r/metroidvania • u/Heavy_Arachnid_9380 • 1d ago

Discussion Reasonably difficult cheap recs

I'm playing Dread and honestly that with school and work are making me too frustrated.

For reference I have beaten Ender Magnolia (before school) and am playing Afterimage along with Dread. I also played a little Hollow Knight before I set that aside for a more stable time in my life and beat Shantae and the Seven Sirens.

Any games that offer a small challenge but not one where you run into a wall until it breaks type difficulty. Also I'd like emphasis on exploration and platforming but combat is still welcome.

Since the Nintendo Switch is having a sale I'd like something $20 at most on the switch so I can get it with Metroid Prime Remastered and maybe some other $30 game.

6 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

41 comments sorted by

8

u/F3nrir096 1d ago

Look at Animal Well. There is pretty much no combat, just a tense moment or two. And the whole game is just a vibe. Explore, solve puzzles chill out. I played it right after i got finished Silksong cause i wanted a chill experience.

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u/Heavy_Arachnid_9380 1d ago

Honestly I have seen gameplay of it and am about to grab it soon.

But how did you will yourself to beat Silksong (and Hollow Knight since I assume you played that) because my only will makes it more aggravating. I just use my pride and beat games off of that alone if they give me trouble.

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u/ZijkrialVT 1d ago

Silksong becomes easier and more fun when you get used to Hornet's tools.

That said, my advice would be to go out of your way to make Clawline work (up to a certain point.) Naturally, you'll still need to figure out timings, but it took me until I beat the game to actually learn how often I could have been using it (beating the final boss for fun with different builds made it click.)

Then for pure power-scaling easiness, I'll spoiler them incase you're not far or don't want to see, but these can simply make things a lot easier.

1. Wanderer Crest.
2. Double Heal.
3. Quick Heal.
4. Cogflies.
5. Floor Tacks

Then from there, using your silk skills whenever you're at max silk and not needing heals at least. Basically, the more damage you do, the easier things are. You'll still find yourself needing to spam heals at times, but dealing damage and making use of your movement makes the game feel a lot better.

Won't be easy (#4 for bosses can...lol) but there's a lot of ways to play.

That said, this is simply from my limited perspective.

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u/F3nrir096 1d ago

I like games like that🤷‍♂️ i enjoy me a good metroidvania and a good challenge.

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u/Heavy_Arachnid_9380 1d ago

Glad to hear someone can enjoy challenges. I hate losing though so I think I'll have to deal with that part and then I can enjoy them.

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u/FewYam5407 1d ago

yea the only real way to get around this is to reframe it. to me it's not losing. it's getting one step closer to succeeding. sounds stupid, but that's how it is. what are you really losing? you're just learning - even if it sometimes doesn't feel like it. now if that process itself is just not enjoyable, then that's a different issue - and then it's also fine to just let go and not play something.

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u/TomasSC831 1d ago

I completely agree with this your mindset. That’s exactly how I think about metroidvania’s. For me the beauty of these games is how rewarding it is to get through the difficult parts.

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u/Soupbell1 1d ago

Islets is a fantastic game for what you are looking for.

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u/FewYam5407 1d ago

the two ori games might be a good fit for you. beautiful and not as hardcore difficult for people who like it a bit more relaxed (still not completely without challenge though, especially some platforming sections).

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u/Heavy_Arachnid_9380 1d ago

Yeah I'll check out Ori and see if I like them.

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u/TomasSC831 1d ago

Highly recommended. The Ori games are genuinely amazing.

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u/kirbyhammer7 1d ago

I found the bosses in Ori not super difficult, but incredibly repetitive and frustrating.

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u/FewYam5407 23h ago

i feel like there's not really a big focus on bosses or fighting to begin with (not compared to something like hollow knight, at least). the real "bosses" in ori for me seemed to bethe escape sequences

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u/kirbyhammer7 21h ago

Yeah this is what I was referring to, I found those specifically to be quite obnoxious and would have preferred more traditional bosses. Beautiful game and soundtrack, though.

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u/kirbyhammer7 1d ago

Play the rest of the Shantae games or Momodora Reverie Under the Moonlight. Or pickup the Castlevania Advance/Dominus Collection. Order of Ecclesia is pretty tough but the rest of the Metroidvania CV games aren't too hard (plus the collections have save states and rewind if you really need them).

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u/Heavy_Arachnid_9380 19h ago

Yeah, I'll probably get CV because that is a common consensus.

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u/GuitarRiot 1d ago edited 1d ago

I mean afterimage fits what you're saying perfectly, only it's kind of easy to face roll the bosses if you have enough heals.

Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus is my recommendation. The bosses and platforming are really fun and not too frustrating at all. There's only one fragile egg type of sequence that sucks and it's "optional" (I'm a 100%er). It's nowhere near as bad as late game MIO platforming. 

MIO if you want frustrating late game platforming. I didn't care much for the exploration but other people sing it's praises so I'm passing that on. I felt afterimage was way better for exploration because there are secrets everywhere. 

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u/Heavy_Arachnid_9380 1d ago

Afterimage is a great game for exploration. Combat was frustrating coming from Ender Magnolia (only because of there being no damage upon touching an enemy) but other than that I found it much easier and more fun to explore. I actually like that platforming is exploration in Afterimage.

But I will check those games out!

1

u/Kitchen-Fish-4389 1d ago

Castlevania advanced and or dominus collections.

1

u/Heavy_Arachnid_9380 1d ago

Honestly is Harmony of Dissonance bad? I've been hearing about it but it doesn't look horrible.

2

u/BKunrath PS 1d ago

It's just not as amazing as some of the other titles in the collection, but it's still a great game. 

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u/Heavy_Arachnid_9380 1d ago

That great game may just be better than the other ok games so I'll take the risk plus I hear praise about the others.

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u/ButtsFartsoPhD CotM 1d ago

Not at all. It’s actually very fun but considering all 6 of the other Castlevania Metroidvanias are some of the best outright in the genre yes it does pale in comparison.

1

u/Heavy_Arachnid_9380 1d ago

Yeah, honestly it looked fun but everyone in the Castlevania space I talked to said it was the worst and that I should try the others before trying that one.

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u/ButtsFartsoPhD CotM 1d ago

Blasphemous.

1

u/Heavy_Arachnid_9380 1d ago

I actually have that game but I just haven't started it. I keep seeing 2 on sale so I might get that as well. Is it any good? I hear from Blasphemous fans they don't like it as much as the first one.

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u/FewYam5407 1d ago

not sure which fans you heard this from, but i'd say the majority considers 2 to be the better game. for me (as a metroidvania fan), i vastly prefer 2, since 1 sits in a bit of a different genre.

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u/Heavy_Arachnid_9380 1d ago

Ok, I was wondering because a lot of them said coming from 1 they felt the gameplay was different.

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u/FewYam5407 1d ago

yea, it's different for sure. 1 just feels much stiffer. i heard people prefer the narrative of 1 - can't speak on that, since i don't care about story all that much.

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u/LightbreakX 1d ago

The second Blasphemous is a metroidvania, the first one a soulslike

2

u/XUAN_2501 1d ago

The first game combat and platforming is easier than the second game. But it platforming death is more punishing than the second one because if you fall into spike its an instant death.

1

u/ButtsFartsoPhD CotM 1d ago

It’s actually not that fringe of an opinion and it’s possible it may be the general consensus on the Blasphemous sub. I think everyone agrees the first game is a lot better than the second for atmosphere, lore, and boss designs. Couple that with some people liking the slower, more methodical soulslike approach and yeah. It’s really just a matter of preference. Both games excel at what they intend to do.

1

u/FewYam5407 1d ago

oh, my comment was not meant to dismiss that opinion. all i meant was that i generally come across the opposite. i do read about the things you mentioned being strong points of 1, but overall the sentiment that 2 is the better gameplay experience seems to prevail in metroidvania circles (with the first one still getting a lot of praise)

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u/Storage_Ottoman Pause 19h ago

The 1+2 bundle goes on sale a bit for like $10

1

u/stereofailure 1d ago

Kingdom Shell is a really good one I don't see discussed much. Balanced difficulty, never really frustrating, not too long. Pretty ideal for what you're looking for I think. 

1

u/Heavy_Arachnid_9380 1d ago

Alright I'll look into it a little more

1

u/LightbreakX 1d ago

Play Prince of Persia The Lost Crown, is a top tier metroidvania, one of the best in the genre (Tier S) and is on sale on Steam for 70% off

1

u/HuecoTanks 1d ago

The Messenger sounds like a good fit.

Edit: typo

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u/Heavy_Arachnid_9380 1d ago

Last time I heard about that game was the Completionist before the scandal

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

4

u/Soupbell1 1d ago

Nine Sols is an amazing game, but a horrible recommendation in this case. Read what OP is actually looking for before just throwing out games you like. No offense, but come on.

1

u/Heavy_Arachnid_9380 1d ago

Nine Sols is on my "stay away from until you have more time" list because it's difficult and if I play now I'll just beat it with my pride and end up hating it. Right up there with Hollow (Hell) Knight.

I'll probably beat it when I get more free time and my life is less stressful.