Thread 101: Metroidvaniae - The Bear and Badger

RamSteelwood

afgavinstan wrote:

Okay I'm about to taste my own medicine. Ahem. Hollow Knight was shite.

yeah. i mean, shite is prob harsh in the context of a well made game, but i don't get the love at all. dull and boring would be my judgement

SpaceGazelle

It's got all the best bits from Super Metroid but controls way better. Also SM is a little too easy. Combat in HK is hard but fair. Plus it has the souls thing.

davyK

yourfavouriteuncle wrote:

I find that a really astonishing attitude. Don’t mean that in a shitty way but writing off nearly all contemporary games because of that staunch view is madness. We all like what we like ofc but that’s just dismissing like nearly all video games of the past two decades. Admire the strong stance but it’s not for me.

It's not a staunch view - well - OK - maybe it is.

I've tried playing mainstream modern games (well - OK - back in the PS2/GC era) and as soon as a cut scene pops up I inwardly die a little bit. It comes across as a product of a frustrated film maker and it just isn't for me. Particularly with narrative led games, there are times I will leave a game and on returning to it after a few days have no notion of what I was doing. I suppose the fact that I have left it for a time means I haven't found it engaging. I much prefer reading a book or watching a film to playing that type of game.

Ultimately with modern environmental games I get stuck running around the same small number of locations until I stumble upon something and see something I've missed. It just turns me off. I can't handle twin stick controls in first person games either. Last FPS I played was Doom 2 and I enjoyed it immensely. A big factor was the level design but also the fact that I didn't have to look up and down. I have tried playing with keyboard and mouse and I was able to handle that fine but again I just can't be arsed roaming around looking for a key or the macguffin to progress.

I'm still stuck in the past I suppose , preferring the arcade style experience. I get pleasure out of grinding a level in a shmup over and over again until I have it beat.

I play to feel - it's a feeling I get with certain types of game - feeling the rhythm of a level that one usually only gets with repetition. I remember one of the levels in HOTD : Overkill - think it was in the hospital and it had a superb sense of rhythm and timing - felt great.

RamSteelwood

davyK wrote:

I find that a really astonishing attitude. Don’t mean that in a shitty way but writing off nearly all contemporary games because of that staunch view is madness. We all like what we like ofc but that’s just dismissing like nearly all video games of the past two decades. Admire the strong stance but it’s not for me.

It's not a staunch view - well - OK - maybe it is. I've tried playing mainstream modern games (well - OK - back in the PS2/GC era) and as soon as a cut scene pops up I inwardly die a little bit. It comes across as a product of a frustrated film maker and it just isn't for me. Particularly with narrative led games, there are times I will leave a game and on returning to it after a few days have no notion of what I was doing. I suppose the fact that I have left it for a time means I haven't found it engaging. I much prefer reading a book or watching a film to playing that type of game. Ultimately with modern environmental games I get stuck running around the same small number of locations until I stumble upon something and see something I've missed. It just turns me off. I can't handle twin stick controls in first person games either. Last FPS I played was Doom 2 and I enjoyed it immensely. A big factor was the level design but also the fact that I didn't have to look up and down. I have tried playing with keyboard and mouse and I was able to handle that fine but again I just can't be arsed roaming around looking for a key or the macguffin to progress. I'm still stuck in the past I suppose , preferring the arcade style experience. I get pleasure out of grinding a level in a shmup over and over again until I have it beat.

i deffo understand this view and feel similarly. not ALL narrative games though, and those that do it well can help elevate things. but i have very little patience for games with lots/long cutscenes and or games that require lots of talking to random people in the hopes of triggering the next thing.
i'm not a schmup fan either but deffo still like games to be about 'arcade' gameplay first and foremost. too many modern games feel padded out with busy work and grinding for my tastes.

ChopperByrne

Davy I assume you've played the two brilliant Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon games?

Just ignore Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, and you'll be grand.

davyK

I'm convinced I've missed out on some great experiences but we can't have it all.

ChopperByrne wrote:

Davy I assume you've played the two brilliant Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon games? Just ignore Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, and you'll be grand.

Those linear CVanias?

davyK

quick google...

Oh - didn't know about these!

I've still got Rondo of Blood to complete too.

afgavinstan

Re: HK. Art direction didn't grab me, felt the jumping was too floaty, combat not chunky enough, backtracking & exploration felt more a chore than a wonder. Just didn't like, never felt compelled to go back after about 4-6hrs maybe?

I'm being hyperbolic with "shite", it's just not amazing like folk say, imo.

afgavinstan

Ori is HK but with a art direction and visual style I actually like.

LivDiv

Why has the thread title got an 'e' at the end?
Keep reading it like its the bit they change each episode in the Animaniacs theme tune.

We're Animany
Totally Insaney
Metroidvany
Animaniacs!

davyK

Daughter#2 has Ori for Switch - looks gorgeous.

Moot_Geeza

*Presses buzzer*

"Isaac Newton?"

Moot_Geeza

davyK wrote:

Daughter#2 has Ori for Switch - looks gorgeous.

It's a wonderful game too. Very, very good platforming controls. Almost undeniably the best actual platforming in the MV genre, I'd say.

afgavinstan

I thought it said Metroidvanaise at first.

Dark Soldier

Moot_Geeza wrote:

davyK wrote:

Daughter#2 has Ori for Switch - looks gorgeous.

It's a wonderful game too. Very, very good platforming controls. Almost undeniably the best actual platforming in the MV genre, I'd say.

Metroid Dread wins that accolade

Moot_Geeza

Forgot about that. It doesn't, but it's closer than most.

Paul the sparky

LivDiv wrote:

Why has the thread title got an 'e' at the end?
Keep reading it like its the bit they change each episode in the Animaniacs theme tune.

We're Animany
Totally Insaney
Metroidvany
Animaniacs!

LivDiv

Hahaha

acemuzzy

LivDiv wrote:

Why has the thread title got an 'e' at the end?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_declension#First_declension_(a_stems)

SpaceGazelle

The robots in Dread were rubbish. Good game though.

LivDiv

acemuzzy wrote:

LivDiv wrote:

Why has the thread title got an 'e' at the end?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_declension#First_declension_(a_stems)

Dumb it down a bit. Some of us went to state school.

hylian_elf

acemuzzy wrote:

LivDiv wrote:

Why has the thread title got an 'e' at the end?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_declension#First_declension_(a_stems)

Let's not get bogged down in, erm, small trivial details. (Wish there was a word for that.)

monkey

Minutias.

EvilRedEye

Metroid Dread isn't a Metroidvania, it's just a Metroid.

Minnesänger

Vania.

LivDiv

More a mint choc chip man myself.

Moot_Geeza

Vanianetta is the best of both worlds. Exploration and posh tits.

monkey

Explore 'em ups.

yourfavouriteuncle

davyK wrote:

yourfavouriteuncle wrote:

I find that a really astonishing attitude. Don’t mean that in a shitty way but writing off nearly all contemporary games because of that staunch view is madness. We all like what we like ofc but that’s just dismissing like nearly all video games of the past two decades. Admire the strong stance but it’s not for me.

It's not a staunch view - well - OK - maybe it is.

I've tried playing mainstream modern games (well - OK - back in the PS2/GC era) and as soon as a cut scene pops up I inwardly die a little bit. It comes across as a product of a frustrated film maker and it just isn't for me. Particularly with narrative led games, there are times I will leave a game and on returning to it after a few days have no notion of what I was doing. I suppose the fact that I have left it for a time means I haven't found it engaging. I much prefer reading a book or watching a film to playing that type of game.

Ultimately with modern environmental games I get stuck running around the same small number of locations until I stumble upon something and see something I've missed. It just turns me off. I can't handle twin stick controls in first person games either. Last FPS I played was Doom 2 and I enjoyed it immensely. A big factor was the level design but also the fact that I didn't have to look up and down. I have tried playing with keyboard and mouse and I was able to handle that fine but again I just can't be arsed roaming around looking for a key or the macguffin to progress.

I'm still stuck in the past I suppose , preferring the arcade style experience. I get pleasure out of grinding a level in a shmup over and over again until I have it beat.

I play to feel - it's a feeling I get with certain types of game - feeling the rhythm of a level that one usually only gets with repetition. I remember one of the levels in HOTD : Overkill - think it was in the hospital and it had a superb sense of rhythm and timing - felt great.

Glad you didn’t take it as me having a dig - it’s just the complete opposite to how I approach stuff. I love reading about people’s passionate niches.

yourfavouriteuncle

davyK wrote:

yourfavouriteuncle wrote:

I find that a really astonishing attitude. Don’t mean that in a shitty way but writing off nearly all contemporary games because of that staunch view is madness. We all like what we like ofc but that’s just dismissing like nearly all video games of the past two decades. Admire the strong stance but it’s not for me.

It's not a staunch view - well - OK - maybe it is.

I've tried playing mainstream modern games (well - OK - back in the PS2/GC era) and as soon as a cut scene pops up I inwardly die a little bit. It comes across as a product of a frustrated film maker and it just isn't for me. Particularly with narrative led games, there are times I will leave a game and on returning to it after a few days have no notion of what I was doing. I suppose the fact that I have left it for a time means I haven't found it engaging. I much prefer reading a book or watching a film to playing that type of game.

Ultimately with modern environmental games I get stuck running around the same small number of locations until I stumble upon something and see something I've missed. It just turns me off. I can't handle twin stick controls in first person games either. Last FPS I played was Doom 2 and I enjoyed it immensely. A big factor was the level design but also the fact that I didn't have to look up and down. I have tried playing with keyboard and mouse and I was able to handle that fine but again I just can't be arsed roaming around looking for a key or the macguffin to progress.

I'm still stuck in the past I suppose , preferring the arcade style experience. I get pleasure out of grinding a level in a shmup over and over again until I have it beat.

I play to feel - it's a feeling I get with certain types of game - feeling the rhythm of a level that one usually only gets with repetition. I remember one of the levels in HOTD : Overkill - think it was in the hospital and it had a superb sense of rhythm and timing - felt great.

Glad you didn’t take it as me having a dig - it’s just the complete opposite to how I approach stuff. I love reading about people’s passionate niches.

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