Metroidvania the recommendations thread

HYDE

HYDE

Member
Simple…list the ones you love & your fellow gaffer recommends some to play.

Favorites:
Metroid- Zero Mission, Samus Returns, Super, Fusion, Dread
Castlevania- SOTN, AOS, DOS, OOE, COTM, POR, HOD
Hollow Knight
Ori 1 & 2
Guacamelee 1 & 2
Steamworld Dig 1 & 2
Bloodstained ROTN
Yoku's Island Express

Interested in & not sure on genre (marked with ?):
*Carrion?
*Dead Cells?
*Ender Lillies
*Fist
*Have A Nice Death?
*Hyper Light Drifter?
*Jotun?
*Messenger?
*Record Lodoss
*Strider
*Sundered?

Really want recommendations for consoles as I have all those systems. Please mention any I haven't listed also, especially if similar to my favorites.
 
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I wouldn't recommend Iconoclasts and Timespinner. Story from both is kinda cringe. Timespinner has a good soundtrack, but character design and dialogues are garbage imo.

I would recommend Mummy Demastered. Pretty fun game with a charming retro music.
 
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The entire Castlevania catalog alone could take you a year or more to get through.

But in terms of games which are exactly like it, Bloodstained was made by former Castlevania producer Koji Igarashi as a spiritual sequel to Castlevania SOTN and it is basically a graphically modernized remake of that game. It's also notable for being one of the very few crowdfunded games during that Kickstarter era which turned out to be good.
 
love this, its all I think about especially after finishing Prime.

Darksiders 1 & 2 id def reccomend, even if 2 strays from the formula MV
 
Vampire Master of Darkness on Game Gear. Use to be available on the 3DS eShop. I backed Timespinner. I dropped it and played SOTN. For whatever reason I just didn't want to replace that SOTN feeling. Record of Lodoss War is good, somewhat repetitive. Death's Gambit was not bad either.
 
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I literally just finished playing through Infernax tonight. I thought it was pretty good. Kinda equal mix old Castlevania with Zelda 2, but as a Metroidvania.

Lots of cool secret stuff in it as well.
 
Unknown Soldier said:
The entire Castlevania catalog alone could take you a year or more to get through.

But in terms of games which are exactly like it, Bloodstained was made by former Castlevania producer Koji Igarashi as a spiritual sequel to Castlevania SOTN and it is basically a graphically modernized remake of that game. It's also notable for being one of the very few crowdfunded games during that Kickstarter era which turned out to be good.
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Super happy for your response but you should probably read my first post.
 
Grime, Minoria, 8Doors, Aeterna Noctis, Islets, Hob, Alwa games, Blue Fire, Kunai are some not mentioned.

Many of those like Axiom Verge and FIST are must play. Timespinner, The Messenger, Ender Lilies, Record of Lodoss War Deelit are really good too.
 
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Souls game are the best 3D Metroidvania games for me (Metroid Prime was my previous favorite)
 
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HYDE said:
Super happy for your response but you should probably read my first post.
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So many people in this thread should read your first post. It's crazy to be suggesting all sorts of games that you said you already played! Anyhow, Super Metroid is pretty good. You should try that.

Okay, real answer. Shadow Complex. It was quite good for its time, and felt like a love letter to Super Metroid. I also do think Iconoclasts is pretty good. That was one of the last PS Plus titles to be given away when they generally did two PS4 games and two PS3 or Vita games.

Two other suggestions would be the original Salt and Sanctuary and Dust: An Elysian Tale. The former if you like having some souls-like with your metroidvania, and the latter if you like the idea of a Don Bluth cartoon as a metroidvania. It also has some really fun combat, IMO.



 
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LegendOfKage said:
Dust: An Elysian Tale.
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Boy there's a name I haven't heard in a long time. Wasn't the dev a GAF member during the time he was making the game? Maybe it was another forum I used to go to. Everyone constantly complained about the furry art style, but I'm glad he stuck with what he wanted to make, even if I don't really dig it either. It was a fun game.

Also, OP, if you haven't played any of the Shantae games, first of all, shame on you. Second, these were my favorites:

 
Of the ones you listed, I would recommend Axiom Verge 1 & 2 over everything else. AV1 in particular is a masterpiece.

Timespinner and Iconoclast are a waste of time. Do not bother with them.
 
how is Blasphemous not on the list?

also


Beat it and loved it, even despite some balance issues that have apparently been resolved in later patches.
 
As per usual, I will continue recommending Escape From Tethys.



This is an actual Metroidvania, not just calling it because it has 2D side scrolling. Super Metroid and Megaman had a baby.
 
HYDE said:
*Have A Nice Death?
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This one is more roguelite than it is "mertroidvania".

I'll throw my recommendations in the hat for some of the lesser talked about games in this genre:







I'm yet to purchase and play it but Unsighted is also meant to be pretty good.
 
I have beaten hollow knight, axiom verge, iconoclasts, blasphemous, two ori games

Hollow knight is absolutely best for me.

Blasphemous: play it, and with all the DLCs. it is so good. Great story too. And a sequel is on the way.

Iconoclasts: great art style, good setting and good gameplay, very bad writing.
Ori 1: good indie experiment and for me, the chasing sequences are very annoying. They ran out of ideas and just threw in chase sequences wherever a boss fight is needed.
Or i 2: take Ori 1 and throw a ton of money at it. The end result is a good game and you can tell they really tried not to use the too many chase sequences…but could not resist at several spots. Give them the credit this, the chase sequences are better this time, although I still am not a big fan. And yeah they copied hollow knights's the skill system (this comment triggered their dev so much and had quite lengthy fight over at the other site)….

Axiom Verge 1: good game overall but very bad boss fights.
 
I'm usually playing any 2d Metroid once per year, sometimes prime series as well. other than that, castlevania sometimes.
 
Saber said:
I wouldn't recommend Iconoclasts and Timespinner. Story from both is kinda cringe. Timespinner has a good soundtrack, but character design and dialogues are garbage imo.
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Having played both games, I can definitely agree with this. Timespinner soundtrack is god-tier though, even if the inspirations are obvious. Definitely worth listening to the OST at least.

I would recommend Team Ladybug games Luna Nights and Lodoss. Good gameplay, no bullshit. Also Momodora (Reverie) was pretty great (the one I have on Xbox, not sure of the other episodes).

Otherwise I strongly recommend both Curse of the Moon games. They are not Metroidvanias, but still offer a ton of replayability and many branching paths and endings.
 
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I'm dying for a deep and engrossing 2d metroidvania.

Some of the ones I've really enjoyed are:
Ori 1&2
The Mummy Demastered
Chasm
Metroid Dread
Axiom Verge 1
SOTN
Steamworld Dig 1&2
The Messenger

What didn't really grab me:
Iconoclasts (fell asleep during this one)
Hollow Knight
Guacamelee
Dust: An Elysian Tail

What I'm interested in:
Blasphemous
Carrion
Axiom Verge 2
Have a nice death (seems like a roguelite and I kinda not gel with those)
FIST
 
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You already mentioned the essential ones I wanted to say, but I want to echo all 2D Metroid (especially Super and Dread), both Ori games, both Guacamelee, and Hollow Knight.
 
I can help out with Jotun since I played it - it's a top-down boss rush game, kinda like Shadow of The Colossus but without climbing. It's not really a Metroidvania.

Axiom Verge 1 and 2 are straight up Metroid clones. They're great.

Dead Cells is a roguelike metroidvania. Roguelikes aren't really my cup of tea but it's a really well made game in terms of visuals and combat. I just wish the progression was linear because it's a beautiful game.

Carrion is also really fun. Very unique take on the genre.
 
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Here's a couple I enjoy and they should be on the consoles too. I Wouldn't play Souldiers on the Switch as that's apparently running at 30fps, so get it on Playstation or PC. Batbarian is great, but further into the game the difficulty ramps up to La Mulana levels and the fun factor starts to suffer.
Wuppo is strange in a good way and I return to it occasionally, the 95% user score is well deserved.






 
I really recommend Ender Lilies. This game came out of nowhere and I fell in love with it after a few minutes.

The gameplay is great and can be challenging, the aesthetics is wonderful, the OST is absolutely incredible and the level design is more than solid.
 
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The Last case of Benedict Fox seems very interesting as well and is a metroidvania with lovecraftian elements that releases this month. But Ori, Hollow Knight Metroid Dread, Sundered and The Messenger are all very good.
 
RGB'D said:
The Last case of Benedict Fox seems very interesting as well and is a metroidvania with lovecraftian elements that releases this month. But Ori, Hollow Knight Metroid Dread, Sundered and The Messenger are all very good.
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I totally forgot that is coming out. Damn it's getting sweaty this year.
 
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