I love Hollow Knight. It is a beautiful and difficult game with a wonderful soundtrack.
i never beat hollowknight. I think i really wanted to beat it without looking anything up but that made the game too boring for me. I'd probably have more fun if I just looked up where to go. I've only played a few 2d metroid games + hollowknight but I think metroid fusion was probably my favorite. It felt more polished then super metroid but wasn't a very generic metroid experience like zero mission.
not a big fan of hollow knight, although i havent played it in a while. i've often had no idea what to do. it is a metroidvania, so i guess thats the point, but it always felt annoying seeing a few spots on the map that look like i could go through, only to waste a few minutes of traveling to see that its blocked off and i need an ability i dont yet have. and losing the shade felt annoying. especially when i was fighting a tough boss fight. i know i can often just destroy the shade and travel somewhere else, but i always think "im already at the boss fight, so might as well try and fail again". and sometimes i cant even do that and have to accept ill either have to fight a boss fight thats way too difficult for me or lose all my geo. it never felt like a fun challenge, it just felt annoying and wanted to make me rip my skin out. that being said, im glad people did enjoy the game. i wish i could overlook all that and enjoy it as well, because it can be very interesting. i would probably love it if just a few things were altered
as for my favorite metroidvania, its probably kirby and the amazing mirror (and the great cave offensive subgame in kirby superstar). it feels like the world in it fully open, and my progression isnt blocked off because i dont have a random ability yet. however, you still need the right copy abilities to get plenty of treasures. its a perfect mix of letting the player go around freely and things being closed off, and i wish more metroidvanias worked like this. exploration and combat are easily the most fun parts of kirby games, so i dont understand why hal leans so much into platforming when making them. seriously, that feels like the least interesting part of kirby games
I haven't played many.
Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion and Zero Mission were very fun tough.
I tried SOTN, but it wasn't so fun.
Outer Wilds is my favourite metroidvania
But actually, I really liked La Mulana. Still need to finish the sequel.
Blasphemous 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lExJihxMXw
Metroid. Not Super, not Fusion, not Zero Mission. Just OG Metroid.
the shantae series. it's so cute and I like the dialogue
>>9
something tells me you're a shallow person
Hollow Knight is great, if you only play one metroidvania it's the one you should go for.
Axiom Verge is an old favourite of mine, a little bit wonky in places and the difficulty is pretty steep, but a lot of fun. The sequel is prettier but doesn't live up to the first game in my opinion.
The Messenger is very underrated, I never seem to hear anyone talk about it. The writing in particular is excellent. Do be aware that it starts out very linear and only opens up around the mid-game.
Rabi-Ribi is really fun, and mixes up the usual metroidvania design with fighting game/bullet hell elements which is pretty cool. The combat system clearly has a lot of depth to it that I never really got too far into.
Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight barely qualifies as a metroidvania, but it's one I love so much I can't not bring it up.
Without question, it's Rabi-Ribi. Crazy levels of exploration and sequence breaking possible when you master the hidden movement techniques, really simple and satisfying controls and mechanics, adorable characters. The movement techniques are really crucial to how the game can give you a glimpse of something that makes you wonder what's there and if you can get there since, if you master them, you absolutely can get there.
Cave Story, if it counts!
Hollow Knight bugged me: the whole 'going back to collect your past progress' thing that has taken over games. I already died, can't I just go back to my last save? I'm being punished/taxed for not playing well. I died! Now I'm hitting diminishing returns instead of just...losing progress?
I loved Aria of Sorrow, felt like a more polished Symphony of the Night with tighter controls etc. Collecting Souls could be grindy at times, but at least you were always making some kind of progress in an RPG/random-chance kind of way.
Played a little bit of Bloodstained but it just felt a bit off. Plus I got absolutely stuck on a difficult boss, lost a bunch of progress at one point (probably missed a save room), and ended up ragequitting. But it had the right idea.
Favorite is probably Axiom Verge 2, basically every time I unlocked something I felt like "wow this is awesome". Something your average Castlevania game won't do (not that I don't love SotN, OoE and AoS!).
I generally tend to just enjoy most games in the genre though, even the more unremarkable ones. That Love Live one from a year or two ago was cute and pretty fun for a weird anime spinoff. Strider 2014 which I doubt many people cared about is one I also will fondly remember.
Right now I am playing Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (that Monster World II remake from a few years ago) and I'm honestly shocked how serviceable it is, even though it sticks close to the original game.
Normally 8-bit stuff - especially from the Sega side - is obnoxious to me.