General Gaming TOP 5 METROIDVANIA GAMES

[stepee]

I’ll start:

 

1) Symphony of the Night - my second favorite game of all time, it’s almost perfect.

 

2) Bloodstained - best kickstarted game so far and despite a rough launch on switch it was closer to SOTN 2 than I thought I would actually get.

 

3) Aria of Sorrow/Dawn of Sorrow - honestly too similar to pick one over the other and both are near SOTN quality and the orb collecting was so good.

 

4) Cave Story - Such a simple game but great story, fun as hell, and just a straight classic.

 

5) Steamworld Dig 2 - Beautiful game that constantly switches up and gives you new ways to play, I think people underestimate exactly how good this game is.

 

YOUR TURN

 

 

[Fizzzzle]

Not a genre I'm terribly familiar with, and I don't know where the line is between side scrolling platformer and metroidvania.

[ShreddieMercury]

Good call on Steamworld Dig 2, that game is amazing.  It's also the perfect length.

 

I don't know if I have 5 of them because I don't typically enjoy these kinds of games, but from what I've played, I would put Ori and the Will of the Wisps at the very top.

[stepee]

Oh fuck I forgot Ori, the first one was so good and I need to go back to wisps, which I played like the first quarter of on both pc and switch so I need to decide which one to go back to now!

 

I don’t think it changes my list but it certainly would make a top 10.

[stepee]

4 minutes ago, Fizzzzle said:

Not a genre I'm terribly familiar with, and I don't know where the line is between side scrolling platformer and metroidvania.

 

Honestly if you don’t try to get crazy with where the definition can and can’t apply it’s not that hard to define. It’s just a platform action game where you have a seamless environment that can be traversed and you gain abilities to reach new areas and go back to old areas to find new places within you can now access. 

[stepee]

Oh, and yes I’ve played Hollow Knight, and yes it’s is perhaps the best in some ways in design and control. It would possibly make it in the top 5 if it wasn’t so damn bloated. They shouldn’t have kept adding to the base game so much and made more separated dlc. The game is so big that it sort of loses its purpose for me and the sense of discovery is less as I just don’t care anymore and can’t really remember why I’m doing this.

[Fizzzzle]

I see. I think the only ones I've played in recent years are Guacamelee and Gris. I liked Guacamelee. Gris is more of an exploration game (you can't die) and platformer, but it does have the seamless environment aspect. I played that game right after my mom died, not knowing what it was about and hoooo boy. I tear up just thinking about it. The game only takes like 4 o 5 hours to run through, but the last half of it was like getting hit by a bus right in the feels.

[stepee]

I do need to try Gris sometime. Not for a good metroidvania because it seems light there but the feels. 

 

Guacamelle didn’t grab me, it seems okay. Iconoclasts is another more modern one I think is really good.

[Bacon]

1. Dark Souls 1

2. Salt and Sanctuary

3. Metroid Fusion

4. Shadow Complex

 

There isn't a 5th one cuz I haven't beaten more than 4 or at least I have forgotten the ones I have beat. 

[dualhunter]

1. Super Metroid

2. Metroid: Zero Mission

3. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

4. Alwa's Legacy

5. Ori and the Will of the Wisps

[CastlevaniaNut18]

For some reason, the non-castlevania and Metroid games in this genre never seem to live up to the games they’re based on for me. I’ve tried so many and they just don’t ever seem to capture the same magic. 
 

Symphony of the Night

Super Metroid

 

Those are the pinnacle, everything else is just gravy. 

[Fizzzzle]

Just now, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

For some reason, the non-castlevania and Metroid games in this genre never seem to live up to the games they’re based on for me. I’ve tried so many and they just don’t ever seem to capture the same magic. 
 

Symphony of the Night

Super Metroid

 

Those are the pinnacle, everything else is just gravy. 

I've yet to play them, but I've never heard anyone say anything bad about Ori, hollow knight, or the messenger. Whether they stack up to SotN I don't know as I haven't played that either

[CastlevaniaNut18]

1 minute ago, Fizzzzle said:

I've yet to play them, but I've never heard anyone say anything bad about Ori, hollow knight, or the messenger. Whether they stack up to SotN I don't know as I haven't played that either

I did mess with Ori and Hollow Night some. They’re certainly not bad games, but they just didn’t grab me like anything Castlevania or Metroid. 
 

I did like Ori enough that I should try to go back to it. 

[Nokt]

Super Metroid

Ori and the Blind Forest

Axiom Verge

Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight

Hollow Knight

 

I didn't want the list to just be Metroid and Ori, so I decided I would limit it to my favorite of the series.

[stepee]

8 minutes ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

For some reason, the non-castlevania and Metroid games in this genre never seem to live up to the games they’re based on for me. I’ve tried so many and they just don’t ever seem to capture the same magic. 
 

Symphony of the Night

Super Metroid

 

Those are the pinnacle, everything else is just gravy. 

 

Didn’t like Bloodstained?

[CastlevaniaNut18]

Just now, stepee said:

 

Didn’t like Bloodstained?

It’s basically Castlevania in all but name, so I didn’t bring it up. 
 

That said, I haven’t finished it. The last couple years or so have been a bit rough with gaming for me. I don’t get into a lot of the stuff I used to love so much. 

[stepee]

8 minutes ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

It’s basically Castlevania in all but name, so I didn’t bring it up. 
 

That said, I haven’t finished it. The last couple years or so have been a bit rough with gaming for me. I don’t get into a lot of the stuff I used to love so much. 

 

Ah, that makes sense, hope you start loving it more again, I got through periods sometimes myself, if I don’t force myself it comes back. At least you included it with the cvsanias, I think Bloodstained 2 is my second most wanted game right now and it’s not even announced.

[Joe]

I really want to try the Ori games.

[crispy4000]

If I’m being totally honest with myself, all three of the Metroid Prime games belong on the list.  Will think more about it later tonight.

[Nokt]

5 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

If I’m being totally honest with myself, all three of the Metroid Prime games belong on the list.  Will think more about it later tonight.

1 is amazing. I never finished 2 or 3 however.

I own the Trilogy for the Wii, but I'd really like an updated version like what they are doing with Skyward Sword as I doubt I'll dig out my Wii, GC, or emulate to play them.

[best3444]

Not a fan of the genre but I did beat SOTN (on the original PS) and played a lot of ori and the will of the wisps. They can be fun but I never actively seek this genre out. 

[crispy4000]

1 hour ago, Nokt said:

1 is amazing. I never finished 2 or 3 however.

I own the Trilogy for the Wii, but I'd really like an updated version like what they are doing with Skyward Sword as I doubt I'll dig out my Wii, GC, or emulate to play them.

 

2 and 3 are both flawed in some minor ways, but at their best are arguably better than 1.

[Bjomesphat]

Since the first 3 are basically a given, imo, I'll give 8.

1. Super Metroid

2. Metroid Prime

3. SotN

4. Blaster Master

5. Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom

 

6. Alien Isolation

7. Super Adventure Island II

8. Goonies II

 

Honorable mentions: Prey, Cave Story, Bloodstained, Axiom Verge

[stepee]

I realize I don’t have a metroid in my top 5 which is kinda funny but Super Metroid is probably 6 with maybe Fusion in the top 10 somewhere also.

[Bjomesphat]

3 hours ago, stepee said:

Oh, and yes I’ve played Hollow Knight, and yes it’s is perhaps the best in some ways in design and control. It would possibly make it in the top 5 if it wasn’t so damn bloated. They shouldn’t have kept adding to the base game so much and made more separated dlc. The game is so big that it sort of loses its purpose for me and the sense of discovery is less as I just don’t care anymore and can’t really remember why I’m doing this.

 

Thank you, I'm glad others think this way. The pacing is really bad, and like you said, it's so bloated. I almost always 100% Metroidvania games, but I gave this one 30 hours and just gave up after that. That's insane for pretty much any single player game that isn't an RPG. I didn't even touch the DLC.

 

I do think the game looks and plays great, but combat and traversal is severely lacking. One of my favorite aspects of Metroidvanias is getting a variety of powerups and interesting ways to traverse. Hollow Knight had none of that. You use the same weapon and charge shot for the whole game. I also love feeling like a total badass by the end of a Metroidvania, Hollow Knight pretty much feels the same for the whole game.

[crispy4000]

Of those I've beaten:

 

1. Hollow Knight

2. Metroid Prime 

3. Metroid Prime 3
4. Super Metroid
5. Metroid Prime 2

6. Ori and the Blind Forest

7. Supraland

8. Guacamelee

9. Rogue Legacy

10. Lost Winds 2

 

Games that didn't make the cut: A few of the portable Castlevanias, Metroid 1/2/Fusion/Other M/Metroid 2, some others I'm probably forgetting.

... Kunai is fun.  I should play it some more.

[crispy4000]

10 hours ago, Bjomesphat said:

 

Thank you, I'm glad others think this way. The pacing is really bad, and like you said, it's so bloated. I almost always 100% Metroidvania games, but I gave this one 30 hours and just gave up after that. That's insane for pretty much any single player game that isn't an RPG. I didn't even touch the DLC.

 

I do think the game looks and plays great, but combat and traversal is severely lacking. One of my favorite aspects of Metroidvanias is getting a variety of powerups and interesting ways to traverse. Hollow Knight had none of that. You use the same weapon and charge shot for the whole game. I also love feeling like a total badass by the end of a Metroidvania, Hollow Knight pretty much feels the same for the whole game.

 

I didn't find the pacing bad at all, but it's very much ruled by a difficulty curve and discovery of unique characters/secrets instead of cool power-ups.  Part of that is a learning curve of what you can do with just the default moveset and skills.  The badges also do a lot to diminish the issue, IMO.  Builds can get very different depending on your focus.

 

Length was a plus for me, though it's definitely not for everyone.  It's kind of like BoTW, in being daunting compared to what the playerbase is used to.  So it's more of the Metroidvania you graduate to (...though not quite as much as La Mulana).  

Still, no game does better with the 'explore the depths' feeling to me.  I didn't touch the DLC either, but that's just because it didn't add new areas to explore.  And the final DLC being notoriously difficult.

[Ricofoley]

Super Metroid

SotN

Hollow Knight

Axiom Verge

Then maybe one of the handheld Iga-Vania's, like Dawn of Sorrow

 

I played Bloodstained within the last couple of months. I liked it quite a bit, but other than looking modern graphically, there wasn't necessarily anything about it made me prefer it to the older Iga-Vania games

[crispy4000]

Some others I forgot ..... Arkham Asylum, VVVVVV and Antichamber.  Those are each fantastic games.  Not top 5 worthy, but maybe top 10.

[Bloodporne]

11 hours ago, Bjomesphat said:

 

Thank you, I'm glad others think this way. The pacing is really bad, and like you said, it's so bloated. I almost always 100% Metroidvania games, but I gave this one 30 hours and just gave up after that. That's insane for pretty much any single player game that isn't an RPG. I didn't even touch the DLC.

 

I do think the game looks and plays great, but combat and traversal is severely lacking. One of my favorite aspects of Metroidvanias is getting a variety of powerups and interesting ways to traverse. Hollow Knight had none of that. You use the same weapon and charge shot for the whole game. I also love feeling like a total badass by the end of a Metroidvania, Hollow Knight pretty much feels the same for the whole game.

I played Hollow Knight for about 25 hours total and realized I had stopped enjoying it at around 15 hours and dropped it. I think there are a lot of fantastic ideas, the soundtrack is beautiful and the controls are great but something about it is just the definition of a 'slog' to me. I think it's the fast travel system combined with overly huge areas, massive amount of content etc...it just didn't work for me for this type of game. 

[Bloodporne]

I can't list all my favorites in a Top 5 but I'll try to narrow it down:

 

1. Metroid Prime

2. SOTN

3. Metroid Prime 3

4. Castlevania Dawn Of Sorrow

5. AM2R 

 

I absolutely love Super Metroid, Zero Mission and many more as well but I haven't played most of those in a long time or nearly as much as that list. Quite a few fans apparently didn't like the fan-made AM2R but it just worked extremely well for me and I've beaten it three times by now. 

 

Obscure nod: 

 

For anyone into this genre, try the Strider remake. It's a really underrated and great remake with fantastic controls and combat. 

[Nokt]

1 hour ago, Bloodporne said:

I played Hollow Knight for about 25 hours total and realized I had stopped enjoying it at around 15 hours and dropped it. I think there are a lot of fantastic ideas, the soundtrack is beautiful and the controls are great but something about it is just the definition of a 'slog' to me. I think it's the fast travel system combined with overly huge areas, massive amount of content etc...it just didn't work for me for this type of game. 

The thing for me was that the developers wanted to focus on exploration. They wanted you to get immersed into the world and get lost in exploring, unlock a new ability, see where you can get to now. The problem is you end up back tracking a lot of areas which feels more like a drag than anything. I also had the issue near the end game that I had absolutely no idea how to get to one of the dreamers. I opened up the map looked at areas I hadn't been yet and started going to them one by one. I've already unlocked so much of the map that it was incredibly annoying, I ended up just googling what I needed to do to move on.

 

That said if you are 25 hours in, you definitely can finish the game and probably could have awhile ago.

[best3444]

I should have put Metroid Prime above. That was so awesome when I beat it at it's initial release. A masterpiece.

[crispy4000]

5 hours ago, Bloodporne said:

4. Castlevania Dawn Of Sorrow

 

That's probably the game mentioned I'd be least likely to consider for a list.  It's, alright?  I don't have any fond memories of it, moreso just grinding for monsters abilities.  Might be the reason I haven't gotten arround to SoTN yet.

Metroid Fusion is another I'm pretty meh about.  Controls are ace, boss fights are great, and SA-X is awesome.  But otherwise, its even more straight-jacketed than Other M was.  Much, much, much too linear.

 

4 hours ago, Nokt said:

They wanted you to get immersed into the world and get lost in exploring, unlock a new ability, see where you can get to now. The problem is you end up back tracking a lot of areas which feels more like a drag than anything.

 

Probably why I love Hollow Knight more than some of you all.  Backtracking across the map comes with the territory with Metroidvanias, IMO.  Otherwise, you might as well make it a game with world map and isolated dungeons, like Zelda II.

The map is quite large though.  So I get the complaints about distant warp points and such.  I could see someone loving Ori but disliking Hollow Knight for that reason.

[Bloodporne]

31 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

 

That's probably the game mentioned I'd be least likely to consider for a list.  It's, alright?  I don't have any fond memories of it, moreso just grinding for monsters abilities.  Might be the reason I haven't gotten arround to SoTN yet.

Metroid Fusion is another I'm pretty meh about.  Controls are ace, boss fights are great, and SA-X is awesome.  But otherwise, its even more straight-jacked than Other M was.  Much, much, much too linear.

I wasn't really into Metroid Fusion too much either. Regarding Dawn of Sorrow, I just remember having a ton of fun with it and it actually had some good difficulty going. I also love Circle of the Moon though.