/vr/ - Retro Games

>>5048717
Most "metroidvanias" are nowhere near like how a typical Metroid game is played and structured. They all share an interlinked world map, powerups, etc, but most of the time the rooms are VERY basic; just open corridor after open corridor with ramps and shit like that, carried entirely by the prettiness of their visuals. Not often do you find things like semi-precision platforming or nooks and crannies to explore, like you would in a Metroid game. Rooms are typically static, and if there are secret chambers, it's usually behind a very obvious wall you need to break down. The "metroidvania" Castlevania games are a prime example of somewhat-lazy level design hiding behind snazzy visuals. Meanwhile you have a game like Envrionmental Station Alpha, that looks like piss and shit, yet has all that deep, dynamic exploration/discovery/gameplay you typically only see in a game with the Metroid name. Axiom Verge does it correctly as well (even if the game is kinda of piss poor and the bosses are a fucking joke.)


Games like IGA Castlevanias, All the related touhou, indie shit like Chasm and Guacamelee, and Mummy Demastered, etc. are all part of the "EZ League" group of "metroidvanias," and unfortunately that's the majority of what you see these days. Also most of these are so fucking linear in design that they could have just had the game do a stage by stage format and it wouldn't have interrupted the flow at all.