LogFAQs > #956878485

NeatoAnAccount posted...

>Ok now explain how Metroidvania conveys genre in a vaccum. Or RPG or FPS.

Metroidvania conveys genre because metroidvania is a word in the language english that means "game like metroid"

You may as well be asking "explain how the word 'candy' conveys meaning in a vacuum." It just does. That's how language works: a bunch of people start saying something, so now that thing they say is part of the language.

If we called Metroidvanias "coathanger baklavas" ("Just finished SotN so now I'm looking for a new coathanger baklava") then that would be the correct term to use instead of something more "descriptive," because a tiny little genre name doesn't tell you what kind of game it is unless you already know lots of games in that genre and others so you can compare them.

If someone doesn't know what Metroid is, telling them it's a Metroidvania does nothing. They don't know what "metroid" or "vania" is referring to. If you tell them it's "Exploration Action", they know what the elements mean so they can at least get a general idea of what it is.

Even if you can't know exactly what a game is by a genre name, most genres give at least some indication of the content. Some are very self explanatory, like Racing, Sports, FPS, etc. but even more ambiguous ones like Adventure, Action, and Fighting at least describe the game to some degree.

also Metroidvania can't be compared to a word like "candy" that literally every English speaker knows. It's not on that level of awareness. I doubt even 50% of English speakers know what it means

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