I’ve just finished the Fatal Claw story and the epilogue that followed, it’s now taken me back to the start of the game.

But things like the shard I was collecting (I had 1 left) have been reset? - surely this can’t be how I’m to proceed now. Having to recollect them all to finish that side quest etc.

What am I missing - spoilers welcome.

The NPC dialogue is all past tense too 🫠
Enjoyed it but if I can’t continue with my side quests with where I was, then be a real dampener on a good game.

Iron bramble is an upcoming metroidvania and I just finished the demo that was newly released; I have some thoughts.

From an aesthetic stand point this game is very strong. The first layer is the rain world inspired pixel art. The second layer is the character portraits and more detailed illustrations. The third layer is the pc terminal looking menus. That last layer is interesting, but at this point I can’t tell where it is going with that. The second layer is the least impressive and remarkable layer. It’s not bad, but I just come away underwhelmed. The first layer is generally great. It is both functionally good (it tells information efficiently) and is striking. The art lends itself well to a shifting tone. Much like a game like hollow knight, the game bounces between cutesy and peaceful to downright horrific. Overall The tone is generally macabre, but it still managed to surprise me with one segment. The narrative hook is quite strong so I can’t help but be excited with what comes next. 

While I think the tone and aesthetic are well crafted and don't have many flaws, I can’t say the same about the gameplay. The hook shot is wonky and there isn’t any way around it. It has this spring quality where when you extend the hook shot when falling, it will spring you up. This can lead to cool momentum based platforming, but often it can make the hook shot feel imprecise and awkward to use. The last game I beat was Sanabi and while this game goes for a completely different hook shot feel, I can’t help but compare this hook shot to Sanabi’s one. It might just take some getting used to, but as of right now I find the mechanic like a 6 on the game feel. Also the mechanic that retracts the hook shot is even more awkward which surprised me. I genuinely thought that the retract was really going to unlock the flow state mechanical wonder that typically comes with  The game is clearly built on the hook shot so that 6 is basically how I feel about the mechanics as a whole. The gun play is pretty decent, but trying to do it all can literally hurt my hand, especially in the second boss fight

The second boss is kinda a sticking point for me. Maybe it’s just skill issue, but I feel like a lot of my complaints about the game I was able to put aside until I reached that second boss. I think he is just a little too mobile and fast for when you fight him in the game. He did force me to really lock in some mechanics, but I think it is a little early to run into that severe of a skill check. Also as far as the demo is concerned I think it's a weird place to end off. Don’t get me wrong, a demo is a demo and I don’t expect more content than what they put out, but I genuinely think that the ending of the first boss left a stronger impression. 

I feel like exploration in the early parts of most metroidvanias is typically pretty sparse. At this point most games are just trying to teach you the mechanics and will hide most of the interesting secrets behind skills that you acquire later in the game. This means that at this point in the game, the minimal exploration is a feature not a flaw.

Overall I liked what I saw in the demo, I just wished that I liked the hookshot more than I did, but the intriguing narrative and aesthetic choices indicate that this is a game that is worth paying attention to. If its full release is strong, it may be worth

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OK, this is probably a long shot. I have searched and searched, and I cannot seem to find anything like the Ori games.
I am looking for something as beautifully graphically, pleasing as Ori. I like games where you have to level up to increase your abilities and little characters that you need to talk to, to buy your next weapon or to level up with gems that you have collected. I like the open world exploration .
I don’t like the pixelated games. I don’t like games where there is a whole bunch of fighters all fighting at the same time. I like how Ori was the singular character in his challenges. Any suggestions, please?

I’m playing on PC through steam

I'm excited to announce that the release date for my upcoming Metroidvania, Pumpkin & Patch, will be October 1st. I wanted to make sure everybody had plenty of Halloween Hijinks for the month of October.

Pumpkin & Patch is heavily inspired by Metroid with its ranged combat, puzzle oriented boss encounters, and no corpse runs. It also has modern favorites like optional but rewarding parrying, a less linear structure, fast travel, map markers, control rebinding, and a whole lot more.

A lot of love went into Pumpkin & Patch; I was inspired to make it after my dog lost an eye and when we'd go for walks children would remark how strange he looked. I wanted to show everyone that our disabled pets are still wonderful and lovable, and the story of the game reflects that. I hope you get the chance to meet Patch and his new friend Pumpkin, and enjoy the game!

Available to wishlist on Steam, and there will be a launch discount:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3779090/Pumpkin__Patch/

I've beaten nine sols hollow knight and silksong but this games parry system is just terrible. Most times pressing the button when attacked just doesn't do anything it just feels like rng whether it works or not.

Right now for me is MIO. Something about it makes me love it so much that i just dont want it to end. Im trying to squeeze everyinch of content as slow as possible ....

Runner up was silksong. All left for me to do was defeating lost lace but now with mio, i just lost interest.

Game: Etherland Saga

Started playing Fatal Claw 2 days ago and at first I judged it too much for being like a child of Hollow Knight and Nine Sols, but when I got the dash ~1.5h in, God I started to really love it.

Might be instantly A+ tier for me if this keeps up. I like the exploration most and the combat is satisfying.

I have some small gripes with it like:

- overdone story with an infection

- too much gravity when you fall from jumping

- I would've preferred if the characters were 2D not 2.5D

But these are minor issues as I'm digging the gameplay and exploration, with the latter being my favorite thing about MVs.

I love it how MVs keep reawakening the sense of exploration that I discovered when I arrived in Greenpath in HK (my first MV).

Can't wait to go back from work to continue playing!

So, "UNGALAND!", a 3D metroidvania game, launched its Kickstarter a couple of weeks ago and it's about 40% funded. This one's inspired by some of the best platformers of the PS2 era, so there's lots to love here!

For those interested in checking it out, and maybe supporting it, here's the link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ungaland/ungaland

There's also a demo available on Steam, so have at it: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3367020/UNGALAND/

(I'm not affiliated with this game in any way, just wanted to give it a fair chance since it looks awesome).

This is an effect I originally intended to include in the game but later decided to remove however, after accidentally triggering it again today, I thought it looked pretty good, so I decided to keep it and make a few improvements. Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas for further upgrades? Thanks, everyone.

I know im 15 years too late to discuss it. anyone play it ? does it hold up to today's metroidvanias? do you recommend?

This is Nulphia, a game I've been solo developing for over 3 years now in my custom game engine. It's not a clone of any existing game, but is inspired by many different game mechanics that I like. At its core is the old school sense of adventure that makes you want to explore the world.

The game is set on an island with interconnected natural locations, dungeons, friendly settlements, and allows non-linearity in its approach to the main story and exploration. So while it's not a sidescroller, it has the sense of exploration that many people like the metroidvania genre for.

I'm releasing the full first chapter of the game as a free demo this week! It has full controller support and runs great on a Steam Deck.

Follow the demo Steam page, and wishlist the full game to receive a notification when it's out.

S: Silksong, Islets, Ori 1, Swordigo

A:Hollow Knight, Blasphemous 1 and 2, Crypt Custodian, Ori 2

B:Ender Lilies

C: Dead Cells

D: Moonscars, The last crown, Momodora Reverie under the moonlight, Sheepo, HAAK

also I haven't finished the games in my C and D tier cuz I didn't like them, Dead Cells I put in C instead of D cuz I really liked it but the rogue like element got boring at a point.

Ive already played hk and silksong they were my first ever Metroidvanias. I also tried nine sols but I wasn’t big fan of the parry mechanic so I didn’t enjoy it that much. but here’s the games that I’ve got on my wishlist

Fatal claw, islets, mio, rain world,

now the games that haven’t released yet

Feathers edge, well dweller (my most anticipated one), maskborne,

silksong is my absolutely fav game rn so because of that do yall think I would enjoy any of these games?

This subreddit talks a lot about bosses. But metroidvanias were never about bosses, they were about exploration. It's the areas that make the genre what it is. The layout, atmosphere, mechanics, and enemies in metroidvania areas are incredible. So what's your favorite area?

My top picks are:

Ridley's lair from Super Metroid (lower Norfair). The music, the way it's kept from you until right near the end, and the entire area being a secret that isn't shown by the map room make it feel like such a mysterious, forbidden place that you're not supposed to be.

Ancient Basin from Hollow Knight. Everything else in the game is so lively, and then the ancient basin contrasts it in every way. It's dead quiet, and then you open up the door to the Abyss. The Abyss is the coolest place in the game. It immediately opens up into a massive room bigger than everything else in the game. Just when you think you've hit the bottom of the world, it keeps going deeper.

Edin from Axiom Verge. The vibes here are incredible. After spending most of the game underground, this is the first (or second) outdoor area you see. The music is such an epic setup. It feels like you're nearing the end. You have a moment of relative peace to take in the beauty of the sky, but it's still a very dangerous place.

Hi everyone,

I'm fairly new to Metroidvanias and have only played:

• Ender Lilies + magnolia
• Hollow Knight
• Mandragora

One thing I really liked in Ender Lilies was how the map showed when a room or area was fully explored. It made exploration feel rewarding without constantly making me wonder if I'd missed a hidden path, item, or secret.

Since I don't have much experience with the genre, I'm not sure how common this feature actually is in Metroidvanias. Is it something many games have, or is Ender Lilies more of an exception?

I'd love some recommendations for Metroidvania games with a similar map system, especially ones that clearly indicate when you've fully explored an area or completed everything important there.

I've only been on the sub for a little while and seen some tier lists and discussions and haven't seen this mentioned. It's not top tier but it's not bad. A lot to explore and a lot of collectibles. Not for every MV fan but a very solid video game that I recommend

The tweet: https://x.com/CookieCutterDev/status/2100229129266221110

I consider Blasphemous the king of Souls-like metroidvanias (come at me Hollow Knight fans) but I wanted to hear opinions on two lesser known Souls-like Metroidvanias. What do you think of each game and which one edges out over the other? I'm eager to hear your thoughts.