Metroidvania Hacking Adventure Recompile Launches On Xbox Game Pass This August

Would dark souls be considered a metroidvania style game? And why hasn't a game been made called "Metroidvania" a samus aran type character fighting bloodsucking monsters or a futuristic whip-welding bounty hunter looking for...vampire bounties.

I'm still not sure about this game. I can't get enough Metroidvanias, but the world looks very empty. Not much life to it from what I've seen. Luckily, it'll be on Game Pass, so I can try it out. Game Pass is the best!

@PhhhCough I always been of the impression that consensus was a metroidvania stops being one of its not 2D or 2.5D, although I always thought any game with exploration and backtracking due to power ups opening closed areas should kinda qualify even if it’s 3D.

I don’t think Dark Souls qualify, you don’t suddenly unlock powers that let you walk past gates, instead you take long routes to open the gate from the other side, unlocking a shortcut. Bit of a different dynamic there.

That said, I always thought the perfect 3D Castlevania would look very much like Dark Souls but with lower difficulty level. Don’t even need the power ups, the gothic environments and iconic soundtrack are all that is needed, IMO.

As for why no one makes one called Metroidvania, likely because no one wants to be the target of Nintendo’s legal department. Metroid not being an actual word, it would not be hard for them to prove their Trademark is being infringed upon.

Great! Keep the games coming

This looks interesting! Not a lot of 3D Metroidvanias for as popular as the genre is.

@PhhhCough I think you can make the case, but very few areas in Soulsborne games are "locked" by an item, and none by a traversal ability (save Sekiro). That's probably a pretty good standard for what makes a "Metroidvania", beyond a single persistent map and backtracking.

@Tharsman Metroid Prime series is definitely Metroidvania, Control as well. I think Castlevania: Curse of Darkness was, and some people same the Batman Arkham games.
There's no reason a Metroidvania can't be 3D, it's just not a lot of devs are making them.

And yeah... that Bloodborne did not directly and immediately inspire a 3D Castlevania is a shame.

@Spiders never played Curse of the Moon but Arkham games definitely don’t fit the bill for me. They are open world games where the gadgets that open up progression are granted by the story, not via exploration.

Finding the power ups that unlock areas via exploitation is, IMO, a primary key component for a game to fit the metroidvania mold.

@Tharsman I never finished Arkham, but I would agree with that as grounds for excluding it.

I am playing Subnautica right now, and that is an interesting cusp of Metroidvania game. It actually reminds me a lot of Metroid Prime, at least the vibe of exploring a hostile alien world. You are constantly “locked” by what equipment you can make to reach further depths, and exploring and scanning wreckage grants you those blueprints. It’s really well done, and I highly recommended it.

I don’t understand why this game is only on séries x/s the graphics seems so basic it looks like it could run on a Nintendo switch!