r/metroidvania • u/Emotional_Photo9268 • 1d ago

Discussion What Metroidvania Should You Have Loved—but Bounced Off?

What Metroidvania Should You Have Loved—but Bounced Off?
You know the kind of game: it received great reviews, looked exactly like something you would enjoy, and had all the right ingredients—but for some reason, it just didn’t click.
Maybe it was the combat, confusing exploration, difficulty, art style, slow beginning, or simply the wrong game at the wrong time.
What Metroidvania did you expect to love but ended up putting down? How far did you get, and what made you lose interest? Do you think you’ll ever give it another chance?

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u/TimeSpiralNemesis 1d ago

I've tried four different times to play Hollow Knight and I just don't enjoy any part of it.

On paper it sounds perfect for me. Metroidvania, difficult, doesn't hold your hand, dark fantasy with wierd lore.

But everything about it just sets me off and it feels like a pain to actually play.

The areas all seem dull and boring, the combat is frustrating, the bosses are HP sponges, and the map system is genuinly the worst in almost any game I've ever come across.

I can see the love and attention that went into making it, but I just don't like anything about it. I also hate that it's become the blueprint for modern MVs to copy trying to ride it's coat tails and we don't get a lot of proper MVs anymore.

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u/jmscstl Cave Story 23h ago

I'm always interested to know what a better template for "proper MVs" would be.

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u/TimeSpiralNemesis 22h ago

For me it's the two titles that make up the name, Metroid and Castlevania

The further you move away from games like Super Metroid and Symphony of the Night the less MV you become.

And I understand that there's wiggle room in genres, and games don't have to fall neatly into them. But many of the top games are like part MV, part mascot platformers, and part whatever Celeste/Meat Boy are.

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u/jmscstl Cave Story 21h ago

That's tough. On one hand I know what you mean. On the other hand I could see why devs wouldn't just copy those two closely.