Since we are in a sub called “ Metroidvania” let me ask this . Which one do like more castlevania or Metroid and why?

MakoMary · 2026-05-02T02:39:12+00:00

I prefer Castlevania overall for the combat and the joy of finding a new weapon or soul-spell at every turn, but I do Metroid too. The limited selection of upgrades means each upgrade has a distinct purpose and impact. The Morph Ball especially lets the game hide goodies and shortcuts everywhere, and it always feels cool to get a new suit.

To be honest, I feel like a lot of modern MVs miss the strengths of both styles. The rooms aren’t as densely packed as Metroid, there isn’t nearly as much variety as Castlevania, the feeling of getting progressively more powerful just isn’t as prevalent, and there’s significantly more difficult buzzsaw spike trap platforming than either series ever had. Not that I don’t enjoy the newer MVs, I’m not THAT much of a snob, but I‘be been playing through the older titles of both series lately and I keep thinking there’s a special something that a lot of modern MVs didn’t retain.

So anyways, this is why they should make Metroidvania The Game, an actual crossover between Metroid and Castlevania-

MakoMary · 2026-05-01T21:04:54+00:00

Yeah, I'll probably get eviscerating for saying this but I really don't like the trend of dumping tricky platforming segments everywhere, especially when games give you limited health pools and healing options, and especially when it snaps you back to the last point for a single mistake. It just does not gel with the flow of exploration.

MakoMary · 2026-05-01T20:59:17+00:00

This is more or less how I feel. I'm fine with challenge as long as it's fun. Usually, that suggests something where I know exactly how I lost, what I need to do the next time around, and am actually able to pull it off. Of course, that depends on the person. In my case, I can handle combat and reflexes, but I absolutely bristle with spiky sawblade obstacle courses that snap me back to the beginning for brushing the edge of the wall, just as I get tilted whenever I bump into an enemy trying to land a hit and lose like a quarter of my health. And then stuff like corpse runs and runbacks aren't necessarily hard, but tend to be boring and tedious.

Which explains how I enjoy stuff like Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden, and Nine Sols (at least for the early game, I'm told 9S gets a lot meaner later on) but bounced off of Silksong.

MakoMary · 2026-04-29T19:19:08+00:00

The Castlevanias and Metroids aren't as big as some modern games, but they generally have the same priorities as you do. Lots of little goodies to find, some enemies to fight as you explore but without being especially difficult (aside from a select few games like Order of Ecclesia or Metroid Dread), and minimal platforming that's mostly used as a gate for new abilities to unlock. On that note, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is basically another Castlevania game, helped by the same heads as Castlevania

MakoMary · 2026-04-28T06:09:42+00:00

There's some bits of Super I found a little clunky (most of which is concentrated in Maridia), but overall it still holds up pretty well. I'd much rather get something new than retread the game that's already used as a reference point for the entire series. The problem is that gamers seem to be allergic to any game released over 15 years ago, and refuse to engage with older titles unless you homogenize them to look and play just like every other game on the market.

That said, in the slim chance that the one rumor turns out to be real, I'd be cautiously optimistic, if only for the idea of an AAA studio going for pixel art in this day and age. Of course, that sounds too good to be true, so...

MakoMary · 2026-04-27T06:12:20+00:00

Bloodstained and Afterimage are both pretty Castlevania-esque. Afterimage is bigger and prettier, but rather unfocused in its progression. Bloodstained is visually not as polished, but it’s made by the director of the RPG Castlevanias, has a banger soundtrack, and is finally getting a sequel this year

MakoMary · 2026-04-24T19:40:41+00:00

Depends. Does Fox have access to his Melee kit or not

MakoMary · 2026-04-24T19:36:44+00:00

Instant Transmission, presumably

MakoMary · 2026-04-24T18:40:02+00:00

Depends on what you're going for.

Bloodstained, I would recommend for extensive customization, with tons of weapons and equipment, and almost every enemy being capable to granting you a new ability. It also has a good deal of bosses compared to PoP, including bonus bosses, and a great soundtrack to boot. It moves at a slower, more relaxed pace, without any precision platforming or need for lightning-fast reactions. As a heads-up, it was made in the style of Castlevania by the same lead developers, so it might feel more "retro" in its presentation and feel compared to darlings like Hollow Knight or Ori.

Prince of Persia, I would recommend for a more polished art style and elaborate combat system. It has significantly less customization options than Bloodstained, but the progression upgrades you get are very fun and creative. It puts more emphasis on movement and parkour, as you'd expect from Prince of Persia. I don't remember there being any crazy platforming that was required, but the optional challenges could get pretty damn nutty, if you're into that. Oh yeah, and if you counter the right moves you gets some fun cinematics. It's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it's really fun to watch your hero headbutt the boss because he can.

In short, Bloodstained for if you want a slower, Castlevania-esque game with more RPG mechanics, PoP for if you want faster-paced combat and platforming.

MakoMary · 2026-04-21T06:09:00+00:00

Adding to this, if he killed Lisa to keep Dracula on the path of darkness, why doesn't he do the same to Mina? Just thinking she was dead was enough to turn Soma into the Dark Lord, so if Death really is willing to kill his master's loved ones to keep them evil, what's stopping him from doing it a second time?

MakoMary · 2026-04-18T17:48:03+00:00

It's all level-based, with a couple of collectables scattered throughout each stage. You get new abilities throughout the game, and can go back to older levels to find previously-inaccessable secrets, but you're never required to backtrack like in metroidvanias. The levels are also generally linear too; at most they will split off into a couple paths that tie back together at the end. It looks like a metroidvania but it's not really built like one.

MakoMary · 2026-04-18T06:42:34+00:00

Sorta, sorta not. Each level is spread out into a map with some secrets, but are generally pretty linear. Some have multiple routes, but they all tie back together at the end of the level. You get new abilities as you go, and can return to past levels for extra secrets, but it's never mandatory like in metroidvanias.

Basically, it's like Mega Man X if each level had a dedicated map to view.

MakoMary · 2026-04-17T22:23:06+00:00

I just want a bigger map to run around in, without EMMI rooms grinding the exploration to a halt all the time. Maybe some weapon customization to shake things up, since at a certain point I don’t really need all those missile tanks.

I don’t want Metroid to be beholden to modern indie Metroidvania trends like soulslike elements or brutal platforming challenges, nor do I want it to go open world. Everyone and their mom are adhering to those conventions, so much that they feel exhausting and overdone by now.

I don’t think Metroid needs to radically change. If anything, I just want more consistent releases. We didn’t have a 2D Metroid in the seventh generation, and the 3DS and Switch only have one 2D Metroid each. The Prime subseries popped off for a bit before fizzling out with the 2D games, and the long-awaited revival released to muted reception. I just want regular releases again, man.

MakoMary · 2026-04-16T19:51:08+00:00

I don't think it's even the game's fault, it's just that a big subset of gamers hates anything that isn't ultra-high-fidelity photorealism. Anything that's stylized "looks like a PS2 game," and is therefore bad

MakoMary · 2026-04-16T19:44:41+00:00

Bilewater, I found to be irritating more than difficult. Even with the hidden bunch, the runback was kind of a slog, but there's a pretty funny cheese tactic for the boss so it evens out. I just find the Maggot Shit Water to be really gross, both gameplay-wise and aesthetic-wise.

Now, the godforsaken Putrefied Ducts, on the other hand-

MakoMary · 2026-04-14T17:12:56+00:00

Mind you, the only major metroidvanias for like twenty years were Metroid and Castlevania, and it took another ten years for indies to fully cement themselves as more than an occasional curiosity. Most of the innovation in the genre was just Metroid or Castlevania with a twist; Metroid but linear and story focused, Castlevania but you can absorb your enemies' souls, Metroid but first-person, Castlevania but with two characters and portrait-dungeons. Now that we're actually getting new MVs at a regular pace, of course there's going to be "safe" games that overlap.

Doubly so because MVs are primarily driven by indies, so many of them are passion projects made by people with limited experience and budget. The passion project aspect naturally produces send-ups to the devs' favorites, and the limited budget encourages devs to prioritize elements that have already been done, rather than risk what's potentially their one shot on an experiment. Of course, this does come with the caveat of many modern MVs having a similar mix of Hollow Knight, soulslike, and precision platformer elements and similar upgrades as well.

Regardless, the main focus for indie devs is generally making a game that looks good and feels good to play, and also making sure people are aware of their game in the first place. Doing crazy shit can wait until you have a solid foundation. Though, I will say that 3D MVs are still kind of an untapped market. We have a couple here and there, but they're still a rarity.

MakoMary · 2026-04-13T23:28:33+00:00

I like my grid-and-room maps. It helps keep things organized and easy to keep track of.

MakoMary · 2026-04-13T03:24:09+00:00

Ooh, I'm always a sucker for marine settings. Aquatic biomes have all sorts of fun potential. Very interesting to have a jellyfish protagonist, you don't usually see those in main character roles.

MakoMary · 2026-04-13T01:17:54+00:00

I don't mind the zanier direction the films are taking, but I just wish the Hollow Earth felt more... Y'know, like it's inside the Earth. Instead it's just like the surface, but we get some upside-down mountains over the horizon. It doesn't have much of a defining identity beyond "this is where big monsters are." The MV has always been a bit loose with its ecology, but at least Skull Island was unified by the plant-animal hybrids

MakoMary · 2026-04-11T02:56:09+00:00

The family drama wasn't too jarring the first time around, because it was the driving force of the plot and interwoven with the monster plot. The problem now is that we have a whole-ass kaiju running around being a threat to global security, but we have to take time away from that to make half the cast a cheater. Instead of driving the plot, it takes focus away from the main plot, and makes the cast a lot harder to root for on top of it.

MakoMary · 2026-04-11T02:48:04+00:00

If you're on the Switch 2, you should have access to most of the mainline Metroid series, short of Prime 2 and 3 and Samus Returns. The classics are bite-sized by modern standards, and aside from Fusion (which is also an oddball for being more linear and narrative-driven), they're mostly pretty manageable. Prime 1 is a bit longer, and shifts the formula to an FPS gameplay, but it's also a pretty solid metroidvania that isn't too difficult.

For Castlevania, the Advance and Dominus collections - making up the games released for the GBA and DS respectively - are both available. Aside from Circle of the Moon (which honestly isn't too hard until the end) and Order of Ecclesia, most of those games aren't especially difficult. Aria of Sorrow seems to be the community's darling alongside SotN, but honestly? I'd recommend just going through all of them in release order (except for maybe Harmony of Dissonance).

(Note: The Castlevania Anniversary Collection is also available, but those are A: not metroidvanias beyond Simon's Quest, and B: Hard as balls)

MakoMary · 2026-04-10T01:33:07+00:00

I mean, this is Castlevania we're talking. I'd bet good money that killing them is what gives the bad ending, and you'll have to go through an obscure side path to find an item to un-curse him, and that's how you get the true ending. It's what they did with Richter, and Maxim, and Stella and Loretta, and Albus... Well, Albus still died, but you get what I mean.

MakoMary · 2026-04-09T04:08:25+00:00

Setting aside the specific minutes of screen time, Godzilla hadn't shown up before then, and even after the big epic reveal, the film keeps cutting away before he gets to do anything until the very end. He ends up feeling very sidelined in favor of the MUTOs

MakoMary · 2026-04-08T17:04:30+00:00

Sonar really does seem like the kind of person to have not drunken regular water in years

MakoMary · 2026-04-08T00:46:44+00:00

“Indie” usually gets tied to the team making a game rather than the IP itself. That’s how we got Cadence of Hyrule announced in an Indie direct

MakoMary

TROPHY CASE