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Should Metroid games be called Metroidvanias, or are they technically just Metroid games?
- Thread starter Aurc
- Start date
OP
OP
I guess they are Metroidvanias in that Metroidvania is the genre name (so the collective).
Metroidvania is fine as a term, and I continue to be perplexed at the passionate backlash it provokes.
Metroid-like just makes more sense.
It's time to move past that old GameFAQs post some kid made.
It's time to move past that old GameFAQs post some kid made.
Metroid was first so they should just be 'Metroid' inspired. The Vania addition would work if all Castlevania's had a similar design philosophy like most Metroid's do but they do not.
I question the sanity of people who despise the term
Metroidvania's definition is a 2D action platformer with exploration and ability-locked areas, so every 2D Metroid game would absolutely qualify as one — I'm not sure how you could argue otherwise.
Everyone voting "no" isn't confusing etymology with definition, are they?
Everyone voting "no" isn't confusing etymology with definition, are they?
if you call a game a metroidvania, 99% of people that play games know in general what you mean
stop this
stop this
That's missing the -vania part that SotN added in more RPG cruft like exp/currency and gear.
"Metroidvania" originally meant a Castlevania game in the style of Metroid, like Symphony of the Night. It only became applied to other games later.
OP
OP
This is fine. Soulsborne and Soulsbornekiro (even though I'm pretty sure the latter is just shitposting) sound dumb compared to Soulslike.
I think it's just become an all-encompassing term for the genre now, whereas before I think it was used to separate Metroid like games, to ones that also include RPG elements, ala Symphony.
I despise the terms Metroidvania and SoulsBorne. I agree the Metroid invented the genre - the same as Demon Souls.
Eww people combine Castlevania and Metroid now? How are they alike? Yeah, they're both RPGs, well then if that's the only comparison, is it ok for anyone to combine Undertale and Final Fantasy? Didn't think so!
I'd say it's just a Metroid game in this case.
Nintendo, however, calls 'em Metroidvania's.
That seems more like they're calling the other games LIKE Metroid Metroidvanias, but not Metroid itself.
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Metroid, and some of the Castlevania games, share a lot of similarities: relatively intricate, non-linear 2D maps for the player to explore, the gradual acquisition of power that enables access to previously unreachable areas, the flow of platforming and combat is fairly similar, etc.
It's just a genre name, but what I find odd is the assertion that Metroid is a Metroidvania game... because really, where are the "vania" parts of Metroid? Metroid is just being itself, not bringing stuff in from Castlevania. It's just nitpicky semantics, really, but I was curious about this after having a disagreement with my friend.
Oh, and Metroidvania is just a lame sounding portmanteau in general to me, because of how clunky it is: you're taking the full name of one series, Metroid, and haphazardly affixing half the name of another series onto that. If we were inclined to give it a band-aid fix, I think Castletroid sounds better (at least then you're taking half from each), but the wider, more prevalent problem is that the genre name doesn't actually tell you anything unless you know Metroid and Castlevania. "First-person shooter" tells you that you shoot from a first-person perspective, "platformer" tells you that you jump on platforms, "survival horror" is self-explanatory... but "Metroidvania" tells you jack shit about these games if you're not already familiar with them.
That was the part that's unique to Castlevania, not necessarily a requirement for the whole genre.
Hence why people call things like Hollow Knight and Ori metroidvanias despite not having the RPG part.
This is a really slow Q1 huh?
Short and simple answer is yes. Long rambling answer to follow.
At the end of the day, it's all pedantic semantics (that would be a cool band name). Shit don't matter. Language is organized gibberish meant to convey meaning. There's no high council that officiates WHAT GAMES ARE WHAT GENRE. It's community driven.
If someone understand how a game plays when I say "x is a metroidvania", then it's a metroidvania... Metroid and a lot of Castlevanias included. The only reason Rogue-like isn't technically a Rogue is bc the name of the genre itself means "games that play like rogue". And to say "rogue plays like rogue" is just funky English. Bad kinda funk. Rogue has the criteria to be a Roguelike, but it technically isn't a Roguelike. Again, none of this matters. Love y'all.
Short and simple answer is yes. Long rambling answer to follow.
At the end of the day, it's all pedantic semantics (that would be a cool band name). Shit don't matter. Language is organized gibberish meant to convey meaning. There's no high council that officiates WHAT GAMES ARE WHAT GENRE. It's community driven.
If someone understand how a game plays when I say "x is a metroidvania", then it's a metroidvania... Metroid and a lot of Castlevanias included. The only reason Rogue-like isn't technically a Rogue is bc the name of the genre itself means "games that play like rogue". And to say "rogue plays like rogue" is just funky English. Bad kinda funk. Rogue has the criteria to be a Roguelike, but it technically isn't a Roguelike. Again, none of this matters. Love y'all.
Yeah, I hear you. I've never been a big fan of the genre name, but hey, it works (somewhat), and it is what it is. People will have a good understanding of what you mean if you use it as a descriptor.
see I think Metroid fans get upset at Castlevania but naming a genre after one game instead of two is still stupid
Only Castlevania games that play like Metroid should be called Metroidvanias but I know that's a lost cause.
While not as indepth as SotN, Ori has an exp/leveling system and Hollow Knight has NPCs with quests, currency for vendors, and gear in Charms.
OP
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Oh yeah? I call 'em Soulslikes if I remember to, because "Soulsborne" sounds poop to me.
The term "Metroidvania" was coined specifically to differentiate SotN and its ilk from classic-style Castlevania ("Classicvania"), as the mapping/backtracking/ability-progression systems were so reminiscent of Metroid (and Zelda) and very unlike what the series had previously featured (although some elements briefly surfaced in Castlevania II). And that's largely all the term applied to for the better part of a decade. And all was well.
It's only people began referring to non-Castlevania games -- the whole genre -- as "Metroidvanias" (as opposed to, say, "Metroid-likes" or "Metroidvania-likes") that the problems arose. Either we choose a better genre name or we just live with it.