Current Events > If "metroidvania" games were given a proper genre name...

(+) Yeah! (+)

What should it be?

I think at this point they should be called something else since theres enough of them to be a full fledged genre.

Its like if we called FPS games goldendooms or something.

Maybe exploration games?
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Puzzle platformers imo
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sauceje posted...

Puzzle platformers imo

This is a good one.
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2D sidescrolling big map games

Metroidvania
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Open Exploration Action Platformer I guess. Metroidvania is just a much more convenient name. Like Roguelike.
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Explorers
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Likelike games.
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Adventure platformers or Adventure RPGs.
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Sidescrolling backtrackers.
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s0nicfan posted...

Adventure platformers or Adventure RPGs.

Add in 2D
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awesome balls
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Action/adventure rpg side scroller
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QueenCarly posted...

Metroidvania

s0nicfan posted...

Adventure platformers or Adventure RPGs.

This already describes plenty of games that don't fit the metroidvania formula. Hence why the term "metroidvania" exists.

Or you can go with "map uncovering room/hall-based exploration via 2d platforming mechanics"

but metroidvania's faster.
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It's a hybrid. Action RPG would be the basic genre.

Rooty tooty jump and shooty
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DamionDL posted...

Sidescrolling backtrackers.

Sidebacks, I like it.

...or backsides I guess, but that's taken.
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SBEs - Sidescrolling Map Explorers
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2D Dark Souls.
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EffectAndCause posted...

sauceje posted...

Puzzle platformers imo

This is a good one.

it's actually probably one of the worst ones in the topic since it's already an existing genre name that describes something completely different.

Also I don't think it really needs a name change at all. Sure, the base word maybe be a little strange and some people will likely use the term without even knowing the source, but does that really matter? It's one off the better genres overall since it really categorizes a group of games by what they're like rather than by super vague descriptors of what you do that really aren't useful to anyone. I'd much rather change things like FPS, RPG, Adventure (this one is particularly bad), Action, etc first
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SrRd_RacinG posted...

2D Dark Souls.

2DarkSouls

...

4me.
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Mappy Backtrackathons
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non-linear 2d platformers
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AsucaHayashi posted...

non-linear 2d platformers

Umihara Kawase is most definitely not metroidvania.
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Evening_Dragon posted...

AsucaHayashi posted...

non-linear 2d platformers

Umihara Kawase is most definitely not metroidvania.

that doesn't make metroidvanias any less 2d non-linear platformers..
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QueenCarly posted...

Metroidvania

And they aren't their own genre any more than doom and quake clones are. They're a subset of a genre specifically imitating certain games in the genre.

Also, lol @ thinking fps games would be named after goldeneye

Action-adventure platformer.

This would place some less exploration-based games like Mega Man X on the fringe, but I would say that technically, Mega Man X wouldn't qualify as an adventure game because item acquisition isn't really the driving factor in advancing through the game. You could argue that you need to collect the boss weapons in order to access the fortress, but I would instead consider the goal to be defeat of the boss rather than the acquisition of the weapon, since there's normally no need to actually use the acquired weapons even after you grab them. Plus, you don't get them through exploration anyway. You get them through combat. And a couple of offhand instances on the series, like needing to use a special weapon to defeat High Max hardly tip the scales for the overall series.
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digraph platformer
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OctilIery posted...

And they aren't their own genre any more than doom and quake clones are. They're a subset of a genre specifically imitating certain games in the genre.

Sure but this logic applies to all kinds of stuff so it should be little more than a footnote.

FPS is just a subgenre of shooter, stealth is just a subgenre of action-adventure, match three is just a subgenre of puzzle, etc.
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I think puzzle platformer is too broad. I think of stuff like The Lost Vikings, Braid or maybe even Heart of Darkness when I think of puzzle platformers
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Mistere Man posted...

Action/adventure rpg side scroller

yes
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For the most part a metroidvania is just an action adventure game in 2D with a bunch of platforming. metroidvania is just a much more specific version of the action adventure genre.
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Tyranthraxus posted...

For the most part a metroidvania is just an action adventure game in 2D with a bunch of platforming. metroidvania is just a much more specific version of the action adventure genre.

i think the term is specific to games where you obtain upgrades as you progress that unlock access to new areas
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Giant_Aspirin posted...

Tyranthraxus posted...

For the most part a metroidvania is just an action adventure game in 2D with a bunch of platforming. metroidvania is just a much more specific version of the action adventure genre.

i think the term is specific to games where you obtain upgrades as you progress that unlock access to new areas

Sure but how is that different from literally any other action adventure game?

Like, take a look at Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past. Tons of shit you find in the game can be used to go back to other places you've already been and gain access to new areas for more items and powerups.
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Singleplayer Offline Battle Adventure, or SOBA for short.
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Balrog0 posted...

I think puzzle platformer is too broad. I think of stuff like The Lost Vikings, Braid or maybe even Heart of Darkness when I think of puzzle platformers

Fair enough
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Tyranthraxus posted...

Sure but how is that different from literally any other action adventure game?

Well, I think one of the key elements in metroidvanias (I could be wrong) is that there is expected sequence breaking. In LoZ typically to do things out of order requires glitching, whereas exploration is usually sufficient to take several different routes in metroidvanias

I could be wrong, I'm not a game epxert
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Balrog0 posted...

Tyranthraxus posted...

Sure but how is that different from literally any other action adventure game?

Well, I think one of the key elements in metroidvanias (I could be wrong) is that there is expected sequence breaking. In LoZ typically to do things out of order requires glitching, whereas exploration is usually sufficient to take several different routes in metroidvanias

I could be wrong, I'm not a game epxert

There are plenty of sequence breaking opportunities in LttP. Not so much Ocarina of Time, but that's not true for every Zelda. Like, you can skip the entire ice dungeon in LttP and do it literally after you've already rescued Zelda.

Metroid, or at least the older games never really had a sequence in the first place. You get the powerups and defeat the bosses in whatever order you want. You still have to defeat them all to challenge mother brain.

Later games, many of which are definitely metroidvanias such as Dust: An Elysian Tail, Aquaria, etc are definitely sequenced with no real breaking opportunities.
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I think the sequence breaking without glitches is more a factor of when the game was made, since past a certain point in time devs stopped being as loose with that sort of thing. Both super metroid and LttP present a lot of opportunity for doing things in unusual orders without glitches while ocarina of time and metroid prime 1 don't
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Tyranthraxus posted...

Giant_Aspirin posted...

Tyranthraxus posted...

For the most part a metroidvania is just an action adventure game in 2D with a bunch of platforming. metroidvania is just a much more specific version of the action adventure genre.

i think the term is specific to games where you obtain upgrades as you progress that unlock access to new areas

Sure but how is that different from literally any other action adventure game?

Like, take a look at Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past. Tons of shit you find in the game can be used to go back to other places you've already been and gain access to new areas for more items and powerups.

sure, but not all "action adventure" games feature those mechanics. and while LoZ does frequently use the "return here later when you have a specific upgrade to access this area" thing, it feels like the game has so much more going on and that isn't quite the focus, which is why i'd be hesitant to call LoZ a "metroidvania".

defining genres for games has the same problems as defining genres for music, or other entertainment. things often span multiple genres and its so easy to find an instance of a game from one genre that has element(s) from other(s).
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Giant_Aspirin posted...

sure, but not all "action adventure" games feature those mechanics. and while LoZ does frequently use the "return here later when you have a specific upgrade to access this area" thing, it feels like the game has so much more going on and that isn't quite the focus, which is why i'd be hesitant to call LoZ a "metroidvania".

defining genres for games has the same problems as defining genres for music, or other entertainment. things often span multiple genres and its so easy to find an instance of a game from one genre that has element(s) from other(s).

I mean pretty much all action adventure games do have those elements. If you're not using things you found in one area to solve puzzles in another, you're probably not playing an Action Adventure game. It's probably just straight Action.

Games like Uncharted are just shooters. The fact that they have a puzzle platforming break every few minutes doesn't really change anything. It's just a pacing device.

Games do span multiple genres but that's why a much more broad term like Action Adventure is the appropriate label. By invoking the word metroidvania, you're specifically invoking a feel of the 2D sidescrolling and platforming aspect of Action Adventure. If you take a similar game but 3D like Darksiders 1, it still has all the same qualities of a metroidvania but it generally isn't called one.
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Maze platformers? Puzzle platformers implies something like Braid so I don't think it would fit.
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AsucaHayashi posted...

Evening_Dragon posted...

AsucaHayashi posted...

non-linear 2d platformers

Umihara Kawase is most definitely not metroidvania.

that doesn't make metroidvanias any less 2d non-linear platformers..

Yes, but it describes titles that aren't metroidvania. Also, Metroidvania games aren't all that nonlinear, really. You get to backtrack in nonlinear ways, but intentional progress is mostly directed via items and upgrades.
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Recycled locations platformer or Replay the same area to save companies money from adding more areas/stages to purposely make the game seem longer.
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OctilIery posted...

Also, lol @ thinking fps games would be named after goldeneye

Goldeneye put them on the map.
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EffectAndCause posted...

OctilIery posted...

Also, lol @ thinking fps games would be named after goldeneye

Goldeneye put them on the map.

LOL no

DevsBro posted...

OctilIery posted...

And they aren't their own genre any more than doom and quake clones are. They're a subset of a genre specifically imitating certain games in the genre.

Sure but this logic applies to all kinds of stuff so it should be little more than a footnote.

FPS is just a subgenre of shooter, stealth is just a subgenre of action-adventure, match three is just a subgenre of puzzle, etc.

Fps isn't a subgenre