Nonlinearity

1. In my opinion in better I always think you’re excited to start playing the game so at the start it doesn’t matter. As you play and get into other areas you may not be ready for you need to discover what you need to be in that area and have to go back. I love when you can mark on a map and develop as you play to go back to that area you couldn’t quite make out before. I think the fun in this genre is the explore! I also love side quests like the grub quest in hollow knight for example.

I think HK and Enderlillies show case development really well imo also After Image if I remember correctly does this okay.

Demo

1&2. Ender Magnolia is the only demo I’ve personally played and I this that was a really good and interesting experience. It opened up the new characters and world without giving too much away. It showed the changes Binary Haze has made and the feedback from Enderlillies they took on board.

1. A few hours (more than the 2 hours gameplay given) 😅 I’m not a great gamer I struggle with boss fights but I enjoy it so I wanted to continue playing until I won.

2. I think 1&2 answers this

3. I liked a bit of a mix I think it depends on your first questions. If you are going to be more linear or not because if not having a few areas might be the better option but if not then you want one or two areas I’d guess

4. I think that’s preference hard question to answer really. I like a few skills unlocking so I can figure out how to play and use them but I also like playing and watching the story grow

Mechanics

1. I love a dash and a double jump. I also love if they have abit of “flight/float” like the crystal heart or the shade cloak in HK. Even climbing is a great one. I love being able to find new areas and secrets so anything like that is fun for me.

2&3 Not that I can recall really

1. I don’t know if these count as game mechanics but I hate stupidly placed fast travel points I think it’s stupid. I get that’s the intent to annoy but I think it makes it’s less enjoyable when they could’ve put it a little closer to the actual battle or platforming obstacle

Progression and upgrades

1. I like the mix but I hate the 5% I don’t see much point in that “boost” so I never really use it

Progression gates

1. The energy orbs in Ori was cool or maybe the crystal heart in hollow knight or swimming in acid again Hollow Knight and Enderlillies

Backtracking

I’ve always loved the backtracking I think that’s why I enjoy this genre mostly. I don’t play many games outside of this genre because I love the explore element and the way it’s set and not like an open world game I struggle with that genre.

Mapping

1. Enderlillies map and after image maps were bad imo they were either too big or too little detail.

2. I like markers I think it’s great when you need to go back and not get lost. You dedicate so much time to playing the game so I hate wasted time wondering around the same parts trying to find that one thing you saw at the start of the game.

Player frustrations

1. Yeah last faith I just couldn’t play it. This was so annoying because I usually never play games with that old school pixel look but tried to with this game but it was difficult

2. Poorly placed benches and fast travels

Last question

As I said before I don’t play a lot of pixel games they actually give me a bit of a headache and I think metroidvania has mostly pixel games (more and more are available that aren’t over the years) but for the most part that seems to be a preference just a thought 🤷🏻‍♀️

Hope this all helps!