You mean Metroid-like, right? I mean, seriously, aside from shallow level ups, what did Castlevania introduce to the genre? It's like 90% Metroid and maybe 10% Castlevania.
I never got why the label got slapped with the "Vania" part.
Metroid-esque castlevania games are Metroid-esque, why do they get part of the label when they were just emulating metroid?
I never got why the label got slapped with the "Vania" part.
Metroid-esque castlevania games are Metroid-esque, why do they get part of the label when they were just emulating metroid?
Because the label was specific to Castlevania games when they became increasingly more like Metroid. Why the term bled out to other games I have honestly no idea other than laziness
It's really not. We called any first person game where you shoot stuff a "Doom-clone" for years before "first-person shooter" caught on. These kinds of games maybe aren't as easily contained in a simple descriptor, but I wouldn't be surprised if we eventually landed on "progression platformer" or something.
I'd say he makes a great argument that, since Super Metroid and Castlevania SotN have very different design goals, they shouldn't be lumped together. The former's more focused on platforming while SotN and "Igavanias" are designed more as side-scrolling Action-RPGs.
damn digibro is maximum weeb
yeah laziness. Igarashi was crapping them out yearly (probably not his fault, Konami with low budgets etc), so they became a ubiquitous example of the format. It was easy for lazy reviewers to call new Super Meroid-like games 'like those Metroidvanias' and it stuck.Because the label was specific to Castlevania games when they became increasingly more like Metroid. Why the term bled out to other games I have honestly no idea other than laziness
Agreed, good summary.I prefer Metroidlike. SOTN deserves credit (or blame) for so many Metroidlikes having RPG mechanics, but that contribution ain't enough to name the genre after Castlevania.
Yeah his argument in the video is backwards, just like the argument that Wonder Boy III can have the term because of CV2, it doesn't take into account the history of the term's development.Except this argument misses the mark on why the term Metroidvania exists in the first place. It has nothing to do with platforming vs. action-RPG really (and frankly, that is a facile argument to make considering you're just stating the obvious about differences from a gameplay standpoint). It has more to do with how similarly both franchises treat exploration within the format.
I never got why the label got slapped with the "Vania" part.
Metroid-esque castlevania games are Metroid-esque, why do they get part of the label when they were just emulating metroid?
Except this argument misses the mark on why the term Metroidvania exists in the first place. It has nothing to do with platforming vs. action-RPG really (and frankly, that is a facile argument to make considering you're just stating the obvious about differences from a gameplay standpoint). It has more to do with how similarly both franchises treat exploration within the format.
But the franchise itself never explored this format until the very first Metroidvania, which is SoTN. This term existed to differentiate pre and pos-SOTN Castlevania and nothing more
I prefer Metroidlike. SOTN deserves credit (or blame) for so many Metroidlikes having RPG mechanics, but that contribution ain't enough to name the genre after Castlevania.
So's your mom!Jeremy Parish is a blight.
I may be wrong, but I think the first time this term was broadly used outside of Castlevania was Guacamelee. Before that I've never heard anyone describe something like Cave Story or Shadow Complex as "Metroidvania" (and I honestly don't think people even attribute that genre to Cave Story to this day).
Now we have nonsense like people calling Wonder Boy III 'Metroidvania' when it pre-dated Castlevania's involvement in the genre name. Ironically it was actually quite similar to Castlevania II, but to then say it's okay to call it Metroidvania because of that is to back-port a 2000s term to 1989.
It's a term of reference most gamers are familiar with. Not everything in the world is cause for insightful, deep academic debate. Fuck.
Shadow complex definitely was described as a metroidvania, people in here would call it so in Shadow Complex threads.
Well, the ones who weren't focusing on who wrote the story anyways.
Pretty much. It gives a very good point of reference as to what to expect from a game.It's a term of reference most gamers are familiar with. Not everything in the world is cause for insightful, deep academic debate. Fuck.
I like Metroidlike, it has a nice ring to it and it's unambiguous as to what it means, as unlike Castlevania, Metroid has no mainline games outside the genre. As a bonus, it pretty much pioneered the genre.
Now all we have to do is brainwash the entire population of Earth to start using it... :/
Guacamelee was an amazing Metroidvania. I've finished it like 5 times by now.If you have the balls to compare your game with metroidvania games
I am talking about the
1 snes
5 gba
1 ps / sega
1 homebrew
You better impress me because everything after that has been shit
At this point the word "roguelike" has been ground into a fine paste, but you don't see me complaining about it.
But the franchise itself never explored this format until the very first Metroidvania, which is SoTN. This term existed to differentiate pre and pos-SOTN Castlevania and nothing more
Fuck that. Is it like Rogue? Not at all? Then it's not a goddamn roguelike.
but to then say it's okay to call it Metroidvania because of that is to back-port a 2000s term to 1989.
Guacamelee was an amazing Metroidvania. I've finished it like 5 times by now.
So's your mom!
As a child of the 80s, genre names changing annoy me.Don't worry about Metroidvania, let's just keep an eye out for the people unironically saying "shmup" out loud.
With the remaster I can see that, but I mean back in 2009? I guess that's a possibilty, but I have a feeling I only saw strong use of it aroung when Guacamelee was being released and more games like that gained traction. But eh, like I said I could be very wrong.
It's a term of reference most gamers are familiar with. Not everything in the world is cause for insightful, deep academic debate. Fuck.
It's not gonna go away. He's basically being an old man yelling at a cloud.
Metroidvania was well in use as general thing at that point. I know Cave Story was called a Metroidvania when it first showed up.
TOLLMASTER
June 22, 2006 at 06:55
Not that I would disrespect Dawn, but Aria of Sorrow is really the gold standard for the Metrovania games at the moment. Unless you count Cave Story and actual Metroid games in Metrovania. But lets not talk about definitions of fake words.
Symphony of the Night 'quintessential metroid like' what? It's a terrible Metroid game.When Symphony of the Night became a quintessential "metroid like" is when the it earned its place in the "metroidvania" pantheon. There's no better term to quickly highlight the fact the type of exploration and upgrades the games feature.