/vr/ - Retro Games

>>5048717
Metroidvania implies some manner of RPG statistics

>>5048717
An equivalent would be instead of "Doom Clone", people started calling them "Doom-of-Duty" games. It's equally stupid.

>>5048724
No it doesn't. It implies an open map which is blocked off by barriers which require power ups or items to progress. It can be all action based without any stats, and still be considered a "Metroidvania"

You can thank that faggot Jeremy Parish for popularizing it.

I think it originally referred to the GBA Transylbelmont games that were in the SotN formula (to differentiate from Classicula) , then it just sorta became a blanket term for Metroid-like games

>>5048724
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was originally called "Metroidvania" as a derogatory term because it copied Super Metroid's map UI and item-based progression through an open world. Those are the defining feature.

is banjo kazooie metroid vania

These "genres" named after games are stupid and nebulous.
Metroidvania sounds like a garbled mess, Roguelike is dumb, especially because so many people don't know what it means, and now we have the nonsensical "Soulslike", but that's a /v/ topic.

>>5048823

I'm sure there are plenty of retro games that copied Dark Souls.

>>5048717
Yeah. I fuckin hate words. Metroidvania, belt-scroller, kino... Words like these make me want to assault someone.

>>5048729
>It implies an open map which is blocked off by barriers which require power ups or items to progress.
No, that would just be a Metroid clone. The -vania stems from elements popular in post-SOTN Castlevania, namely some lite RPG elements.

>>5048717
It was coined to distinguish the post-SOTN games from classic castlevania games, then somehow became a blanket term for all games in that genre. It was never intended to imply that castlevania shares half the credit for the genre

Yeah, the correct term is Willyvania.

>>5048727
It's arguably a little more useful in this case because you can distinguish it from momentum based platformers and megaman style games. There's a similar thing with shooters where you have names like "immersive sim" to describe a particular style of game. Both genre names are obnoxious but not useless, they mean the game's levels will large maps you re-traverse for long portions of the game, and both imply some kind of inventory and character progression. If someone says either when describing a game people who've played games in the genres before will know what type of game it is and if they might like it. Although "immersive sim" would probably confuse people nowadays maybe deus ex clone is better

>>5048717
Castlavania fanboys really wanted to keep there series relevant.

>>5048971
>relevant
>series with 20 years of releases

ok

>>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.

>>5048717
Castleroid sounds just as bad.

>>5048836
You might have reading conprehension issues.

>>5048823
I propose the technical term "non-linear dungeon platformer".

>>5048939
This

could be because SOTN was one of the last big 2d games before everything went 3d so I don't mind it also SOTN was just so well done. The main ones i know of before SOTN are zillion, wonderboy 3, impossible mission

>>5049058

It was a joke.

>>5048717
maybe if nintendo made a metroid game more than once every decade they wouldn't have needed to append vania to it to get the point across you idiot

not mine, but explore-em-ups is a pretty boss genre name

>>5049058
or you could be missing the definition of the word joke

>>5048717
>Does anyone else find the term "Metroidvania" to be annoying?
Yes it's an instant turn off. "Metroid clone" is a far more accurate term.
>>5048997
The series died with SOTN.

>>5048717
When all these terms were coined, castlevania was having a major burst of games, as well as SotN being one of the last major 2D games for consoles

It's sad that people regard statistics as "RPG elements"

>>5049413
what games other than RPGs allow you to grind stats?

>>5049424
i should add, i mean RPG in the vidya sense, not the table top sense. no body has been able to replicate actual role playing in a video game yet; that would require passing the turing test.

>>5049110
you're an idiot

>>5048769
No, that's mostly just a collect-a-thon.

>>5049424
>>5049430
A video game doesn't need to pass the turing test to be an RPG because multiplayer is possible.

Also, your question is a fallacy because grinding stats is not inherent in the act of role-playing.

I, too, hate the term 'Metroidvania'. A lazy word that could have represented a totally new type of genre.

>>5048717
I just say "cave walker" because that's all it really really is with or without the shooting

>>5048871
>kino
I fucking hate you people

i always thought metroidvania was a troll term

i still do

>>5048717
Not really but I’m fine with catch all’s as long as we all know what each other means. I know what a jrpg implies even thought not all Japanese RPGs are Jrpg.
Same here. The term tells me what to expect, it’s origins are rather non issue.

I only find it annoying because I've never played a Metroid game and don't know what they're actually like, and I have no idea what saving the animals means.

>>5048717
Both franchises are dead the way we know it, the term is pretty invalid in both directions.

>>5048717
You are right it is ugly and stupid, but you can do better


>>>Metroidvania
=
>>Metroid
=
>Metro
+
>Android
+
>>Castlevania
=
>Castle
+
>Transylvania

It really should be Mancat Trans if you really wanna get it correct.

>>5048717
I always saw Castlevania including SOTN and games afterwards as more combat focused with elements of Metroid's exploration making them a combination of Classivania's tradition of enemy placement and Metroid's style of exploration equating to a Metroidvania game. Later on a lot of Indie shit was inspired by Castlevania's focus on more tight platforming and combat while retaining Metroid's stronger focus on exploration and design making a lot of games end up being like Metroidvanias. Notice how many "Metroidvania games are not wholly like Castlevania or Metroid but often take after the likes of both of them. Of course there are some games out there that are WAY more like Metroid than Castlevania and still get labeled as Metroidvania (i.e. Axiom Verge) while games like Hollow Knight take after a lot of Castlevania's style of strategic enemy placement making them like Metroidvania. It should also be worth noting that SOTN was originally trying to be way more like The Legend of Zelda, and also took inspiration from the failed ambitions of Simon's Quest. It wasn't actually trying to totally copy Metroid and if you played it you realize it's not really that much like Metroid. I personally have a lot more fun fighting monsters in Castlevania games than I do Metroid but I do admit that Metroid games tend to have more compelling level design.

>>5048717
No. You have autism.

So glad I'm not a Metroidvania fan and getting into nitpicky arguments, lol.

BTW, Aladdin is a cinematic platformer. Thank you!

>>5049330

>Not liking Circle of the Moon

I can agree that SOTN isn't as good as people paint it to be, but i felt HoD was what really killed it, sacrificing sound, music, and presentation to fawn over how gba managed to make the graphics look somewhat like SOTN. Circlejerk of the Moon was such a classic castlevania nostalgia wank using the metroidvania elements (Which were handled better than they were in SOTN.)

(I think Dawn of Sorrow is pretty good too desu, but the anime shit pisses me off)

>>5048909
No

>>5048717
I hate any word that is retroactively crafted to describe a facet of gaming culture that wasn't needed or recognized back when it was still relevant.

>>5048717

The nipponest just have a broad category called "ACT" for Action game. Then they split that down and say it's a side scrolling "Tansaku" Action game.

Tansaku just means exploration or searching. The rest of the terms are English.

>>5050256
it has fluid sprite animation but Kino Ledgeclimbers also have the rigid grid of positions the character can stand on

>>5049058
Or maybe he was talking about all those recently released games pretending to have le retro feeling where in fact it's just lazyness from the devs.

>>5050774
Tensaksu ACT sounds gay, but is superior to all other alternatives so far.

How about Nightroid?

>>5050041
>mancat trans
Degenerate furry detected

>>5048727
That's a terrible analogy.

Could be worse, could be Igavania.

Metroidvania is a nice portmanteau.

>>5050068
Good post

>>5050926
Not really, the games are 10 years apart, just like Metroid and SoTN

>>5048717
Does Link's Awakening (and the Oracles) count as a top-down Metroidvania? I can't be the only one who notices it's similarities to the genre comparing them with other Zeldas.

>World opened up via item or power-up progression

I specifically call LA a Metroidvania because the other Zeldas have more story based progression (ie: a cutscene happens and then you can get to a new place instead of adquiring an item and opening up the new place)

Is Pokemon a Metroidvania game?

>>5048752
/thread

>>5050921
Otherkin, tbqh

"Me Tran, Cast Trans" would be another alternative.

>>5048740
Or you can thank the human brain for need tags to comprehend reality.

>>5048740
>You can thank that faggot Jeremy Parish for popularizing it.
I don't even know when this happened. I played castlevania and metroid at launch and was involved in gaming communities on IRC and Usenet in the 90s. When I first heard "metroidvania" some time in the mid 2000s it was a foreign word to me. I hate the word to this day.

>>5050679

Yes. Moron.

>>5048717
Castlevania 2 had RPG and nonlinear gameplay before super yawntroid.

>>5048717
I believe the proper term is "Popful Mail-like"

>>5048717
>Metroid Clone
This is the only acceptable label.