For as many metroidvanias that exist, very few of them are innovative, exciting, or worth spending money and time on. I don't mean to put all of these developers down, but metroidvanias have become one of those genres that a lot of new indie developers (I'll include myself in this for humility's sake) will work in because it's a very easy genre to produce something functional and objectively "solid" in a relatively short amount of time and with only half the effort of some other genres. That being said, making an actual good, complete metroidvania--something worth buying and spending time on--is extremely difficult, because what makes a metroidvania good these days are a lot of numinous details that can't be easily quantified. There's over 1200 games on Steam in general with the Metroidvania tag, and about 95% of those games are extremely low budget and--this may be harsh--low effort. While we can debate which of the games in this tag could be accurately defined as metroidvanias or not, maybe 2% of the games (about 24 games, give or take) in the genre on Steam are experiences most people would find enjoyable or worth the money. And I think that's a generous amount at that. Not that these other games don't have positive reviews, but most other games outside of this 2% have so many flaws that it takes effort to love them or even give them a shot. Frankly, the genre is hard pressed for well-polished, unique and engaging experiences that satisfy a player's itch for a complete "metroidvania." Gestalt seems like it has all of the bare bones of a metroidvania, but these days that bar isn't hard to hit, because, as mentioned, the genre has become a bit of a staple of game development tutorials, just like platformers, farming sims, etc. What makes a metroidvania worthwhile these days are those numinous details I mentioned like story, worldbuilding, visual style, map design, sound design progression flow, fluid/robust animation, schmoovement, feedback, etc. So many details that have to be in harmony with one another, and even then, you could end up like Gestalt where I would argue a lot of the things they did are "good", but the sum of its parts still ends up to being just an average experience that I don't have any more investment in outside of saying, "yeah, the game was okay."
I noticed you didn't mention Nine Sols. If you haven't played that one you should definitely give it a shot. The elevator pitch is "Sekiro type 'parry everything' combat system meets Hollow Knight style hand drawn art with a theme of Tao futurism". The map system is trash... but other than that it's one of the best metroidvanias I've ever played.
If you, during a review, have to worry about "being mean" when it comes to stating your opinions regarding the reviewed game/material, something is very wrong. Sharing your opinion, whether it is negative or positive, is something people choose what to do with. If you choose to be insulted by it then that's up to you, but you could also choose to see it as something you can view as constructive criticism you can use in order to improve your product. Being able to handle criticism in a positive way is one of the best ways to improve upon a game, turning it from average to great with the help of the players!
I believe I will give this game a try... It does indeed seem very "by-the-numbers", but I love the Metroidvania general and this game seems fun enough... Besides, I think the studio and this franchise will get better with time, so I'd be happy to help them reach their potential.
Can recommend Cookie Cutter as well. Another metroidvania with a very, very strong and impressive presentation. Tone can be quite out-there and the gameplay is simply solid. The lead dev made it from the philosophy of making something that was shaped by his experiences with various media throughout life. In his own words, "i'll continue until i'm not better, not worse until i'm different". There's currently a big update and PS4/Switch ports in the works, and he likes to tease new ideas for story beats, weapons, enemies, environments, etc. on his Twitter. They weren't able to fully make the story they wanted to tell or the full scope of the game, but the lead dev takes making the game as mechanically good as it can be, very seriously. Ended up really, really liking it quite a bit and am excited for more, both with the gameplay and with the world itself and characters within. Hoping that support will be enough that the full story can be told.
good review, i had this on my wishlist but the demo was bugged and wouldnt even let me play more than 5 minutes. Glad i shouldnt waste my time on this. it needed some people to playtest this before they finished
I was thinking this was going to lean more towards the harder action platforming side of things. All of the footage I've seen looks a little boring and by the numbers. It's a beautiful game though..holy crap..just got to the 3 hour explanation part of your video. .that's like a demo almost. Thanks for the spotlight. I enjoyed the review
That's a shame. And well said too. With all the games I'm planning on playing, I may need to pass on this. Also, after Sea of Stars, I'm feeling a bit burned on amateurish writing from games with fun combat and gorgeous art direction. Back to Elden Ring then.
Can recommend Clash: Artifacts of Chaos for a game with fun combat and gorgeous art direction, which also delivers on the writing and voice acting alike. *And especially the music*. Soulstice too. Voice acting can feel unusual at times but it's not bad. Only one performance that i'd really consider below par. Wish you fun and good luck on the other games on your backlog and ahead of you.
Thought it was Steam only, but it's also on Switch. Didn't mention it in the video, but it's in a pinned comment now. My bad, and thanks for pointing it out!
I remember getting mad when I found out that the developer was working on a Knock off Hollow Knight but with a witch doctor and they have seem to have neglected this game, which was tease in 2020 or even before that. 19.99$ for that I rather get Bloodborne, Hades 2 in early access or any SMT Game.
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
Game is available on Switch and Steam with a 10% discount at launch in case you love all the pros and none of the cons bother you!
Not yet released on switch
Its very frustrating when a game is narrative heavy with bad writing
For as many metroidvanias that exist, very few of them are innovative, exciting, or worth spending money and time on. I don't mean to put all of these developers down, but metroidvanias have become one of those genres that a lot of new indie developers (I'll include myself in this for humility's sake) will work in because it's a very easy genre to produce something functional and objectively "solid" in a relatively short amount of time and with only half the effort of some other genres.
That being said, making an actual good, complete metroidvania--something worth buying and spending time on--is extremely difficult, because what makes a metroidvania good these days are a lot of numinous details that can't be easily quantified.
There's over 1200 games on Steam in general with the Metroidvania tag, and about 95% of those games are extremely low budget and--this may be harsh--low effort.
While we can debate which of the games in this tag could be accurately defined as metroidvanias or not, maybe 2% of the games (about 24 games, give or take) in the genre on Steam are experiences most people would find enjoyable or worth the money. And I think that's a generous amount at that. Not that these other games don't have positive reviews, but most other games outside of this 2% have so many flaws that it takes effort to love them or even give them a shot. Frankly, the genre is hard pressed for well-polished, unique and engaging experiences that satisfy a player's itch for a complete "metroidvania."
Gestalt seems like it has all of the bare bones of a metroidvania, but these days that bar isn't hard to hit, because, as mentioned, the genre has become a bit of a staple of game development tutorials, just like platformers, farming sims, etc.
What makes a metroidvania worthwhile these days are those numinous details I mentioned like story, worldbuilding, visual style, map design, sound design progression flow, fluid/robust animation, schmoovement, feedback, etc.
So many details that have to be in harmony with one another, and even then, you could end up like Gestalt where I would argue a lot of the things they did are "good", but the sum of its parts still ends up to being just an average experience that I don't have any more investment in outside of saying, "yeah, the game was okay."
I noticed you didn't mention Nine Sols. If you haven't played that one you should definitely give it a shot. The elevator pitch is "Sekiro type 'parry everything' combat system meets Hollow Knight style hand drawn art with a theme of Tao futurism". The map system is trash... but other than that it's one of the best metroidvanias I've ever played.
Just played this game and absolutely loved it! It's better than Hollow Knight in my opinion and by alot!
If you, during a review, have to worry about "being mean" when it comes to stating your opinions regarding the reviewed game/material, something is very wrong.
Sharing your opinion, whether it is negative or positive, is something people choose what to do with. If you choose to be insulted by it then that's up to you, but you could also choose to see it as something you can view as constructive criticism you can use in order to improve your product.
Being able to handle criticism in a positive way is one of the best ways to improve upon a game, turning it from average to great with the help of the players!
flashbacks to Angry Joe: FOUR HOURS?!
Thank you for sharing your review.
This game looks like its gonna be great
It's not available yet on the Nintendo switch e shop, why?
I believe I will give this game a try... It does indeed seem very "by-the-numbers", but I love the Metroidvania general and this game seems fun enough... Besides, I think the studio and this franchise will get better with time, so I'd be happy to help them reach their potential.
Can recommend Cookie Cutter as well. Another metroidvania with a very, very strong and impressive presentation. Tone can be quite out-there and the gameplay is simply solid.
The lead dev made it from the philosophy of making something that was shaped by his experiences with various media throughout life.
In his own words, "i'll continue until i'm not better, not worse until i'm different".
There's currently a big update and PS4/Switch ports in the works, and he likes to tease new ideas for story beats, weapons, enemies, environments, etc. on his Twitter.
They weren't able to fully make the story they wanted to tell or the full scope of the game, but the lead dev takes making the game as mechanically good as it can be, very seriously.
Ended up really, really liking it quite a bit and am excited for more, both with the gameplay and with the world itself and characters within. Hoping that support will be enough that the full story can be told.
good review, i had this on my wishlist but the demo was bugged and wouldnt even let me play more than 5 minutes. Glad i shouldnt waste my time on this. it needed some people to playtest this before they finished
I was thinking this was going to lean more towards the harder action platforming side of things. All of the footage I've seen looks a little boring and by the numbers. It's a beautiful game though..holy crap..just got to the 3 hour explanation part of your video. .that's like a demo almost. Thanks for the spotlight. I enjoyed the review
That's a shame. And well said too. With all the games I'm planning on playing, I may need to pass on this. Also, after Sea of Stars, I'm feeling a bit burned on amateurish writing from games with fun combat and gorgeous art direction.
Back to Elden Ring then.
Can recommend Clash: Artifacts of Chaos for a game with fun combat and gorgeous art direction, which also delivers on the writing and voice acting alike. *And especially the music*.
Soulstice too. Voice acting can feel unusual at times but it's not bad. Only one performance that i'd really consider below par.
Wish you fun and good luck on the other games on your backlog and ahead of you.
@@jurtheorc8117 Interesting. I just looked up a trailer. Think I'll add that to my Wishlist.
I told myself last night that I was going to save more...oh well!
I could have missed it, but you didn't mention the platforms in this review.
Thought it was Steam only, but it's also on Switch. Didn't mention it in the video, but it's in a pinned comment now. My bad, and thanks for pointing it out!
Not huge a fanboy of genre, played quite a few only deadcells ..will of wisp...and shadow something clicked with me
It's kind of funny, but the gun mechanic is exactly like the one in a game that's coming out in a day or two... Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn.
Which by the way, there will very probably be a review of Flintlock on the channel, but I don't have review code so it'll be late. We'll see.
3 or 4 hours for $20. I'll wait when it's on sale for $4.99.
I'm surprised he managed that. Like, I'm not bad at platformers at all and I still clocked over eight hours without even getting 100%.
So many of them... 😅
I remember getting mad when I found out that the developer was working on a Knock off Hollow Knight but with a witch doctor and they have seem to have neglected this game, which was tease in 2020 or even before that. 19.99$ for that I rather get Bloodborne, Hades 2 in early access or any SMT Game.