I hear such good things about metroidvania games, however the few times I tried it, I didn't quite enjoy it, I didn't know where to go, or I kept going around in circles because I couldn't find the path to the next area.

Is this a genre that you either love it or hate? Or are there some games that help you actually enjoy it?

Thanks

I'm failry neutral to metroidvanias but i like good games in general.

I play Hollow Knight, La Mulana 1, The Messenger and Shovel Knight which are all good so i would recommend them.

Dust: An Elysian Tale is a sort of Metroidvania. It doesn't involve the huge map and the map isn't a continuous entity like in most of those.

I love Hollow Knight, but it isn't exactly for the faint of heart. There is little direction on where to go, so you have to look for options. It also is somewhat difficult, espeically if you get into trouble and can't afford to lose all your money. Because when you die, your money is frozen with your spirit. If you die again before killing it to reclaim your cash, you lose it all permanently. There is another way to recover your soul, but it is locked behind a gate early. Still it's one of my favorite games ever.

Axiom Verge, to double dip.

Ori and the Blind Forest is a very good one. It is less combat oriented and has a good agility challenge, some parts require many attempts, but in a good way, you feel rewarded by the effort.

Mickey Mouse and the Castle of Illusion

Isn't that regular 2D-platforming?

I would recommend Guacamelee Super Turbo Championship Edition since it's fairly light on backtracking with fun brawler mechanics to spice it up.

La Mulana & Axiom Verge are both great games, but I don't think they would be a great starting point for someone who's trying to get into these types of games.



As for good Metroidvania if you want to get into this type of games? Hm, maybe Metroid Zero Mission, it's a bit too hand-holdey for me, but that might well be a good thing for someone who want to get used to the backtracking.
Dust is another good starting one, it does not have a whole lot of backtracking, and it's generally quite clear where you need to go.

Metroidvanias can be classifies in terms of how linear they are. (This isn't the only axis that can be used for this purpose; there's other factors, like melee versus ranged combat, or the presence or absenceof RPG elements like levels and XP) that separate them, but for purpose of this post, the linearity is what's most important here.)

Dust: An Elysian Tail, as mentioned earlier, is one of the more linear ones, with optional backtracking. It does have RPG elements. My one issue with the game, other than the fact that it fails to sustain its difficulty (a common problem with Metroidvanias with RPG elements; even the famous Castlevania: Symphony of the Night suffers from this big time), is that cutscene skipping is only partially implemented (can't skip before dialog appears, and some cutscenes, most notably the opening, can't be skipped at all).

Guacamelee is a nother linear-with-optional-backtracking metroidvania, this time focused on melee combat (including the ability to throw enemies) and without RPG elements. Some of the platforming can get difficult, and there are many moves thar require pressing multiple buttons simultaneously that are required for platforming. This is the sort of game where you pretty much *need* a game controller to play comfortably; playing with a keyboard might be possible, but only if that keyboard doesn't have an issue with lots of simultaneous key presses.

Unepic is another linear one, this time *with* RPG elements. (Interestingly, some of the spells in that game are the sort you sometimes find in WRPGs, but pretty much never see in JRPGs, which gives the game an interesting feel; it also satisfies "linear warriors, quadratic wizards".) The final stage has a bit of a genre change that is somewhat controversial, however.

Timespinner is mostly linear (with some optional side quests), though there is one part where, on a first playthrough, you are very likely to get stuck and not know where to go next. It does have RPG elements. Of the games on GOG, it is the most similar to the Castlevania games that the "Metroidvania" term comes from.

Hollow Knight, to my understanding, is significantly less linear; it is also more likely that you will be stuck not knowing where to go. La-Mulana and its sequel are even worse in terms of not knowing what to do next; I would actually consider La-Mulana to be a rather hard adventure game disguised as a metroidvania. (La-Mulana actually reminded me of Wizardry 4, another hard adventure game disguised as a different genre.)

(Is there any Metroidvania here that focuses on ranged combat, like the Metroid series does?) Don't know about The Messenger, but as for the other games:
* Hollow Knight and La Mulana are not good choices if you're worried about not knowing where to go next.
* Shovel Knight is not a metroidvania; it's structurally most similar to the Mega Man games (self-contained linear platforming levels with one item to find in each level, no reason to backtrack unless you missed something, and there's choices as to the order in which you play the levels).

Thus my joke.

My experience is that people who don't like Metroidvanias just don't like Metroidvanias.

My bad. I'm so jaded by people who don't know the difference between certain games (especially rogue-likes) that nothing surprises me anymore.

I'll have to agree with the last part though, either you like metroidvanias or you don't.

My recomendation easily goes to Ori and the Blind Forest. Great "metroidvania" style but never boring or unfair, just challanging... Very nice controls, is very easy on the way it introduces new abilities and the story is nice but never gets in the way of the game.
My first playthrough I died 300+ times to get 100% and is never very punishing for doing wrong, just replay a little section. There are some dificulty spikes but they are very rewarding, just ask anyone who did some of the "escape" sections.
Xbox controller is recomended. I haven´t play a platformer since the super mario/sonic times and was not difficult to finish.
The art is freaking gorgeous!!!!
Music is simply superb.

Guacamelee is very nice as well and very easy game, sometimes fun (crap I love the chicken and the goat), but if you play guacamelee after a more challenging game like ORI (thats what I did), it kinda lacks the rewarding feel. But the combat is very fun, trying to combo...
Steam and Humble bundle recently give away Guacamelee for free, someone still might have a key for you, mine are gone. Plays smoothly on lower end hardware.

Hollow knight is great(only played a few hours) but sometimes the bosses are quite hard, requiring very precise movement.

Castlevania Symphony of the night is considered by many publications as one of the best games and is really great. But a lot of backtrack and many secrets are required to advance in the game. (I play emulated PS1 version wich I found for 2 euros on a used articles shop).

Been playing a little Iconoclasts recently and is fun as well.

There are a lot of good platformers wich aren't considered metroidvania style, most pretty much like "dtgreene" has described. If you don´t like exploration but like the platforming kind of game, those are usually less confusing on where to go next.

Perhaps either Castlevania Symphony of the night on (SOTN) PSX or Castlevania Aria of Sorrow on GBA

On SOTN, the first thing you do is travel horizontally all across the level, and then you're given 2 paths but only one works to proceed the game, so until you know the basics of the game you're actually being guided

Aria is the same case, the beginning part is very welll guided.

Of course, you could always get an emulator and play Metroid and Castlevania.

Guacamelee, as I recall controls like a fighting game, and fighting games objectively are easier to play on keyboard rather than controller. Other than that, correct assessment.