Metroidvania needs to die. Right now.

[The Sceneman]

I liked DoS better than Aria -- in fact, Aria's probably my least favorite Metroidvania. Harmony had some nasty music and backtracking, but I loved the massive dual castle and the exploration.

I fucken loved the music in Harmony, it was really zany and shit. For some reason the Shrine of the Apostles music made me think of Batman

[TVC15]

Which order did they come out in?  I remember them in terms of The First One, The Second One, etc, since none of them have very distinct identities aside from Circle of the Moon (The First One).  I know The Second One is the worst because the music is unlistenable due to its extremely poor quality.

One of the biggest problems with them is that the games do not have individual identities, but I guess that's what happens when you release one every goddamned year.  Simon Belmont's Pro Skater confirmed.

[The Sceneman]

  I know The Second One is the worst because the music is unlistenable due to its extremely poor quality.

I fucken loved the music in Harmony, it was really zany and shit. For some reason the Shrine of the Apostles music made me think of Batman

[Himu]

Aria had variety in level design, great music, an actually interesting story (somewhat, but the SHOCKU PLOT TWIST was worth it I think), a harder difficulty, and it gains points for actually doing something fresh - something DoS completely lifted off from AoS with little improvements.

The best thing about DoS was Julius Mode..which rocked HARDCORE, and was ever better than the main game.

[TVC15]

Anyway, The Third One is my favorite, not counting CoM because it's been years since I touched it.

The Third One
The DS One
The Second One

That's my order.

And stop fooling yourself Himu, there's no such thing as a Castlevania with an interesting story.  And that's the way it should be.  We don't play these things for their stories.  We wanna KILL.

[Himu]

One of the biggest problems with them is that the games do not have individual identities, but I guess that's what happens when you release one every goddamned year.  Simon Belmont's Pro Skater confirmed.

I always like it when people say this. They say it about Final Fantasy too, despite each new entry's big contrast from the one before it.

Harmony is hardly anything like Aria. Circle has it's own thing going on. Aria is most comparable to SotN due to the fact the main character can use any weapon rather than a whip.

It's always GREAT when people say stuff like,"Every one of the games has no identity! They all play the same! wah wah wee wah!" when there's enough differences to cause players to play differently. The BEST part of these utterly hilarious claims is that they themselves absolutely praise and worship some of the more rehashed game series out there. Hey White Man, how's that Super Mario Bros for you? You liking Super Mario Bros. 2, 3, and World? I bet you are, you swindling pile of contradicions.

You don't seem to mind the milking and rehashed nature of Mario, White Man! YOU'RE AN NTARD CONFIRMED.

[Himu]

And stop fooling yourself Himu, there's no such thing as a Castlevania with an interesting story.  And that's the way it should be.  We don't play these things for their stories.  We wanna KILL.

The fact you found out Soma was basically Dracula was just utterly bad ass to me.

[TVC15]

One of the biggest problems with them is that the games do not have individual identities, but I guess that's what happens when you release one every goddamned year.  Simon Belmont's Pro Skater confirmed.

I always like it when people say this. They say it about Final Fantasy too, despite each new entry's big contrast from the one before it.

Um, but *I* don't say it about Final Fantasy.  Point shot down.  Castlevania and FF are different games, SHOKKU!  FF also doesn't release a game every year.

Harmony is hardly anything like Aria. Circle has it's own thing going on. Aria is most comparable to SotN due to the fact the main character can use any weapon rather than a whip.

Great.  I can't tell the games apart.  I can't even keep their names straight.  They may as well be numbered.

It's always GREAT when people say stuff like,"Every one of the games has no identity! They all play the same! wah wah wee wah!" when there's enough differences to cause players to play differently. The BEST part of these utterly hilarious claims is that they themselves absolutely praise and worship some of the more rehashed game series out there. Hey White Man, how's that Super Mario Bros for you? You liking Super Mario Bros. 2, 3, and World? I bet you are, you swindling pile of contradicions.

I love the Mario games.  All the ones you named play differently while maintaining the same core mechanics.  All the recent Castlevania games play exactly the same with the same core mechanics.  And once again, I am criticizing Castlevania, not any other series. 

And that's without mentioning the gameplay.  The Mario games are all well-designed, while the Metroidvanias stick to the same ol' same ol' cookie cutter design.  And that design philosophy will never change as long as people like you continue to vote with your dollars.  As long as you keep paying, that hack Iga gets to keep feeding you people his crap filler games.

You don't seem to mind the milking and rehashed nature of Mario, White Man! YOU'RE AN NTARD CONFIRMED.

Mario games don't come out every year (not counting rereleases, which I despise).  And all of the main games are rather different than their predecessor, not including Japanese SMB2 and SMS.  You can't pin these opinions on me, Himu.  Go look for some sailors.

[Vizzys]

I had super mario all stars, a good collection of games.

[TVC15]

I had super mario all stars, a good collection of games.

At the time that came out, I did not like Japanese SMB2.  I would like to give it a shot today.

[Christopher]

Man I'm replaying SC4 jesus christ the music is fuck awesome .

...so which Castlevania game should I move on to now though?  I guess I'm torn because obviously people love one version (metroidvania) or the other (original whip whip).

[Himu]

Do you have a dS? If so, get PoR.

If you don't have a DS, dl the rom for Aria of Sorrow. I know I rarely ever accept piracy, but when wanting to try something out just to see what it's like, I suggest that move highly.

In fact, that's how I got into CV. I randomly dled AoS and got hooked.

[Yeti]

I love the Mario games.  All the ones you named play differently while maintaining the same core mechanics.  All the recent Castlevania games play exactly the same with the same core mechanics.  And once again, I am criticizing Castlevania, not any other series. 

And that's without mentioning the gameplay.  The Mario games are all well-designed, while the Metroidvanias stick to the same ol' same ol' cookie cutter design.  And that design philosophy will never change as long as people like you continue to vote with your dollars.  As long as you keep paying, that hack Iga gets to keep feeding you people his crap filler games.

The only two metroidvania games that played similarly were aria of sorrow and dawn of sorrow. The others all have radically different play mechanics

And design is such a broad term. when you say mario games are well designed and metroidvanias have a cookie cutter design what exactly do you mean?

[Christopher]

Do you have a dS? If so, get PoR.

If you don't have a DS, dl the rom for Aria of Sorrow. I know I rarely ever accept piracy, but when wanting to try something out just to see what it's like, I suggest that move highly.

In fact, that's how I got into CV. I randomly dled AoS and got hooked.

[TVC15]

The only two metroidvania games that played similarly were aria of sorrow and dawn of sorrow. The others all have radically different play mechanics

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

And design is such a broad term. when you say mario games are well designed and metroidvanias have a cookie cutter design what exactly do you mean?

When I mention design I am referring to the thoughtless corridor-room-corridor design.  A long hallway followed by a linear, pretty much straight room, little use of jumping outside of combat.  ALL of the Metroidvania games use it extensively.  I can probably randomly take a room from any of the games, show it to you, and ask you which game it came from and you would not be able to answer.

[The Sceneman]

[
When I mention design I am referring to the thoughtless corridor-room-corridor design.  A long hallway followed by a linear, pretty much straight room, little use of jumping outside of combat.  ALL of the Metroidvania games use it extensively. I can probably randomly take a room from any of the games, show it to you, and ask you which game it came from and you would not be able to answer.

We should put this to the test! And rename the thread TVC 15's Metroidvania Screenshot Trivia lol

[Himu]

For all the guff Metroivania's get, the love for Metroid's is ridiculous. Every damn game is the same and they all of them even bother to recycle the same damn weapons every time.

[TVC15]

For all the guff Metroivania's get, the love for Metroid's is ridiculous. Every damn game is the same and they all of them even bother to recycle the same damn weapons every time.

I dunno.  Super Metroid is great.  It feels like the original game DONE RIGHT.  It makes you remember the first game but also makes it so much better.

Metroid 2 for the GB is a rather different game.  Some people like it best, but the lack of color made it difficult for me to play.  I cannot fairly comment.

Metroid Prime is very different.  I've shared my conflicted ideas on the game in the post above.  I have not played the sequel, mainly because I had no GC and I have written it off as inferior due to the comments of others.

Fusion is a very nice game, and while it includes a lot of the things from previous games, it tosses in a lot of new ideas and weapons, too.  It has a more level-y structure and is still pretty challenging.  Probably my favorite in the series, although nostalgia makes Super look very nice.

Zero Mission is a good remake, but too easy.  At first it looks like all roses, but then you notice it has a Metroidvania difficulty level.

Overall, a good series.  The 3d games are the only real missteps, and I don't think they are so awful that they can't be corrected.

[Vizzys]

Fusion is awesome. Zero mission is also very good. I want a metroid 2 remake, I had it for gb.

[TVC15]

Fusion is awesome. Zero mission is also very good. I want a metroid 2 remake, I had it for gb.

Yeah, I could live without a map, but when you take away distinctive colors, I am totally lost.

[Vizzys]

I liked the whole "oh noes evil samus is gonna kill me! I gotta run away!" aspect of fusion which makes it one of the better metroids lately.

[CajoleJuice]

I liked the whole "oh noes evil samus is gonna kill me! I gotta run away!" aspect of fusion which makes it one of the better metroids lately.

Yea, that was so fucking great. I would shit my pants if I heard the door open in a room.

[Himu]

I liked the stealth section of Metroid Zero Mission. It made the part where you get your suit all the more satisfying.

[APF]

Yeah I'm definitely more bored with the 2d Metroids than I am with the new Castlevanias--moreover, I think CV has more potential in terms of exploiting the formula in the first place; the difference is, we've been getting a bunch of CVs and very few Metroids in comparison.

[opa-opa]

I don't have a problem with the design philosophy of the Metroidvania games, the problem I have with them is that they are TOO EASY. At least the 2 the I've played, SOTN and AOS.