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Schwarzwald posted:Souls games are classicvanias with backtracking. The metroidvanias dumped the earlier emphasis on positioning and having the players commit to attacks. I wouldn't say this is exactly right, but it does get to what I feel is the heart of the difference. Like, obviously the definition is fuzzy, between it being a reference to one game, being arguably a subgenre to another genre, and genres being weird in general. Sort of an "I know it when I play it" thing But I would say a Soulslike is a game with: A Metroidvania structure, but not necessarily side-scrolling RPG Elements A cost of some sort for every attack, be it stamina or commitment A sense of weight and at least somewhat methodical pacing Platforming is not the main focus, although it can be present Optional, more appearance: Dark tone Environmental storytelling Difficulty Hollow Knight has all the optional stuff, it is a game like Dark Souls. But the RPG elements are arguable, the movement is light and attacks are fast and cheap, and it is so platforming focused that even the combat is platforming, with the pogoing off of enemies being, like, the best loving move. It's a kind of easy assumption to make, because Hollow Knight has all of the outward Dark Souls appearance stuff, but at it's heart, it is not a Soulslike. (According to my fuzzy definition for a fuzzy genre--still, I do not know how you can call a game with a protagonist as nimble as The Knight a Soulslike when you play it, the game feel is like, almost the opposite) --edit: Also yes every side-scrolling platformer Soulslike is also a Metroidvania, and honestly if you don't require the side-scrolling and platforming for the definition, every Soulslike in general is a Metroidvania. Captain France fucked around with this message at 09:00 on Nov 8, 2022 |
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Nov 8, 2022 08:57
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owl_pellet posted:There's a new Humble Metroidvania Bundle out: Haiku is really solid, just, in general. It takes a decent amount of inspiration from Hollow Knight, and it's not as good as Hollow Knight but a B+ Hollow Knight clone is easily an A- game, you know? Lost Ruins is a bit more iffy. The combat is slow, weighty, and kind of awkward, which is a plus for me and a minus for a lot of other people. The difficulty isn't absurd, but it IS pretty high, and a fair bit higher if you're going for the good ending which requires not opening treasure chests until the endgame. And there's not a lot of movement abilities. But I liked the weighty combat and the big spells later, there's a good bit of build customization just with equipment and some cool areas, and for postgame it has Fighter/Mage/Thief modes like Circle Of The Moon AND a Trio Of NPCs (bosses, in this case) mode like Dawn Of Sorrow's Julius mode. So, it's not for everyone, but if that sounds good to you you'll probably like it. I haven't played Rain World or Lone Fungus, so kind of considering that. Or Phoenotopia Awakening (currently $8 on GOG or in a bundle on Fanatical that also has Grime for $15.) Or finally getting around to Timespinners. ($10 on Steam or GOG.) Or replaying Bloodstained for the first since it came out. Or none of the above because I'm already playing other things. Captain France fucked around with this message at 10:53 on Jun 1, 2023 |
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Jun 1, 2023 10:48
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bawk posted:I've been going through the top-rated Metroidvanias on Steam and started playing Ender Lilies yesterday. Made it about an hour in, loving the aesthetic of the world/enemy designs but the movement and combat are difficult to get used to. I hate the fact that the sword attack freezes you in mid-air instead of attacking while also falling, and the dodge is pretty effective but extremely goofy looking and not in a way that I find endearing. I think I'd rather just be playing as one of the spirits than an elementary schooler, but as long as the plot isn't a 20 hour vehicle to brutally murdering a kid I might pick it back up. Oh hey I just started Ender Lilies the other day too! I feel like everything has slightly too much poise, there's a decent amount of things that feel cheap to use ranged attacks on that feel unreasonable to melee, I got super loving lost on one section, and the dodge sucked until it got upgraded. But the visuals are incredible, the map is good, my attacks feel cool, and it keeps mildly trolling me in ways that make me laugh. Blasphemous is also great, I finished the whole game and I think NG+, but some of the platforming was incredibly frustrating and (upgrade spoilers) you never get any good movement/platforming abilities. Definitely looking out for that sequel.
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Jun 28, 2023 07:35
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and the controls immediately clicked, to the point that I almost no-hit the intro boss except for when I got a bit too greedy and tried to sneak a three-hit combo in when I should have stuck with a 2 hit-dash out-dash in pattern like I was doing. It's not a hard boss by any means, but it looked badass and felt badass to kill.
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Serephina posted:Play AM2R, aka Another Metroid 2 Remake, it's on the PC for free. It's favors backporting good features over fidelity to the gameboy original, and that's totally fine. It's a good romp, go for it. Seconding this, it's good. I finally played all the 2d Metroid games like, last year, and it was probably better than the gba games, even with Fusion having nostalgia for me. Oh also I finished Ender Lilies, it really picks up after you get a proper dash, especially with the relic that increases stun damage. Before that my big hammer just never quite hit hard enough. Some of the bosses are incredibly frustrating and the last area is a huge difficulty spike I regret doing before clean up, but the vibes more than make up for it and the spirits remain cool.
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Jul 6, 2023 08:54
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Kheldarn posted:Weapons in Bloodstained can hit small enemies on the ground. You have to press forward and down to do it, but the animations tend to look like your attacking forward. You can dive kick off of Buer to sequence break. I'm pretty sure it gets used in speedruns, and outside of that getting equipment and stuff before you're supposed to is always fun. Captain France fucked around with this message at 21:52 on Dec 10, 2023 |
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Dec 10, 2023 21:46
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Falcon2001 posted:Lost ruins somehow looks like it's a porn game but it isn't, although it definitely has weeb tendencies. I found it to be okay but a little weirdly balanced; it wants to be a 2d dark souls game basically. I eventually fell off out of lack of interest, not out of a dislike of the game or anything. It's a much better game than those review numbers suggest at least, and very repayable with both a mode where you swap between three bosses and a series of "starting class" modes. Just as long as you can stand the painfully slow normal attacks and the high difficulty and the occasional creepy vibes.
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Dec 21, 2023 22:19
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Quick question, I procrastinated on the sale so I'm probably going with the first answer, is any of the Rabi Ribi DLC worth it? Tevi coming out reminded me I never played Rabi Ribi and I'm looking to grab it now since it doesn't seem to go on sale that often. I notice the Super UPRPRC edition has both of the dlcs that seem to be content in it but brings the total to twice as much as the base game.
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Mar 11, 2024 14:00
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ultrafilter posted:The two content DLCs are basically more of the base game so it really depends on how much you like it. OTOH one's free and the other is $3 so it's not like you're out much if you end up not that wild about it. Oh I guess "Cocoa Mode and Before Next Adventure" is primarily the second playable character, and not so much a bunch more game? Yeah I don't usually play these twice in a row so that can probably wait for next sale. -edit Also, I just finished Vernal Edge, which isn't in that Metroidvania sale but IS on sale for $8.50 at Fanatical and that game seems very underrated. The pacing is about right at 13 hours or so, the juggle-heavy combat has a nice 2D Devil May Cry sort of feel, and the movement upgrades are very fun and make backtracking through a lot of areas pretty great. Plus the writing is okay and the character portraits are incredible at times, I love the sort of Final Fantasy Tactics adjacent character style, and I would never have expected to see literacy as an upgrade in a Metroidvania but that's a fun use of the "memory implant" explanation for the upgrades. My only complaints are that some areas are too labyrinthine, and they especially tend to be the ones that also don't have a map, the music is pretty mid, and there's a few areas that don't have music for effect that go on way too long for areas that don't have music. Definitely looking forward to whatever they do next. Captain France fucked around with this message at 18:01 on Mar 11, 2024 |
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Mar 11, 2024 17:28
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| # ¿ May 17, 2024 00:22 |
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It's kind of incredible how much better Miriam looks in Blasphemous' pixel art. Also kind of funny that she is introduced legs first in an otherwise incredibly unsexy game full of armor and really ugly people.
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May 14, 2024 19:14
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