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What defines a "Metroidvania" game?

luj1

You're all shills
Vatnik
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I keep hearing it over and over, genuinely curious
 

KeighnMcDeath

RPG Codex Boomer
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Nov 23, 2016
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Side scrolling arcade action platformer with Pseudo-rpg elements. Similar to Adventure of Link but with a map usually. SHIT!!! I just had a vision of the diablo after this next phone one... and it might be a shitty metroidvania game with lots of puzzle mechanics (or like just about all the new steam games that come out that are side scrollers). Diablo Terraria maybe.

ALL GAMES WILL BE ON THE PHONE IN THE FUTURE.... until they're in your head. SINGULARITY ACTIVE!!!!

No sextroidvania games? Every door probably leads to a brothel, a hooker, a sex shop, a bar, or some sleazy apartment.... that's not Seattle or San Francisco is it?
 

Butter

Arcane
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Sidescroller. One contiguous world instead of discrete levels. Areas are gated by items you have to obtain. Progression is item/weapon-based instead of stat/skill-based. Backtracking is standard. Boss battles are standard. Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night are the quintessential examples.
 

Grauken

Gourd vibes only
Patron
Joined
Mar 22, 2013
Messages
12,784
Side scrolling arcade action platformer with Pseudo-rpg elements. Similar to Adventure of Link but with a map usually. SHIT!!! I just had a vision of the diablo after this next phone one... and it might be a shitty metroidvania game with lots of puzzle mechanics (or like just about all the new steam games that come out that are side scrollers). Diablo Terraria maybe.

ALL GAMES WILL BE ON THE PHONE IN THE FUTURE.... until they're in your head. SINGULARITY ACTIVE!!!!

No sextroidvania games? Every door probably leads to a brothel, a hooker, a sex shop, a bar, or some sleazy apartment.... that's not Seattle or San Francisco is it?

RPG elements aren't a must, there are 2d action RPGs or whatever you want to call them, like Zeliard or Ys 3, that are clearly not metroidvania games.
 

Wunderbar

Arcane
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Nov 15, 2015
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8,809
Gating player's progression by acquisition of new special abilities (like double-jump, lava immunity, etc) + minor rpg elements.
 

PrettyDeadman

Guest
Metroidvania is a sidescrolling zelda game. It literally have 0 original or defining elements which would otherwise differentiate it from being a zelda clone. Iga yashi is a hack.
 

Grauken

Gourd vibes only
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Zelda-likes often have a different progression curve, where games open up and allow entering any of the main dungeons at the same time, whereupon metroidvanias don't really do this. Also, different perspective means different gameplay
 

Funposter

Arcane
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Zelda-likes often have a different progression curve, where games open up and allow entering any of the main dungeons at the same time, whereupon metroidvanias don't really do this. Also, different perspective means different gameplay

I think the best method of differentiating the two, apart from gameplay perspective (remember that Zelda 2 is a side-scroller), is based upon the way in which progression works. Unlocking a new ability or item in Zelda lets you progress to, and through, the next dungeon, after which that item or ability probably has very little use for the rest of the game. In a Metroidvania, these items (or more often, abilities) give the player a brand new set of options which allow them not only to progress, but which also allow them to adjust their playstyle or usual methods of exploring. As mentioned previously in the thread, backtracking is a big part of this, as large or secret portions of previous areas become "unlocked" thanks to your abilities. There's probably not a single item in any Zelda game which opens up gameplay as much as Symphony of the Night's Super Jump or Bat Form. The more open gameplay style also allows for sequence breaking, which is basically a staple of the genre.
 

Grauken

Gourd vibes only
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Yes and no, many metroidvanias have major and minor abilities, and some of the minor ones are often one-use as well
 
Self-Ejected

RNGsus

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Messages
8,106
Metroidvania is a sidescrolling zelda game. It literally have 0 original or defining elements which would otherwise differentiate it from being a zelda clone. Iga yashi is a hack.
Was Zelda 2 a Metroidvania?
 

Mexi

Dumbfuck!
Dumbfuck
Joined
Jan 6, 2015
Messages
6,811
It's a soyboy buzzword from gaming journalists. I cringe when I hear it used in reviews. Then it stops me from ever buying the game. I'm glad I played SoTN before I ever heard that dumbshit word used.
 

deama

Prophet
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May 13, 2013
Messages
4,352
Location
UK
No sextroidvania games? Every door probably leads to a brothel, a hooker, a sex shop, a bar, or some sleazy apartment.... that's not Seattle or San Francisco is it?
There's a sex-ish based metroidvania, was advertised in JRPG forums.
 

Turuko

Learned
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Jun 12, 2019
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Verbobonc
sidescroller

+

g4g64pc5xzi21.jpg
 

KeighnMcDeath

RPG Codex Boomer
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Nov 23, 2016
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12,859
Yeah. Definitely. Now that's the type of map (though far more colorful) a friend handed me when he let me borrow metroid for nes back in the 80s. I was like wtf is this and how do i read it? (Was done much smaller and on notebook paper).

That stuff seemed appealing, at the time, after playing a bit of Simon's Quest and Adventure of Link (and a lot of other old nes titles). The map from the original castlevania was the obvious inspiration imho.
 

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