mentioned yet are Blasphemous and Vision Soft Reset.
Blasphemous has a really cool theme and is pretty challenging.
Vision Soft Reset is more indie and probably PC only. It has a unique twist to the formula.
Headlander was surprisingly fun. Probably not my favorite, but certainly up there.
Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is a fantastic experience.
Wut.
Looked this up. Can’t believe Record of Lodoss War got a game in 2021. I remember watching the 1990 anime on Toonami’s online-only list of anime at the time, along with Harlock Saga. Both old school AF.
I remember playing the Dreamcast Diablo style game my college roommate had!
Batman: Arkham Asylum. It doesn’t come up a lot, because only that first game is a metroidvania and Arkham City might be most people’s favorite in the series, but it absolutely counts. I love Arkham combat. It’s better in the sequels due to some slight tweaks in game feel, but that combat in a metroidvania is just excellent, and the game is just so well paced. It’s a shame what WB did to that studio.
You know, I’ve always thought of Metroidvanias as 2D experiences - but reading your comment and mulling it over, I have to agree: Arkham Asylum is very much a Metroidvania, and a great one at that!
I loved the scarecrow sequences in that. I would love to play more games the effectively fuck with player but it’s very difficult to look for without spoiling yourself and then you’re expecting it.
Have you played the Metal Gear Solid series? If not, don’t look them up beforehand. And this might seem strange, but for the optimal effect, don’t pirate them either.
Surprised it hasn’t been mentioned yet but Aeterna Noctis is one of my favorites and I have played a LOT of metroidvanias. Some of the platforming sections are quite difficult but there is an easier mode with easier enemies and platforming. It has a huge map and some really cool mechanics I haven’t seen before.
carrion is a reverse horror game where you play as the monster
The only one I’ve played is Dead Cells, and it’s fantastic. I haven’t even bought any of the DLC, the base game is already endlessly replayable. I also listen to the soundtrack at least once a week.
I definitely want to get around to playing Hollow Knight and Animal Well at some point.
Not sure I’d categorize Dead Cells as a metroidvania myself. More of a rogue lite.
I’ve always thought it was both. I’m definitely no expert on Metroidvanias, since I’ve only played the one (if Dead Cells counts as one). I actually thought the term “Metroidvania” was about the movement and combat – today I just learned that it’s about the exploration and finding things. You do at least have to do that in the bank level, if I remember right. And the castle level.
OrionTheElder@lemmy.world 49 minutes ago
So many solid suggestions here already. I have a soft spot for the more retro styled games, and despite being short Gato Roboto is one of my favourites. It just feels so good to play.