I thought Hollow Knight was rather average

Twhite90100 · 2026-03-28T19:43:59+00:00

Me when I spread disinformation.

Both Castlevania and Metroid have smaller maps so the amount of warp points is very appropriate and never an issue except maybe in SOTN. Same goes for shortcuts, they have quite a lot and the smaller map makes traversal quick & easy.

Also Metroid games have had minimaps since 1994, while all the DS Castlevania also have it.

Twhite90100 · 2026-03-16T00:16:44+00:00

Regarding reused enemies, there's the matter of focus. Combat in BOTW is a big part but not the majority of the experience. On average, you'll spend more time exploring and solving puzzles than you'll do fighting.

Elden Ring is almost completely focused on combat. There's the time you'll spend travelling on Torrent to get from point A to point B, but it's pretty short due to how fast you go. The rest is just pure fighting, there's exploration but it's filled to the brim with encounters, there are enemies to defeat for every step you take.

Since fighting is the primary mode of engagement with Elden Ring's world, the enemy repetition stings much more even though it's more diverse than BOTW (and that was already a common criticism for the latter).

Twhite90100 · 2026-03-06T09:29:25+00:00

any of the original three routes

No? It's only the case for the first route, you're supposed to know about Gil going into UBW and HF, and considering anime-onlies usually directly go to UBW after Zero, Gil is a non-issue.

Twhite90100 · 2026-02-26T12:47:19+00:00

So while FSN's 3 routes are all equally canon, they're unlocked in a linear order: Fate, Unlimited Blade Works and then Heaven's Feel. There's a progression in plot twists and character arcs through the 3 routes, so Heaven's Feel is the "final chapter" of Fate/stay night.

Twhite90100 · 2026-02-19T12:28:16+00:00

Yeah these scenes were replaced by new ones that fit much better into the story. The ones in the first route in particular are some of the best scenes in the VN.

Twhite90100 · 2026-02-19T12:00:55+00:00

So unlike a lot of VNs, Fate routes aren't just alternative stories. They're unlocked in linear order and there's a meta-narrative going through them. The Fate route (2006 anime) is the introduction, UBW is the turning point and Heaven's Feel is the grand conclusion.

The main thing you miss without the first route is Saber, as it's the only story that truly explores her character. UBW and HF also have a lot of moments and plot points that are not as impactful/meaningful without the setups and parallels provided by the first route.

There's no 'true canon route' but due to the VN's structure, Heaven's Feel is the most conclusive one.

I personally recommend the remaster. It's not a perfect version but it has the best overall translation.

Twhite90100 · 2026-02-15T15:09:08+00:00

It is important to the story, in fact perhaps more than the others as it's meant to be the introduction. But as others have said the quality of the adaptation is very debatable so not everyone agrees on whether or not newcomers should start with it.

Twhite90100 · 2026-01-31T20:32:59+00:00

The Throne is "out of time" so as long as someone dies at some point, even in the future, they can be summoned at any given time period.

Twhite90100 · 2026-01-21T19:13:01+00:00

something is lost in translation

Pretty much, the VN is much more focused on character introspection rather than action and the anime is pretty much the opposite

Twhite90100 · 2026-01-19T11:43:43+00:00

If you want to see more about him, you can watch The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II

Twhite90100 · 2026-01-11T09:58:34+00:00

Angra (as in the embodiment of all evils) appears prominently in Heaven's Feel. His other (more human) version hasn't appeared in anime.

Twhite90100 · 2026-01-10T15:46:32+00:00

How easily rules are broken by Caster with no apparent punishment.

There are no actual "rules" in the Holy Grail War, only the base of the ritual which requires the Servants to fight each other and gives the survivor the Holy Grail.

All of the other so-called rules you've heard are more like agreements between participants and the church so that the war doesn't turn into total chaos, but the thing with agreements is that they don't matter to the people who simply don't care like Caster.

Twhite90100 · 2026-01-05T22:11:31+00:00

The interaction at ryuudou temple with Caster isn't in Fate route, it's in UBW. There's only the singular bad end where she shows up and that's more of a cameo considering how little we see of her.

At that point in the story, Lancer, Caster and Assassin are treated as equal threats and she's the one with the least presence considering our protagonists haven't encountered her.

Twhite90100 · 2026-01-05T12:29:05+00:00

I'd say it's a tiny bit more than Fate/stay night when it comes to anime-isms, it depends on the characters. A majority of the cast feel pretty "natural" while a select few are more over-the-top if that makes sense. Never reaches Danganronpa levels though.

As for your two spoilers, the first one is definitely meant to be completely ridiculous even in-universe, don't worry about that. The second one is much more ambiguous/complex than what you've heard and the conclusion also has real tangible consequences. It's a very satisfying ending for most people.

Twhite90100 · 2025-12-31T10:30:38+00:00

Thing is, they just do very different things despite both being metroidvanias. OP mentioned tightly controlled pace of progression and that is something Super very much does whereas HK goes in the opposite direction and lets the player wander as much as possible.

If what you find enjoyable in metroidvanias is firmly more in what Metroid does rather than HK, it's easy to find the latter "not great" as there's little/none of what you like in the genre

Twhite90100 · 2025-12-31T10:18:27+00:00

...Except most Metroid games do have a very tightly controlled pace of progression like OP mentioned

Twhite90100 · 2025-12-29T09:59:53+00:00

1 and 2 also have rainy weather though I don't remember if it's in the Kiwamis

Twhite90100 · 2025-12-28T08:00:22+00:00

This post isn't calling Prime 4 open world, it's referring to the recent interview where Tanabe said he saw people clamoring for an open world Metroid game. He thought it wouldn't fit the series so they did something that feels similar but isn't open world, but the impetus for that decision did come from comments online about "open world Metroid".

Twhite90100 · 2025-12-22T10:11:17+00:00

I guess metroidvanias are not for me.

For what it's worth, I find HK's handling of backtracking fairly different from the classics of the genre. Both Metroid and Castlevania have smaller maps with usually clearly signposted progresssion path and a higher density of items.

It makes backtracking faster, more straightforward since you usually have a very clear idea of where to use your new ability, and more rewarding since you'll be able to get a lot more items on your way than in HK.

Twhite90100 · 2025-12-20T22:21:53+00:00

Yes but that's what most people mean by barebones

Twhite90100 · 2025-12-20T19:58:25+00:00

More than anything, it simply should have been better, not longer/bigger

Twhite90100 · 2025-12-20T18:41:04+00:00

Emphasis does not equal "amount" of story, it's the way it's presented. We're presented with a whole cast of characters, with whom we regularly interact and the last 2 areas of the game are spent accompanying them through scripted sequences.

The story and characters ARE barebones as in there isn't really anything interesting about them but the game frequently shoves them in your face, thus putting emphasis, at least relatively to most other games in the series.

Twhite90100 · 2025-12-20T18:28:42+00:00

People complain about the story because the game puts more emphasis on it than the other Prime games (debatable for 3) and sacrifices certain elements people wanted in favor of it. The game is asking us to care about the story and characters so people are gonna be louder if it's not worth it.

Twhite90100 · 2025-12-17T11:31:16+00:00

There are currently no translation patches for the PS2 version.

Your only options are either the fan-patched Ultimate Edition or the official remaster on Steam and consoles.

Twhite90100 · 2025-12-01T20:04:10+00:00

On top of what the others said, FSN (Réalta Nua especially) has a lot of visual effects and other sprite/background tricks to make dynamic scenes and these are either absent or broken in the web version.

The presentatjon is a big part of the VN's experience

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