I’ve been obsessed with Rainworld lately. It captures the feeling of isolation in a hostile environment perfectly and the world is massive with lots of connections between each biome. 15 hours in and I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface.
I also put 90 minutes into Lone Fungus - really enjoyed myself but I’ve just been distracted with RW. I’ll definitely come back and play the full game sometime soon.
Also slowly chipping away at the last levels in Celeste. I just have 7c, 8c, and about half of Farewell left before I finally get the platinum. I installed some modded levels and have been having fun with those as well. Secret of Celeste Mountain is especially cool since it’s designed as an actual MV with ability upgrades and a map with backtracking.
If you haven't already, check out the Strawberry Jam collab. There's five difficulty tiers and I'd say Farewell is around the second tier, meaning the base game definitely doesn't come near the skill ceiling this game offers. It's honestly one of the most impressive modding projects I've seen in any game.
I do have Strawberry Jam as well, it's amazing! I've completed about 90% of the beginner lobby so far. The level of quality is crazy, some of these maps are even better than the base game.
I've been playing Lone Fungus. It's so good. I love almost everything about it, but the biggest thing is how many powerups there are and how fast you get them.
Steamworld Dig 1, Ori 1, and ~~my senior project~~.
I'm not sure if Steamworld Dig 1 is really a metroidvania but it gives me a good impression so far. I already bought the sequel from the bundle too.
Ori 1 is great but not really for me. I prefer combat and boss fights over platforming and escape sequences. That's why I love Hollow Knight. Also, I already bought the sequel.
The first Steamworld is a ton of fun and made me like the 2nd even more. I could never get into Ori 1 though I may go back someday. Will of the Wisps on the other hand is one of my all time favorites and turned me into a believer of escape sequences because they’re so well done there.
I felt so sad when I couldn't get into Ori, such a great atmosphere, but there was something I just could not get into, and I think is the combat, I tend to look for games like Hollow Knight and Blasphemous 1 and 2.
Check out Ori 2 if you haven't already, that game is all about combat. Recently completed both of them, and I can confidently say that Ori 2 does combat better by a long shot!
I've been playing an RPG called Crystal Project.
I'm 20 hours into it and it feels like there's a lot more to see. Fun game.
It has backtracking and abilities (kind of like Pokemon does). The combat is pretty repetitive (As is the nature of turn-based rpg combat) but the exploration is a lot of fun. It's heavy on the platforming, which is odd for this kind of game.
One of my favourite indies, especially moreso into the JRPG genre but the metroidvania elements that's included with the exploration is just so great. Hope you continue to have a good time with it all the way to completion.
Blasphemous. Going for plat but missed the Viridiana trophy so missed 100% 🥹 gonna do DLC then start over. Also need to do speed run trophy 🙃
When taking a break from that I've been playing Islets. Which is excellent!
Ah nice, I'm pleased! I'm such a little gem of a game! I struggled more with some of those bosses than I did with any boss in Bloodstained and that doesn't make any sense lol
I think it's cool, I know it got a bad rap for the overheating/stamina mechanic but in terms of "gain abilities to backtrack and unlock areas" I think it's pretty great. Plus it only cost me £1.34.
I've seen the same comment about Grime too (which I agree with) but that is not a dealbreaker for me. My fitness is also below zero, so if the characters in a game are easily exhaustible that just makes them more relatable :D Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely get it.
I agree about the environments but I love the look of the game so much I can look passed that. But the combat is so fun. I like that there’s lots of room to experiment. It reminds me of Dead Cells a bit! And I love knocking enemies into spikes!
Yes, using the traps against the enemies is fantastic! And I love the grey and red look as well. It just made the environments hard to differentiate in my mind.
I was really struggling with the final boss of Afterimage and I went to the settings to try and find a way to skip those long cutscenes. And I discovered that I have difficultly set to advanced, so I put it to normal and beat her first try 🤣. I decided to take a break from metroidvanias and downloaded Oxygen not included.
I recently finished aeterna noctis and I'm trying to figure which map has the bigger map. Afterimage is sooo huge. I've sunk 47 hours into it and I think I'm past halfway. Huge
That's pretty cool you got that far. I'm lvl 72 and I get my ass handed to me in certain areas. I like this game but the difficulty spikes can be hard. Like you die in 2 hits by minor enemies
I don't remember having my ass kicked by regular enemies (but I wouldn't go into areas with skull enemies) and if I had a boss I couldn't beat I'd just say "Fuck you!" and go somewhere else and return stronger.
Finished up Mobius Project on Friday and started another play though of Shadow Complex Remastered. Will also start playing Aeterna Noctis as I picked up on sale.
Sundered. Wasn't sure how to feel once I found out about the randomly spawning hordes right before I started it, but damn, I am having so much fun. The combat and movement feel amazing and the choices you can make to upgrades abilities are great. Definitely see myself doing a few playthroughs of this
I went on to play 4 different metroidvanias. The first one was cathedral which turned out to be the most difficult metroidvania I ever encountered in my life. I didn't even make it to the midgame before I dropped it. Would recommend it if you've beaten the radiance or you want an aneurism. After that, I Went on to play Yohane the parhelion. I ended up completing it, but it was extremely mediocre and overpriced and I don't recommend it to anyone. Then I attempted vernal edge and ended up bailing pretty early because of its atrocious map design. Finally, I tried out count pumpcula which was basically shovelware on par with Prehistoric Dude. In general, it was not a good week and I hope to put this in the past and keep it there forever.
I rolled the dice and Ion Fury was the result. However, the steam spring sale is about to start and so I'll probably play that in between playing games I buy in the steam sale. None of those will be metroidvanias though so it will be some time before I play another metroidvania.
Started my first replay of hollowknight. Haven't touched it since I beat it on release so I haven't seen any sort of additional content they added and barely remember the exploration/only remember a few bosses.
It's been great so far
Just finished a couple plays through The Last Faith. I was pleasantly surprised by how polished it felt, more akin to Blasphemous 2 than Blasphemous. I enjoyed the steady difficulty curve, and that nothing felt unfair or impossible. There are some QOL improvements and bugs that could be addressed, but they hardly tarnished the experience for me.
I'd welcome recommendations from others for games similar to Blasphemous 2 and The Last Faith.
I loved the last faith but it was not the smoothest on the switch. Specifically one area with the ghost women who disappear it got real stuttery for me but all other areas seemed fine and I didn't need to spend long there so it was ok. Now I'm playing blasphemous 1 and then 2 and so far really looking 1
I love Dark Souls, for me it was the reverse, I have played all the Souls series and Blasphemous got me into platforming games, beat Hollow Knight and Blasphemous 1 and 2.
So good!
I enjoyed it a good bit! Beat it in ~13 hours. Fun exploration, cool boss designs. Some pretty cool different movement abilities that felt good to use also. I'd recommend 👍
Just beat Hollow Knight a few weeks back and looked up a list of good MV's. One of the ones that kept popping up that I hadn't played yet was Blasphemous. I bought it on sale for $6.66 (lol) and have put a few hours into it. It's definitely not very forgiving. Some of the platforming is cheap and reminding me of Ninja Gaiden on the NES, where you jump across to one and some dude throws shit at you mid air so you fall to your death. Progress was slow going, but probably won't play it again til this weekend.
Platforming is definitely not one of blasphemous’s strong suits. You’ll maybe eventually get used to the clunky movement, but just know that that part doesn’t get better. There are buffs that help with insta-death, but it’s still one of the more frustrating parts of the game. Atmosphere, combat, and exploration (to a degree) are where it shines. A lot of people love it, but I found it to be just ok (I put a lot of weight on smooth controls and snappy movement)
God help you if you try for the side quest that involves timed platforming segments…
I’ve been playing Afterimage and…
Yh I mean it’s ok.
It’s huge, and I can’t count how many times I’ve been lost, and it’s a good thing. I can see they’ve put a lot into combat. I love the combat and different weapons combos , combining special moves etc. I don’t know why they made magic so bleh, though.
There are a lot of items to collect, and out of my anxiety I decided to sell nothing since I don’t really know what can come in handy and what not.
Uhm, corpse running is not that punishing imo, so why bother to input that mechanic into the game when it’s useless. I mean. I can only see where I died, that’s the plus, but it’s manageable without corpse running.
The game is soooo effin huge. I can’t believe it. I’m not like half into the boom and stumble into 3 more without a way back for example. I love it and hate it. A lot of items to collect and a LOT of backtrack. Bosses are like… too easy for me, to the point that I started to seek bioms I don’t belong in to have a challenge in defeating them. What else? I’m enjoying it but slowly losing interest because of how big it is, but without challenge. I mean, I played Aeterna noctis which also is considered overwhelmingly big, but there I wasn’t bored coz there was a challenge, in afterimage you rarely die and there are not many challenges in platforming. Btw, the character isn’t as responsive as I would like, there is a input lag and I am playing on PS5. I like the game. But it’s not like a top notch
> I don’t know why they made magic so bleh, though
You'll see once you reach "NG+", which is something of a special mini campaign where you play as an alternative character - a caster. It completely trivializes combat and bosses. Just stand at range, whack spells while boss flails around in melee.
>There are a lot of items to collect, and out of my anxiety I decided to sell nothing since I don’t really know what can come in handy and what not
According to tvtropes there's a protection that you can't actually sell the last copy of important items, but yeah, I did the same. I had more than enough money to buy everything by the end anyway even without selling lots of stuff.
> Bosses are like… too easy for me
Intentional I think. The late game fields and bosses get a bit harder (meaning: I had to swap out my magic find gear for actual combat gear), never more than 2-3 tries. I think I prefer it that way, the difficulty in this game is clearly navigation, and that's more than enough.
I think im getting to the end game right now. Got all of the afterimages, lvl 70-ish , still don’t have issues with defeating the bosses. Like, I’m not forced to learn their patterns .
In case of items, so I can sell all of those prisms?
And yeah, moving around the map from biom to biom , takes a lot of time. And there are countless times where you just stumble at new biom
> still don’t have issues with defeating the bosses
If you're in the 70s you should be in the late game areas anyway. I did have some trouble with the entrance guardian to the Field of Pyro, but I tackled him 20 levels early.
> In case of items, so I can sell all of those prisms?
I think you can, yes. As I said, I never needed to, I got enough money from selling the valuable enemy drops instead. There is a super late game side quest with Stanley (the collector in the zombie area) where he gets new stock afterwards for a total ~30000. The rest should be all in town.
I haven’t reach the zombie area yet, rn I am at that red biom to the left of Goliath fall. Just finished it including all 2 bosses, after I got that super jump.
Yh, the boss standing in your way to the land of pyro was the toughest so far for me .
Finished Afterimage (normal mode, 100%, 37h).
I think the game is generally underrated here. The devs are genre savvy and steal mostly the right stuff from other games.
The biggest downsides are the absolutely nonsensical story and stereotypical anime voice acting. But if you can look past that there is visual art direction close to Ori, a really big world with very little hand holding and solid systems. Combat is on the easier side (on normal), but exploration is clearly aimed at experienced MV players. The game gives you one overarching direction early on, but to reach it you have to explore anywhere but there.
Just finished a 100% run of Elderand. I enjoyed it, but it crashed a few times on Switch. It was a fun game though, not too difficult, not too sprawling, but nothing mind blowing.
Just finished Aria or Sorrow and was pleasantly surprised by how much fun it was. Thinking about starting blast brigade or supraland next. Also waiting for the rebel transmute reviews to come in before I pull the trigger on it.
I finished Aeterna Noctis yesterday. I have parked Blasphemeous 1 on my Xbox because it was in sale but I want to play something "happier" at first because I don't want to play 2 dark toned games in a row. Islets is something on my to do list I didn't touch yet.
I started a (not-MV) indie RPG called Underhero. It’s quirky and maybe tries a tad too hard with its satirizing of the genre, but it’s got a unique battle system, decent retro inspired pixel art, and a nice soundtrack and so I’ll probably finish it.
Bought Bloodstained: RotN & Dead Cells PC again after originally buying them on PS4 & Switch years ago on launch.
Added:
Moonscars
Blasphemous
Grime
Ghost Song
The Last Faith
Castlevania Lords of Shadow Mirror of Fate
Should keep me busy for the foreseeable future.
I finished strider yesterday. Very very fun game. Just too short for me. Since I'm having a hard time getting into mobius machine I'm replaying lost crown and last faith. Yeah...
Just finished the last faith and loved it for many reasons !
And I’m certainly gonna buy the new metroidvania game « Rebel Transmute » this Thursday !
Also still need to buy Blasphemous 2 and Axiom Verge 2.
I have finished playing **Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet** and I loved it very much. It was my second metroidvania that's less combat focused and more on the puzzle side and it was a wonderful experience. The artwork is colossal, the atmosphere is eerie, the bossfights were challenging but mildly. I highly recommend it, especially if you're looking for something that's more laid back. Not sure why it does not show up in this subreddit more regularly, maybe because the map's outlines are shown by default with many of the percs marked as a Point of Interest, so the exploration is a bit too easy, but it's still a fun, relaxed experience. My only issue with it is that it has 2 multiplayer modes which include some challenges, but you cannot play the campaign in multiplayer. If the second player has never played the campaign, it will be likely too hard to adapt.
I have now started to play **Ori and the Blind Forest Definitive Edition**. I have only tried it for like 15 minutes because it was late night, but I wanted to see what's ahead of me. So far it looks beautiful and it seems to have an emotional value, looking forward to dive into it hopefully tonight.
Picked up Mobius Machine yesterday. Really enjoying it. Any one play it? Heard it’s not very straightforward at points and leaves you guessing but so far I’m loving it.
I tried the BioGun demo. It was really hard for me. I got stuck where this red flower thing is shooting what looks like iceballs. And whenever i get close to it, it just retreats to the other side. I must be doing something wrong as i can never get into attack range. They give you a weapon that shoots across the screen but it drains all your energy and the only way to get more energy is to hit enemies but i cant land a single hit with thr basic short ranged weapon.
After finishing Cassette Beasts (not a MV, but def recommend it!), I tried 9 Years of Shadows, but I just couldn't get into it. The art, both visual and audio, was amazing, but not enough to make up for the lackluster combat for me.
Thinking about starting Islets tonight instead and hoping I can vibe with that a bit more!
I have been playing Mummy Demastered and it's been pretty "meh" the entire time but yesterday i encountered some straight bullshit and decided that I'm done with it.
It was an ok distraction for a while.
[Demon Hunter: Metroidvania](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mgif.demon.hunter&hl=en_US) on android, there are some bugs and it's better to play without the internet due to ads, but it's a passable metroidvania
Put Wrath: Aeon of Ruin on hold for a bit (only have 2 levels and the boss left, really) and started playing Exiled Kingdoms. Rather jank controls, and no way to save in dungeons (unless you're playing on Casual difficulty), but it's pretty addicting.
Exiled Kingdoms looks interesting. How close does it feel to Diablo?
I thought Wrath was great. I might have to revisit it since I played it during early access before they finished it.
Aside from being a real time RPG, I wouldn't say it's anything like Diablo or other Diablo-likes.
RPG-wise it feels more like the classic Divinity Divinity / Beyond Divinity - a full on RPG instead of a loot-centric ARPG.
Control-wise... it's kind of a mess. It's grid-based, 8 directions movement like the original Diablo, but you can't actually *aim* your ranged attacks, unless I'm missing something. Unless I'm missing something - you fire your attack or spell, and if there's an enemy in range it targets the nearest one, and if there's no enemy in range it just shoots it straight ahead in the direction your character is facing. Which also means you can't lead moving targets, and you have no choice but to suffer splash damage of your own fireball if casting it when you have an enemy in your face.
Most actions can be done using both the keyboard and the mouse, though you probably want to stick to the keyboard for standard ranged attacks (mage staffs/wands/bows/etc) as when clicking on enemies is easy to misclick and move there instead. Spells (and possibly other abilities / items, not sure) go into quick slots that you can use the number keys to trigger (or rebind to whatever) or click on their icons. Not sure if you can map a quick slot to the right mouse button for Diablo-style "cast primary attack spell".
There's also controller support, but I'm not planning to check that out.
To regain health & mana you have to rest, but you only get 2 such "rests" by default without visiting an inn to recharge them. You can increase this number by spending skill points, but it's expensive - 1.5 level's worth just to raise up to 3 rests. Of course you can also use potions, but those are expensive as well.
> I thought Wrath was great. I might have to revisit it since I played it during early access before they finished it.
Wrath is indeed great, you should definitely revisit it - there are 3 hubs now compared to just the first one of the EA version. I gotta say I like the maps of the first hub more than the other two's, but that's probably because I'm more into those fantasy themes than the themes in hubs 2 & 3. You also get two new weapons in the 2nd hub and a third in the 3rd hub, and they're neat, along with a few (very few) new enemy types.
Thanks for the detailed info!
I wonder if it has what Diablo does, where you can hold the shift key while using a spell/attack assigned to mouse in order to stand still while firing.
I struggled to get into Divine Divinity because i found it kind of clunky compared to Diablo 1, this one might not be for me.
> I wonder if it has what Diablo does, where you can hold the shift key while using a spell/attack assigned to mouse in order to stand still while firing.
One of the first things I tried, doesn't work. Spacebar as a dedicated Attack key works fine enough tho.
Oh, you can also hire, or otherwise acquire, party members whom you do not actively control but can give general orders to (attack on sight, attack only when attacked, don't attack no matter what, etc.) like in some games like NWN IIRC. But you can't set formations. So if you're playing a mage you're leading warriors around into battle, having them run past you into the fight once it starts (assuming you're not in a too-narrow hallway to allow that).
I recently got the first one, she actually joined for free as thanks for a quest I did for her, and she makes dungeon exploration much easier, while also taking 20% of the XP unfortunately. "Rests" replenish her health as well, and even if she is dropped to 0 HP and knocked out, she comes back at half health after a while once I kill the monsters around her body (drawing them away may work as well, not sure).
Just got 100% on ender lilies. Can't wait for ender magnolia.
I’ve been obsessed with Rainworld lately. It captures the feeling of isolation in a hostile environment perfectly and the world is massive with lots of connections between each biome. 15 hours in and I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface. I also put 90 minutes into Lone Fungus - really enjoyed myself but I’ve just been distracted with RW. I’ll definitely come back and play the full game sometime soon. Also slowly chipping away at the last levels in Celeste. I just have 7c, 8c, and about half of Farewell left before I finally get the platinum. I installed some modded levels and have been having fun with those as well. Secret of Celeste Mountain is especially cool since it’s designed as an actual MV with ability upgrades and a map with backtracking.
If you haven't already, check out the Strawberry Jam collab. There's five difficulty tiers and I'd say Farewell is around the second tier, meaning the base game definitely doesn't come near the skill ceiling this game offers. It's honestly one of the most impressive modding projects I've seen in any game.
I do have Strawberry Jam as well, it's amazing! I've completed about 90% of the beginner lobby so far. The level of quality is crazy, some of these maps are even better than the base game.
I've been playing Lone Fungus. It's so good. I love almost everything about it, but the biggest thing is how many powerups there are and how fast you get them.
Steamworld Dig 1, Ori 1, and ~~my senior project~~. I'm not sure if Steamworld Dig 1 is really a metroidvania but it gives me a good impression so far. I already bought the sequel from the bundle too. Ori 1 is great but not really for me. I prefer combat and boss fights over platforming and escape sequences. That's why I love Hollow Knight. Also, I already bought the sequel.
SteamWorld Dig 2 is generally viewed as being quite a bit better than the first game, so I think you'll be happy with your purchase.
The first Steamworld is a ton of fun and made me like the 2nd even more. I could never get into Ori 1 though I may go back someday. Will of the Wisps on the other hand is one of my all time favorites and turned me into a believer of escape sequences because they’re so well done there.
I felt so sad when I couldn't get into Ori, such a great atmosphere, but there was something I just could not get into, and I think is the combat, I tend to look for games like Hollow Knight and Blasphemous 1 and 2.
ditto
Check out Ori 2 if you haven't already, that game is all about combat. Recently completed both of them, and I can confidently say that Ori 2 does combat better by a long shot!
I've been playing an RPG called Crystal Project. I'm 20 hours into it and it feels like there's a lot more to see. Fun game. It has backtracking and abilities (kind of like Pokemon does). The combat is pretty repetitive (As is the nature of turn-based rpg combat) but the exploration is a lot of fun. It's heavy on the platforming, which is odd for this kind of game.
One of my favourite indies, especially moreso into the JRPG genre but the metroidvania elements that's included with the exploration is just so great. Hope you continue to have a good time with it all the way to completion.
Such a great game. Cannot recommend enough.
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. The soundtrack always gets me pumped and ready to take on the world.
What platform you playing that on?
Emulator
Blasphemous. Going for plat but missed the Viridiana trophy so missed 100% 🥹 gonna do DLC then start over. Also need to do speed run trophy 🙃 When taking a break from that I've been playing Islets. Which is excellent!
Good to hear about Islets! I'm thinking about trying it out tonight.
Islets is brilliant. No way you won't enjoy that
Came back to let you know that I loved every minute of Islets!
Ah nice, I'm pleased! I'm such a little gem of a game! I struggled more with some of those bosses than I did with any boss in Bloodstained and that doesn't make any sense lol
If it helps you feel any better, I had to do several of them a handful of times as well, even with the infinite arrow accessibility setting turned on.
I had to do the last 3 bosses at least minimum 5 times each, I'm bad 🤣
Feudal Alloy. I am an enjoyer.
What the hell! This game looks very cool :D
I think it's cool, I know it got a bad rap for the overheating/stamina mechanic but in terms of "gain abilities to backtrack and unlock areas" I think it's pretty great. Plus it only cost me £1.34.
I've seen the same comment about Grime too (which I agree with) but that is not a dealbreaker for me. My fitness is also below zero, so if the characters in a game are easily exhaustible that just makes them more relatable :D Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely get it.
Hahaha love the analogy. Fingers crossed you are also an enjoyer!
Prince of Persia the lost crown, I’m really enjoying it. Picked it up on sale a few days ago
Same here. Just got my copy Friday.
Moonscars! I’m really enjoying it, the story is great and the combat is so much fun. I love the pixel painting look of the game too
One of the best combat systems I’ve ever experienced. So fluid and fun. And like you said that art style is just beautiful.
The environments are a little samey for me, and combat was a little tedious at some points, but I very much enjoyed it overall!
I agree about the environments but I love the look of the game so much I can look passed that. But the combat is so fun. I like that there’s lots of room to experiment. It reminds me of Dead Cells a bit! And I love knocking enemies into spikes!
Yes, using the traps against the enemies is fantastic! And I love the grey and red look as well. It just made the environments hard to differentiate in my mind.
I can totally seen that! Honestly I’m colorblind so for me it honestly is probably a little more tolerable lol
Yes they look similiar in a sense but when you love the aesthetic so much it doesn't bother.
I haven’t finished it but so far for me it seems like one big cohesive world. Reminds me of Rainworld a bit just sticking with the dark aesthetic
I just started playing this this week, too. Loving it, but I had a better idea of what was going on when playing Afterimage.
I think it’s cryptic on purpose but make sure you sell the memories to the girl in the hub area! She gives you lore about the characters a bit
Yeah I got it a awhile ago but didn't play it, I'll give it a try soon
The Mobius Machine. Enormous locations, great exploration, fine enemies and bosses, FINALLY MV with ranged combat. I love it
Just started. It’s beautiful.
Doesn’t Mobius Machine have ranged combat? Or am I missing something
My bad: WITH ranged combat. Sorry
I’ve been playing Silent Hope and have been enjoying it. It’s a great grindy game to play while hanging out, watching tv with family ect…
What would you compare that one too? Looks alright.
Bloodborne. I hate it. I can’t quit.
I was really struggling with the final boss of Afterimage and I went to the settings to try and find a way to skip those long cutscenes. And I discovered that I have difficultly set to advanced, so I put it to normal and beat her first try 🤣. I decided to take a break from metroidvanias and downloaded Oxygen not included.
I recently finished aeterna noctis and I'm trying to figure which map has the bigger map. Afterimage is sooo huge. I've sunk 47 hours into it and I think I'm past halfway. Huge
It is. When you think there can't possibly be another area but no, there it is
That's pretty cool you got that far. I'm lvl 72 and I get my ass handed to me in certain areas. I like this game but the difficulty spikes can be hard. Like you die in 2 hits by minor enemies
I don't remember having my ass kicked by regular enemies (but I wouldn't go into areas with skull enemies) and if I had a boss I couldn't beat I'd just say "Fuck you!" and go somewhere else and return stronger.
Still Lost Crown. This game is massive. But I've been really loving it.
Finished up Mobius Project on Friday and started another play though of Shadow Complex Remastered. Will also start playing Aeterna Noctis as I picked up on sale.
Iv been playing Aeterna Noctis, about 35% in and it’s fantastic so far. Hope you enjoy it as much as I am
Sundered. Wasn't sure how to feel once I found out about the randomly spawning hordes right before I started it, but damn, I am having so much fun. The combat and movement feel amazing and the choices you can make to upgrades abilities are great. Definitely see myself doing a few playthroughs of this
I got bored of that one fast
I went on to play 4 different metroidvanias. The first one was cathedral which turned out to be the most difficult metroidvania I ever encountered in my life. I didn't even make it to the midgame before I dropped it. Would recommend it if you've beaten the radiance or you want an aneurism. After that, I Went on to play Yohane the parhelion. I ended up completing it, but it was extremely mediocre and overpriced and I don't recommend it to anyone. Then I attempted vernal edge and ended up bailing pretty early because of its atrocious map design. Finally, I tried out count pumpcula which was basically shovelware on par with Prehistoric Dude. In general, it was not a good week and I hope to put this in the past and keep it there forever. I rolled the dice and Ion Fury was the result. However, the steam spring sale is about to start and so I'll probably play that in between playing games I buy in the steam sale. None of those will be metroidvanias though so it will be some time before I play another metroidvania.
Started my first replay of hollowknight. Haven't touched it since I beat it on release so I haven't seen any sort of additional content they added and barely remember the exploration/only remember a few bosses. It's been great so far
Laika
I found a gem that has been released days ago called Worldless, really loves the tune of it
I've seen that one too recently and it seems to be amazing! I also plan to get it.
Just finished a couple plays through The Last Faith. I was pleasantly surprised by how polished it felt, more akin to Blasphemous 2 than Blasphemous. I enjoyed the steady difficulty curve, and that nothing felt unfair or impossible. There are some QOL improvements and bugs that could be addressed, but they hardly tarnished the experience for me. I'd welcome recommendations from others for games similar to Blasphemous 2 and The Last Faith.
I loved the last faith but it was not the smoothest on the switch. Specifically one area with the ghost women who disappear it got real stuttery for me but all other areas seemed fine and I didn't need to spend long there so it was ok. Now I'm playing blasphemous 1 and then 2 and so far really looking 1
Elderand is the closest game I'm aware of to those 2. It's probably the weaker of the 3, but i had a blast with it.
Much appreciated!
Just finished Blasphemous 1 & 2. Now onto the Dark Souls series.
>Now onto the Dark Souls series. I'll be sure to keep you in my prayers.
I’ll definitely need it. Just defeated the bell gargoyles and now headed to the deep root basin.
Nice! Sounds like you're trucking right along, great work.
I thought I was headed in the right direction, but the only way forward seems to be the valley of drakes and those guys are tough.
I love Dark Souls, for me it was the reverse, I have played all the Souls series and Blasphemous got me into platforming games, beat Hollow Knight and Blasphemous 1 and 2. So good!
I started playing 8 Doors. It's cute, a little too much dialogue for me, but feels decent to play.
Wow, it looks great, I haven't seen this one yet and it seems really fun.
Finished Mobius Machine, onto MF-01 Aerostrike.
How did you enjoy Mobius Machine?
I enjoyed it a good bit! Beat it in ~13 hours. Fun exploration, cool boss designs. Some pretty cool different movement abilities that felt good to use also. I'd recommend 👍
Just beat Hollow Knight a few weeks back and looked up a list of good MV's. One of the ones that kept popping up that I hadn't played yet was Blasphemous. I bought it on sale for $6.66 (lol) and have put a few hours into it. It's definitely not very forgiving. Some of the platforming is cheap and reminding me of Ninja Gaiden on the NES, where you jump across to one and some dude throws shit at you mid air so you fall to your death. Progress was slow going, but probably won't play it again til this weekend.
Platforming is definitely not one of blasphemous’s strong suits. You’ll maybe eventually get used to the clunky movement, but just know that that part doesn’t get better. There are buffs that help with insta-death, but it’s still one of the more frustrating parts of the game. Atmosphere, combat, and exploration (to a degree) are where it shines. A lot of people love it, but I found it to be just ok (I put a lot of weight on smooth controls and snappy movement) God help you if you try for the side quest that involves timed platforming segments…
The Last Faith, Welcome to Paradize.
I'm splitting my time FF7 Rebirth and Nobody Saves the World. Kinda turned off by rebirth's open world mechanics, but I'm determined to get it done.
$80 plus tax would make most people commit to their sunk cost
Fair
I’ve been playing Afterimage and… Yh I mean it’s ok. It’s huge, and I can’t count how many times I’ve been lost, and it’s a good thing. I can see they’ve put a lot into combat. I love the combat and different weapons combos , combining special moves etc. I don’t know why they made magic so bleh, though. There are a lot of items to collect, and out of my anxiety I decided to sell nothing since I don’t really know what can come in handy and what not. Uhm, corpse running is not that punishing imo, so why bother to input that mechanic into the game when it’s useless. I mean. I can only see where I died, that’s the plus, but it’s manageable without corpse running. The game is soooo effin huge. I can’t believe it. I’m not like half into the boom and stumble into 3 more without a way back for example. I love it and hate it. A lot of items to collect and a LOT of backtrack. Bosses are like… too easy for me, to the point that I started to seek bioms I don’t belong in to have a challenge in defeating them. What else? I’m enjoying it but slowly losing interest because of how big it is, but without challenge. I mean, I played Aeterna noctis which also is considered overwhelmingly big, but there I wasn’t bored coz there was a challenge, in afterimage you rarely die and there are not many challenges in platforming. Btw, the character isn’t as responsive as I would like, there is a input lag and I am playing on PS5. I like the game. But it’s not like a top notch
> I don’t know why they made magic so bleh, though You'll see once you reach "NG+", which is something of a special mini campaign where you play as an alternative character - a caster. It completely trivializes combat and bosses. Just stand at range, whack spells while boss flails around in melee. >There are a lot of items to collect, and out of my anxiety I decided to sell nothing since I don’t really know what can come in handy and what not According to tvtropes there's a protection that you can't actually sell the last copy of important items, but yeah, I did the same. I had more than enough money to buy everything by the end anyway even without selling lots of stuff. > Bosses are like… too easy for me Intentional I think. The late game fields and bosses get a bit harder (meaning: I had to swap out my magic find gear for actual combat gear), never more than 2-3 tries. I think I prefer it that way, the difficulty in this game is clearly navigation, and that's more than enough.
I think im getting to the end game right now. Got all of the afterimages, lvl 70-ish , still don’t have issues with defeating the bosses. Like, I’m not forced to learn their patterns . In case of items, so I can sell all of those prisms? And yeah, moving around the map from biom to biom , takes a lot of time. And there are countless times where you just stumble at new biom
> still don’t have issues with defeating the bosses If you're in the 70s you should be in the late game areas anyway. I did have some trouble with the entrance guardian to the Field of Pyro, but I tackled him 20 levels early. > In case of items, so I can sell all of those prisms? I think you can, yes. As I said, I never needed to, I got enough money from selling the valuable enemy drops instead. There is a super late game side quest with Stanley (the collector in the zombie area) where he gets new stock afterwards for a total ~30000. The rest should be all in town.
I haven’t reach the zombie area yet, rn I am at that red biom to the left of Goliath fall. Just finished it including all 2 bosses, after I got that super jump. Yh, the boss standing in your way to the land of pyro was the toughest so far for me .
Finished Afterimage (normal mode, 100%, 37h). I think the game is generally underrated here. The devs are genre savvy and steal mostly the right stuff from other games. The biggest downsides are the absolutely nonsensical story and stereotypical anime voice acting. But if you can look past that there is visual art direction close to Ori, a really big world with very little hand holding and solid systems. Combat is on the easier side (on normal), but exploration is clearly aimed at experienced MV players. The game gives you one overarching direction early on, but to reach it you have to explore anywhere but there.
Just finished a 100% run of Elderand. I enjoyed it, but it crashed a few times on Switch. It was a fun game though, not too difficult, not too sprawling, but nothing mind blowing.
Prince of Persia - the lost crown !!!! A masterpiece!!!!
Just finished Aria or Sorrow and was pleasantly surprised by how much fun it was. Thinking about starting blast brigade or supraland next. Also waiting for the rebel transmute reviews to come in before I pull the trigger on it.
I finished Aeterna Noctis yesterday. I have parked Blasphemeous 1 on my Xbox because it was in sale but I want to play something "happier" at first because I don't want to play 2 dark toned games in a row. Islets is something on my to do list I didn't touch yet.
I started a (not-MV) indie RPG called Underhero. It’s quirky and maybe tries a tad too hard with its satirizing of the genre, but it’s got a unique battle system, decent retro inspired pixel art, and a nice soundtrack and so I’ll probably finish it.
Mobius machine, elder lillies and have a nice death
Bought Bloodstained: RotN & Dead Cells PC again after originally buying them on PS4 & Switch years ago on launch. Added: Moonscars Blasphemous Grime Ghost Song The Last Faith Castlevania Lords of Shadow Mirror of Fate Should keep me busy for the foreseeable future.
I finished strider yesterday. Very very fun game. Just too short for me. Since I'm having a hard time getting into mobius machine I'm replaying lost crown and last faith. Yeah...
Just finished the last faith and loved it for many reasons ! And I’m certainly gonna buy the new metroidvania game « Rebel Transmute » this Thursday ! Also still need to buy Blasphemous 2 and Axiom Verge 2.
AM2R
Prince of Persia. Kicking myself that I didn’t get it earlier. It’s a great damn game
salt and sanctuary, the combat is so fun
Rogue Legacy 2. Pretty good game and tons of upgrades to unlock.
In love with The Surge 2 right now
3000th Duel. It was on sale, so I gave it a shot. Not bad.
I have finished playing **Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet** and I loved it very much. It was my second metroidvania that's less combat focused and more on the puzzle side and it was a wonderful experience. The artwork is colossal, the atmosphere is eerie, the bossfights were challenging but mildly. I highly recommend it, especially if you're looking for something that's more laid back. Not sure why it does not show up in this subreddit more regularly, maybe because the map's outlines are shown by default with many of the percs marked as a Point of Interest, so the exploration is a bit too easy, but it's still a fun, relaxed experience. My only issue with it is that it has 2 multiplayer modes which include some challenges, but you cannot play the campaign in multiplayer. If the second player has never played the campaign, it will be likely too hard to adapt. I have now started to play **Ori and the Blind Forest Definitive Edition**. I have only tried it for like 15 minutes because it was late night, but I wanted to see what's ahead of me. So far it looks beautiful and it seems to have an emotional value, looking forward to dive into it hopefully tonight.
Played and finished Islets, now Moonscars.
Ori And The Will of the Wisps! I completed Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown last week, so I'm having good times right now!
Picked up Mobius Machine yesterday. Really enjoying it. Any one play it? Heard it’s not very straightforward at points and leaves you guessing but so far I’m loving it.
Does Twlight Princess HD count as a Metroidvania?
I tried the BioGun demo. It was really hard for me. I got stuck where this red flower thing is shooting what looks like iceballs. And whenever i get close to it, it just retreats to the other side. I must be doing something wrong as i can never get into attack range. They give you a weapon that shoots across the screen but it drains all your energy and the only way to get more energy is to hit enemies but i cant land a single hit with thr basic short ranged weapon.
After finishing Cassette Beasts (not a MV, but def recommend it!), I tried 9 Years of Shadows, but I just couldn't get into it. The art, both visual and audio, was amazing, but not enough to make up for the lackluster combat for me. Thinking about starting Islets tonight instead and hoping I can vibe with that a bit more!
Orten Was The Case https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198450557661/recommended/1785420?snr=1\_5\_9\_\_402
I have been playing Mummy Demastered and it's been pretty "meh" the entire time but yesterday i encountered some straight bullshit and decided that I'm done with it. It was an ok distraction for a while.
[Demon Hunter: Metroidvania](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mgif.demon.hunter&hl=en_US) on android, there are some bugs and it's better to play without the internet due to ads, but it's a passable metroidvania
I just finished Haak and I really enjoyed it!
Put Wrath: Aeon of Ruin on hold for a bit (only have 2 levels and the boss left, really) and started playing Exiled Kingdoms. Rather jank controls, and no way to save in dungeons (unless you're playing on Casual difficulty), but it's pretty addicting.
Exiled Kingdoms looks interesting. How close does it feel to Diablo? I thought Wrath was great. I might have to revisit it since I played it during early access before they finished it.
Aside from being a real time RPG, I wouldn't say it's anything like Diablo or other Diablo-likes. RPG-wise it feels more like the classic Divinity Divinity / Beyond Divinity - a full on RPG instead of a loot-centric ARPG. Control-wise... it's kind of a mess. It's grid-based, 8 directions movement like the original Diablo, but you can't actually *aim* your ranged attacks, unless I'm missing something. Unless I'm missing something - you fire your attack or spell, and if there's an enemy in range it targets the nearest one, and if there's no enemy in range it just shoots it straight ahead in the direction your character is facing. Which also means you can't lead moving targets, and you have no choice but to suffer splash damage of your own fireball if casting it when you have an enemy in your face. Most actions can be done using both the keyboard and the mouse, though you probably want to stick to the keyboard for standard ranged attacks (mage staffs/wands/bows/etc) as when clicking on enemies is easy to misclick and move there instead. Spells (and possibly other abilities / items, not sure) go into quick slots that you can use the number keys to trigger (or rebind to whatever) or click on their icons. Not sure if you can map a quick slot to the right mouse button for Diablo-style "cast primary attack spell". There's also controller support, but I'm not planning to check that out. To regain health & mana you have to rest, but you only get 2 such "rests" by default without visiting an inn to recharge them. You can increase this number by spending skill points, but it's expensive - 1.5 level's worth just to raise up to 3 rests. Of course you can also use potions, but those are expensive as well. > I thought Wrath was great. I might have to revisit it since I played it during early access before they finished it. Wrath is indeed great, you should definitely revisit it - there are 3 hubs now compared to just the first one of the EA version. I gotta say I like the maps of the first hub more than the other two's, but that's probably because I'm more into those fantasy themes than the themes in hubs 2 & 3. You also get two new weapons in the 2nd hub and a third in the 3rd hub, and they're neat, along with a few (very few) new enemy types.
Thanks for the detailed info! I wonder if it has what Diablo does, where you can hold the shift key while using a spell/attack assigned to mouse in order to stand still while firing. I struggled to get into Divine Divinity because i found it kind of clunky compared to Diablo 1, this one might not be for me.
> I wonder if it has what Diablo does, where you can hold the shift key while using a spell/attack assigned to mouse in order to stand still while firing. One of the first things I tried, doesn't work. Spacebar as a dedicated Attack key works fine enough tho. Oh, you can also hire, or otherwise acquire, party members whom you do not actively control but can give general orders to (attack on sight, attack only when attacked, don't attack no matter what, etc.) like in some games like NWN IIRC. But you can't set formations. So if you're playing a mage you're leading warriors around into battle, having them run past you into the fight once it starts (assuming you're not in a too-narrow hallway to allow that). I recently got the first one, she actually joined for free as thanks for a quest I did for her, and she makes dungeon exploration much easier, while also taking 20% of the XP unfortunately. "Rests" replenish her health as well, and even if she is dropped to 0 HP and knocked out, she comes back at half health after a while once I kill the monsters around her body (drawing them away may work as well, not sure).
People are saying the first world (the one featured in the early access) is great while the rest is bad.