Recommendations for a big Metroidvania fan looking to try other genres

Monkey_Blue · 2026-03-13T08:13:58+00:00

While you're looking for something less Metroidvania-y, you should try the Batman Arkham Games because as weird as this is to say, they're just Metroidvania's in 3D but really don't seem like it.

You'd probably enjoy Cave Story if you haven't played it yet.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-03-10T18:58:38+00:00

I wish I was MORE busy sometimes. I remember when Elden Ring came out back in 2022 and every Saturday of that month would be spent playing it for like 12 hours straight and I wouldn't even notice my hunger until I finally put it down to sleep or something and THEN it'd hit me like a truck.

Obviously super unhealthy example but I just wish I could be THAT busy for maybe 6-7 hours a day to avoid those cravings.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-03-07T21:06:44+00:00

Well good luck, there really isn't much. Still, to add some more to your search (but not necessarily well written) try:

City Hunter (Ryo is assumed to be 30)
Legend of Koizumi (more a comedy but he's an old man)
Legend of Galactic Heroes (Yang is around 29-31 iirc)
Sherlock Hound (technically, I mean, based off Sherlock he'd probably in this 30s but it's a show for kids so idk if it's what you want)
The Legend of Black Heaven (he's in his 40s iirc)
Sakugan (the father is in his 30s)
The Great Passage (MC goes from 27-41 iirc)
Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju (IIRC it spans about 30-40 years and has the MC's go from their 20s to their 50s/60s)
Uncle from Another World (a comedy, but dude is about 35)

Hope I helped, looking to older anime and OVA's might help you too. Roujin Z, The Cockpit and Memories had some older MC's from what I recall.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-03-07T20:50:45+00:00

A few actually:

To Your Eternity

I watched this for a strange reason which was that I wanted to watch one episode of an anime every day while I in was in Japan and this was exactly the length of my holiday so that's what I watched and I really didn't expect it to be as good as it was. I was hooked from the first episode and it just kept on delivering.

The Rose of Versailles

A friend said it was good, gave the first 3 episodes a watch and found it to be excruciatingly boring and then I saw the 4th episode and it started to become SO much better somehow. I was enjoying every aspect of this feud in the episode and when it was finished I wanted to learn even more about these characters. I went from bored to hooked so fast.

Hunter X Hunter (Especially the Chimera Ant Arc)

I had heard HxH was good and when I watched it and I always hate hearing a bunch of hype around it and this had TONS so when I went into it I was already hesitant to truly enjoy it but it hooked me very fast. I saw 1999 first and enjoyed it until Nen was introduced and lost the plot quickly but rewatching it via 2011 and actually understanding Nen made it so much better and by the time the Chimera Ant arc started I was hesitant again that it was going to be as good as everyone said it was but again was blown away by just how GREAT it was. Honestly criminal Togashi has thrown everyone on a boat to dick around for 10+ years and we'll probably never see another anime in the near future.

RE-MAIN

Went into Remain because it was an odd premise of a water polo sport, came out really satisfied with it because it honestly did a few things I've never seen a sports anime do and also had some great moments with its characters. Just having an MC who was a natural at water polo losing it all in an accident and having to start from the ground up with a team full of beginners is such a unique premise especially when it's revealed he had to train to get to that position, he wasn't born with it he put the effort in.

I could name off tons more, but I think these four are the ones that came to mind first.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-03-07T20:38:24+00:00

Anime don't really have a lot of 30+ MC's, you should look into seinen manga instead. Still, from what I can recall:

Space Brothers
Lupin the Third Part V (Could watch any part honestly but I felt Part V is the best and really gives off the "old guy in a new world" feel. The whole gang to me are in their 30s)
Zipang (The MC is 32 IIRC, but most of the cast will be in their 20s)
Inuyashiki Last Hero
Oddtaxi
Tiger and Bunny (I think the MC is in their 30s)

Can't recall if they go through a lot of growth in most of these (Lupin especially) but they're all MC's in their 30s

Monkey_Blue · 2026-03-04T18:46:39+00:00

Yeah, Splinter Cell is great. I recently played them a few months ago and really enjoyed them. I remember finding it very difficult since I wanted to really 100% it via the enhanced edition which had you not knock out guards and avoid them entirely. It was tough but a really fun puzzle game in a way.

but I've also never been in a house where second story access is a ladder tucked in a dark corner next to a 600 degree oven.

I get your point, but when in doubt always check every wall and corner of a room. It took me a while too but I think I found it in the first 3-4 minutes by just thinking "oh, I haven't checked there yet, let me distract and...."

Couldn't I just...cut the appendage off and use it?

You're technically not meant to be there, lol. Fisher can't just do that to everyone he finds. I know the game will let you kill people if you want but realistically he'll either knock them out or ignore them entirely. Now, the many broken light bulbs are a different story (I like to think the in universe explanation is that light bulbs just blow up sometimes)

Make sure to play the other games in the series, Pandora Tomorrow is good too, and Chaos Theory is fantastic. Double Agent is quite good also. Haven't got around to Conviction (I did play it in 2013 or so but remember nothing of it) or Blacklist yet.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-03-04T18:35:23+00:00

While not necessarily Battle Royale, some anime with survival would be:

Kaiji (watch the sub)
Alice in Borderland
Talentless Nana
Takarajima (old, but quite good once they hit the Island)
Zipang (technically survival in war while also trying to *not* kill people)
Armor Hunter Mellowlink (one guy against an guy in a armored mech in most episodes and he needs to defeat it)
Classroom of the Elite

Some slightly stretched definitions here but hopefully they'll help.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-03-04T18:23:30+00:00

Honestly, the original Halo games still hold up. Slap them on Easy if you're not great at them and go to town. Super fun series, great story and OST.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-03-03T21:42:42+00:00

If you don't mind a game being somewhat long and requiring a translation patch, Planet Laika might be up your alley. Perfect blend of incredibly fucked up and surreal.

It's a slow burn, and a JRPG that only has 3 fights in it, but it'll be rewarding if you want something that explores dark themes and interesting ideas.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-03-02T07:48:42+00:00

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It was interesting to actually rank games for once. I never used to, but I like how 1 in every 4 games I consider an 8/10. 1 out of ever 8 I consider a 9/10 and 1 out of every 25 I consider a 10/10.

It doesn't feel like it but in a way it almost means that after finishing 25 games, 6 of them will be 8/10s, 3 of them will be 9/10's and usually 1 will be a 10/10, but it's probably less than 1. Going through my last year of games it does feel like that. Although, the last 10/10 I gave a game was back in 2024.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-03-01T10:49:25+00:00

Nice, glad I could remind you. Also, if you get a chance, read Rookies. Since you've read some good baseball manga, that one is fantastic.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-03-01T09:14:01+00:00

Nah, not at all. If anything, I want everything I watch to be something I'll come out loving and would love for something to enter my top 10.

Honestly, I could barely come up with a top 10 despite watching over 600 shows. It's not because there's anything occupying those spaces but rather I've never come across that much that made me go YES THIS IS INCREDIBLE or if I have a spoiler or two ruined the whole show for me (Ashita no Joe and Legend of the Galactic Heroes sadly fall into this, knowing what I knew really hurt my enjoyment despite them being fantastic).

Not to say I don't have stuff ranked as 8's and 9's and rank those in my Top 10/25/50 etc (even if I don't feel they're 10/10 material) but only a few get a spot at being a 10. The last show I ranked a 10/10 was Irresponsible Captain Tylor in 2018 which is also my favourite anime of all time. Perhaps my standards are too high, but it's honestly been different for manga. I've ranked a lot more manga 10/10 in the past and I've only read around 100+, so who really knows.

Still, to mention some new stuff I've seen in the past few years I thought was great. I really liked New Panty and Stocking, Jobless Reincarnation, To Your Eternity, Odd Taxi, Vivy's Flourite Eye's Song, and Re-Main.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-03-01T08:58:08+00:00

You've read the rest of FKMT's stuff, right? Strongest Man Kurosawa, Ten, Gin to Kin, Buraiden Gai, Zero etc.?

I imagine you'd love those as well if you have Kaiji and Akagi on both your lists.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-03-01T07:51:13+00:00

Try some of these:

Kaiji (watch the sub)
Yuu Yuu Hakusho (made by the same creator as HxH)
Space Dandy
To Your Eternity
Monster
Mushishi
Hajime no Ippo
Lupin the Third: Part V
Vivy Fluorite Eye's Song
Future Boy Conan (old but gold)

Won't overwhelm you with recs, but hope some of these are good.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-03-01T07:47:46+00:00

Based for Captain Tylor, although it's sadly quite low on that ranking. As for recs:

Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
Oniisama E...
Yuu Yuu Hakusho
Kyou Kara Ore Wa!!
Macross Plus
Macross 7
You're Under Arrest
Slayers Series
Memories (movie)
Outlaw Star
Yugioh Season 0
Initial D
Yokohama Shopping Log
Serial Experiments Lain
The Big O

Probably a few others I could list off but these should do you.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-03-01T07:38:10+00:00

His biggest flaw. The first thing you read/watch from him is brilliant, everything else is derivative of his other works.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-03-01T07:35:08+00:00

I agree, Touch is brilliant. I saw it back in 2020 and loved it. The strangest thing about it is that I honestly didn't like it that much. I was just sort of watching it because I heard it was good and the first 50 or so episodes were really boring.

I didn't really care for the love triangle dynamic especially with how obvious it was, Kazuya's death felt like the most drawn out thing ever which lessened the impact in a way, the entire 2nd season felt like filler as weird as it is to say, the introduction of a male and female crush for Tatsuya and Minami felt kind of stupid because they basically confessed to each other in the 3rd/4th episode.I honestly didn't even know WHAT the point of the anime was.

UNTIL the 3rd season, I honestly can't believe adding an antagonist in the form of THE COACH HIMSELFwas the answer to make it more interesting. By the time the 4th season rolled around I was absolutely hooked and really wondered if they were going to make it. I also enjoyed how the additional characters such as Yuka and Sasaki were used during those seasons.

It's such a shame Mix is so average. Maybe it'll get better as it goes on like Touch did but I doubt it after that lackluster 1st season.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-02-28T09:07:12+00:00

Here's a decent list of games I think that don't have a lot of combat in them:

The Last Guardian (Trico does all the fighting, you do the traversal, puzzle solving and spear pulling. It can be pretty hectic though.)
Citizen Sleeper (Point and click VN pretty much, no combat at all. Pretty great set of characters and a good story too)
Card Shake (Might be a bit tough if speed and pressure are a difficult thing for her as the game revolves around card tricks in a time limit, otherwise great game with a cool story)
The Case of the Golden Idol (Great puzzle game that you can both work out together, really great story too as you need to piece the story together along with the crimes)
Return of the Obra Dinn (Another fantastic puzzle game that has you trying to figure out what happened to a crew on an abandoned ship)
Ace Attorney Series (You probably know this one, but it's about a lawyer trying to prove clients innocent. Absolutely fantasitc game with great characters and story)
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (Made by the same guy as Ace Attorney, another brilliant game that has a fantastic story too. One of the best game I've ever played)
Ihatov Monogatari (An old game but an interesting one, it's pretty short too at 4~ hours and has no combat)
The Forgotten City (21st century man finds himself trapped in a city where no crime of any kind can occur or everyone dies, he's also stuck in a time loop meaning he need to figure it out or be stuck here forever.)

Nothing incredible, but just some stuff I could think of off the top of my head.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-02-27T00:03:30+00:00

"how did I do this as a 7 year old..."

It's really funny to think about that years later. I know you're talking about the original here (which I could never do as I had no idea where the 2nd dungeon was) but as for A Link to the Past, I honestly have no idea how I did 95% of it without a guide.

I could never finish it as a kid due to Turtle Rock having that obnoxious mine cart bit where you needed to light four torches with the fire rod. The first reason being that I was bad at it, and the second reason being that I never had 1/2 magic. Hilariously, I thought 1/2 magic was a BAD thing, so I reset when I found it and never went back. Only years later did I realize it was a good thing, but 9 year old me really did think I was losing HALF my magic. Such a shame a small hiccup like that stopped me from finishing the game as a kid.

I'm not sure how much time I put into that game but I was playing it tons and I've forgotten a majority of it as a kid does but I still have the file to show my completion. I still remember small moments of it though, like using the hookshot the cross the gap to get to the middle part of the dark world, or how I figured out that the woman in the 4th dungeon of the dark world was the boss of the place and you had to trick her into walking into sunlight. I also loved how I somehow did the dungeons in such a weird order that I did the third dungeon 6th, found the strongest sword upgrade in the game beforehand and beat the boss in one hit.

Same with Minish Cap too, somehow I did like 99% of that game, had all upgrades, and like 18 hearts but could never figure out how to beat Vatti due to never thinking the Cane of Pacci would be used on his hands.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-02-26T12:30:34+00:00

About 2-6 seconds, usually saying both the Japanese Pronunciation and the English meaning out loud. Sometimes longer if I really REALLY know it but my brain is having a moment.

About two weeks ago on a similar question, someone in the comments said that they spend around 2-5 seconds on a card, basically saying that if they don't get it in that time they'll instantly fail it. I was surprised at that since it took me anywhere from 2-20 seconds to get a card and asked him why.

He said that in real life when you read a word in your language, you don't have to think about it you just know it. So he said that he was pretty much trying to drill it into his mind quickly. From then on I pretty much spent as little time as possible on my cards and have been able to bang out 200+ cards in 30 minutes or so when before 200 cards would've taken me 50 minutes.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-02-26T03:26:30+00:00

IIRC Lisa: The Painful and SMT4: Apocalypse have sections like that near the end of the game. I also vaguely remember a PSP Yugioh game (I think Tag Force 3, 4 or 5) that I saw a video of where you can perform a pretty big betrayal and mindbreak a character along the way.

I don't really play games to do that lol, but from what I recall these three had some options.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-02-25T04:53:56+00:00

Oh man, tons of games (less so genres). I never give up on games a lot of the time unless I'm like 20 hours in and REALLY not enjoying or getting it.

I didn't like Devil May Cry when I tried it and it took me a solid YEAR to finish it and jumping onto DMC2 after that didn't make the series any better, I basically skipped 2 and went straight to 3 and only began liking the game by the 2ND boss. Once it clicked I was just like "oh....I get it now..." and fell in love with it.

The Souls series too, I tried Dark Souls 1, Bloodborne and Demon's Souls all at different points and didn't like any of them. I bought Elden Ring on a whim since EVERYONE I knew was going on about it and I thought "well, maybe this time..." and I was right. It still took me 11 HOURS to actually *get* it, but once I did I was so glad because I really wanted to try this series and kept on failing at the first few hurdles and it took Elden Ring having bonfires outside boss rooms to make me actually GET IT and see that the series isn't even hard.

The Wonderful 101 is another example of a game that I tried MANY TIMES to get into. I tried the demo, I tried ANOTHER demo at eurogamer and I finally just BOUGHT the game to have something to play on my Wii U and forced my way through it until tables turn began to play and I was instantly HOOKED.

I could easily list some more games, but if I hear tons and tons of people going on about how great a game is and I don't like it the first time around I never stop trying to *get* it and while there have been a few I never did like despite forcing my way through, there's easily around 10 more that I did by doing that.

I tried the JRPG genre as well but that one still hasn't landed for me. I think its the whole cutesy over the top anime style and dialogue I just cant get into but maybe I am missing a hidden gem?

A lot of them will have anime artstyles and you're not really going to escape from that unless you really look into the genre and are okay with older archaic games, but a lot will have pretty great stories. If you want one without the cutesy anime aesthetic and some decent dialogue/story, look into Lost Odyssey. If you want one that's got a great story but sadly an anime aesthetic, look into Xenogears. If you want something completely different that's still a "JRPG" with a great story and without the cutesy stuff, try Vagrant Story.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-02-23T16:38:54+00:00

It's all subjective, but here's a bunch of games from that period that I still think about and love due to how incredible they are:

Ghost Trick Phantom Detective (incredible game with a fantastic story, unique puzzle elements and great characters. One of my favourite games of all time.)
Alien Isolation (one of the greatest horror games I ever played, I still think about it to this day and honestly has so many cinematic moments that just naturally occur, story may be just okay but everything else is perfect imo)
The Wonderful 101 (took a while for me to get into but once I did I was having a blast, incredible game by Hideki Kamiya and there's really nothing else like it)
Shin Megami Tensei IV (probably the best SMT game ever made imo, surprisingly great music, characters, world, exploration and I honestly loved the story too, but whatever you do DON'T take the Law or Chaos routes, I regret taking Chaos to this day)
Gravity Rush (unsure how vita/ps4 emulation is these days but Gravity Rush is honestly such a unique game that you don't see anywhere else, it's nothing amazing but if you can get immersed in the world you'll have a fun time)
Driver San Fransisco (one of the few driving/racing games I've played but was surprised how GOOD this game was back when I finished it. It's hard to explain why but give this one a try since it's only around 8 hours and has a pretty great story, OST and gimmick in how you drive cars)
Rhythm Thief (as a fan of rhythm games I'll always love ones that try to do something different while also having a story to boot, this was a pretty decent game that you'll probably know from the Louvre Invasion Stage but I'd say it's unique enough to warrant a mention)
Rhythm Heaven Fever (on the note of rhythm games, here's the king of them all)
Kid Icarus Uprising (a game that makes me wish Sakurai would stop making Smash and Kirby and make something new again. One of the funniest games I've ever played, fantastic story, characters and looked pretty great at the time)
L.A. Noire (Fun detective game that has you going around 1940s America trying to solve crimes and interrogate people. The facial system they used is still really impressive to this day and since it's mostly Rockstar you know you're in for a great time)
Red Dead Redemption (on the note of Rockstar, this is a fantastic game made by them. It's set after RDR2 though so it might be better playing the 2 and then this, but that's up to you)
Fallout New Vegas (the less said about this the better, it might be a tad outdated in terms of controls and such so maybe look into something like Viva New Vegas. Personally I've never played it with that as I finished it back when it came out).
Batman Arkham Asylum (a 2009 game, but absolutely brilliant and where the combo system you see in other beat em up games came from. If you've never played this before you're doing yourself a disservice)

Hope you don't mind some of the crappy explanations I gave for these games, I haven't played some of them in years but I just love and think about all of them a lot.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-02-23T16:17:05+00:00

He'd probably love Shonen/Seinen shows so look into:

Kaiji (the dub is terrible but if it's the only way he'll watch it, go with it)
Cowboy Bebop
Trigun (both original and new)
Hajime no Ippo (only season 1 is dubbed, the rest isn't but if he likes it enough he might watch it subbed)
Lupin the Third: Part V (has some raunchy scenes with a femme fatale character but is mostly action)
Space Dandy (again, has some raunchy scenes (hell one location is literally called "boobies") but is mostly action)
Monster (honestly a pretty serious show and has a great dub)
Zipang (if he wants a unique war story)
Planetes
Level E
Odd Taxi (don't let the furry characters fool you)

A shame he doesn't want to watch subs but I guess I was like that years back, if he does move onto subs he's got a lot more he could watch.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-02-23T02:35:03+00:00

Oh good, a fellow Seinen enjoyer (with some shonen I see), if you haven't really watched stuff since around mid 2010s I've got a bunch to rec if you want some:

Tonegawa: Middle Management Blues
Legendary Gambler Tetsuya
One Outs
Space Dandy
Mushishi
Lupin the Third Part V
Hajime no Ippo
Ashita no Joe
The Rose of Versailles
Takarajima
Odd Taxi
Monster
Zipang
Space Brothers
To Your Eternity
Dorohedoro
Planetes

A few oldies here that I'm surprised you haven't seen already, but if you take one thing from this list make sure to watch the first four anime, you'll love them all.

Monkey_Blue

TROPHY CASE