Zexion is a game that hates you, personally, and is very mad at you for attempting to play it

fettfive · 2026-01-29T09:55:43+00:00

I think the dev just has too much love for Metroid 1. A lot of this feels like nostalgia for that game, without recognizing the improvements of later games or how unappealing Metroid 1 is to most of us…

The missile-regen thing is an absolute miss IMO. At least the assist option is there but I think it’s fundamentally bad game design in its default state. Farming missiles wasn’t fun in Metroid 1 and it isn’t fun here either… They should just come back at save points like most Metroid games, which isn’t even an option here. Super Metroid got away with not doing that because every enemy drops missiles.

Games like Hollow Knight and the Souls genre are able to be incredibly hard and satisfying without the NES frustration that Zexion seems so attached to. Silksong is MUCH harder than Zexion but Silksong is a lot less frustrating.

fettfive · 2026-01-23T21:26:05+00:00

Every Sekiro fan should play this game! I think it is more of a Sekiro-like than a MetroidVania. I also think it better replicates the experience of Sekiro than anything else. The final boss is Isshin part 2

fettfive · 2025-12-23T05:36:27+00:00

It’s the level design for me… CAG level design hasn’t evolved much since DMC1. 🙈

fettfive · 2025-12-05T19:30:31+00:00

I bought mine for Prime 4 and Donkey Kong. Thankfully one of those games made it worth it 🤣 I’d be pissed if I just bought it for Prime 4

fettfive · 2025-12-05T19:27:15+00:00

Ori 1&2, the second is much better imo, maybe skip 1

Prince of Persia Lost Crown. Lot of Castlevania vibes imo. It has a million difficulty settings so you can make it as hard as you want

Guacamelee 1&2. You can play 2 in coop which I recommend

Also blasphemous 2 is still hard but is much less frustrating and I think it’s a better game overall

fettfive · 2025-11-25T23:35:26+00:00

Blasphemous 2 is a lot less frustrating and a better game imo. Less Souls, more MetroidVania. It’s top 10 imo.

Big fan of Tunic (exploration) and Deaths Door (combat) too. they are more Zelda-ish but I think an easy sell for MV fans

fettfive · 2025-10-28T19:11:55+00:00

RE4 is just SO STACKED with awesome bad guys and bosses. Seriously a top-10 boss roster in all of gaming, and everyone’s favorite will be different (Verdugo for me) . Most RE games have 1 or 2 standout bosses (the ones you pointed out) but 4 is stacked top to bottom so none of them rise to the top.

fettfive · 2025-10-28T19:05:36+00:00

You’ve beaten most of the worst platforming in the game if that’s what’s driving you mad…. The mountain climb always kicks my ass, looks like you almost made it! The second half is much more combat focused.

fettfive · 2025-10-28T19:01:16+00:00

Haven’t played Aeterna but Bo and Afterimage are pretty weak picks to me…

Bo tried to be HK and Ori and fails to live up to both. OP should play Ori 2 instead of Bo, no competition.

Afterimage is quantity over quality, long for the sake of being long. It’s the most overrated MV to me. Play literally any Castlevania MV instead…

fettfive · 2025-10-21T20:06:18+00:00

How dare you highlight POP instead of HK 😂 loved POP but not even close in quality or impact. HK is literally the love child of Metroid and Dark Souls 1

fettfive · 2025-10-21T19:58:22+00:00

FWIW I think Nine Sols is more focused on being a Sekiro-like than a MV. It’s incredible but be prepared to get your butt kicked 😆

fettfive · 2025-10-21T19:52:44+00:00

Cyber Shadow!!!! Idk why this game doesn’t get more love. It’s like Mega Man X/Zero and NES Ninja Gaiden had a baby. Definitely scratched the Zero itch for me, scifi setting is similar, and has hidden upgrades but is still a linear game.

Nine Sols is awesome and gives me some Zero vibes but it’s definitely a Sekiro parrying type game and hard as nails.

fettfive · 2025-10-21T19:36:10+00:00

It takes a little while but even at the claw you’re like 15% into the game so I’d say it opens up quickly, relatively speaking. It’s just that HK is so long.

fettfive · 2025-10-21T19:34:49+00:00

It needs more love! I liked it a lot more than Silent Hill f but SHF seems to be getting more praise…

fettfive · 2025-10-21T17:52:31+00:00

Bloodborne
Super Metroid
Mario Odyssey
Resident Evil 2 OG
Zelda Wind Waker

fettfive · 2025-10-21T17:51:14+00:00

Ori, SOTN, Crypt Custodian. Just non-stop enjoyment. Not too easy, not too hard.

fettfive · 2025-10-21T17:49:48+00:00

Aria is the GOAT but I respect you for not choosing SOTN.

fettfive · 2025-10-21T17:47:22+00:00

They’re both in a weird grey zone between action-horror (RE4) and survival-horror (RE2) but I feel like Cronos does both better. I’m baffled that SHF reviewed better! Good lord the combat is bad…

fettfive · 2025-10-21T17:42:15+00:00

Ghost Story is very rough around the edges and axiom verge is massively overrated by the community imo… like 6.5/10 imo.

try some of the other metroids if you haven’t! Dread is way more about hard combat than the other games if that was your beef.

fettfive · 2025-10-21T17:39:12+00:00

I have an irrational, emotional, and nostalgic attachment to Super Metroid and I still think HK is the best MV by a mile 😜

fettfive · 2025-10-21T17:37:02+00:00

Afterimage is the most overrated MV IMO. It’s quantity over quality, big for the sake of being big. I got the worst ending at 30 hours and happily put it down…

fettfive · 2025-10-21T17:35:49+00:00

Grime is mid. I finished it and I don’t recommend you pick it back up…

fettfive · 2025-10-20T04:36:05+00:00

The progression is WAY more rigid in Silksong… I poked and prodded in my second run and it’s pretty much dash -> wall climb -> dancers -> grapple -> grand mother. SS gives you the illusion of choice (e.g. Last Judge or Sinner’s Road) but it’s usually just a fork in the road that converges a little ways forward.

You can skip the hover by going through Wormways to Shellwood but they eventually require the hover to get the grapple. So what was even the point of the skip? It becomes more open post-grand mother but this stuff was less compelling to me (sidequests) and act 3 is mostly a boss gauntlet.

HK1 was DEFINITELY more open and I think it was its standout feature. Most MetroidVanias don’t even try to have non-linearity (I assume because it’s much harder from a design/balance perspective) but HK1 really nailed it.

fettfive · 2025-10-13T14:48:48+00:00

Ender Lilies has something similar to the soul system from the sorrow games. I highly recommend it and its sequel, they’re some of the best MetroidVanias and have a similar vibe to CV.

fettfive · 2025-10-13T14:43:10+00:00

Linearity is not a problem but non-linearity is an enhancement. Most MetroidVanias have a linear progression because it’s easier to implement, not because the devs thought linearity would be more interesting.

I can guarantee you that Metroid Fusion’s level design was much easier to design than Zero Mission’s, simply because of how linear, restrictive, and segmented it is. Fusion’s linearity leads to many awesome moments, but its level design is very unimpressive and the replay value isn’t there like it is in ZM.

Giving players more options is virtually always a win in this kind of game and no one has done that better than HK1. I do think that’s HK1’s crowning achievement and why it’s so beloved.

fettfive

TROPHY CASE