Echoes: A MetroidVania Indiespective

To tell the story of the MetroidVania genre is to tell the story of two franchise greats. Both of which were born in the same year, and only a month apart.

Metroid for the Famicom Disk System released on August 6th, 1986 in Japan, and made its way to America a year later (with a European release five months after that). With it came a well crafted explorative action platformer, and the beginning of an entire genre. There’s a reason “MetroidVania” has Metroid as its root, and that’s because the aforementioned exploring part of the genre came from it.

In Metroid, you explore a vast world unlocking doors, fighting enemies, and upgrading abilities. These traits are largely what make-up a MetroidVania, only with some later additions from a Castlevania title creating the new genre. When I began research for this piece I started to realize most games these days that are referred to as MetroidVania are actually closer to being Metroid-likes instead.

On September 26th, also for the Famicom Disk System, Akumajo Dracula was released in Japan. The game featured a linear level system with difficult platforming and enemy patterns, so much so that if you didn’t recognize them, you’d be starting the game over and over again. While Metroid games can be difficult in their own right, I’d argue that Castlevania titles are much harder.

Borrowing some of that difficulty for the MetroidVania DNA, the biggest component from Castlevania to be mixed in the batch would be from the series first departure from it’s formula. In actuality, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is responsible for the creation of the genre. Sporting a large castle to explore, upgrading your character with armor and weapons better suited as the game progressed, but now also there were RPG elements and a shop system.

It’s these two additions that separate a game from being a Metroid-like and a MetroidVania in my opinion. Without the leveling system and a shop, Symphony of the Night would have just been a Metroid-Like, albeit more difficult. The team who worked on the game was highly influenced by Super Metroid (the third title in the franchise) when they were making Symphony of the Night, and as it turns out, changed Castlevania's future forever as well as creating a vastly loved genre still adored to this day.

Legacy

The total fusion of two giants of video game franchises is no little footnote in video game history. MetroidVania is one of the most used genres to this day, and keeps players coming back for more. Creating an experience that ramps up in difficulty, but also options as the game progresses that’s available to the player; something RPG players had been used to for some time, but now that other developers were made aware they could be incorporated into other genres. It blew the flood gates wide open.

On surface level, other genres such as first-person shooters and adventure games were seeing these influences. One of the biggest evolutions of the MetroidVania genre though, in my opinion, is the Souls-like genre. Essentially taking everything from the MetroidVania mission statement, and thrusting it into a 3D environment, while very much keeping alive the original tough-as-nails difficulty Castlevania was known for.

Though even the Souls-like name is a misnomer of sorts, as while it pays its due to the first third-person title with these traits, it leaves the progenitors left in the ground. The Soul-like genre owes its due to everything that came before it, from Castlevania Symphony of the Night for its MetroidVania ties, but also to PC RPGs that went onto inspiring From Software’s King’s Field titles. While King’s Field feels a little closer to PC RPGs (such as Elder Scrolls, Ultima, etc), it was the maze and labyrinth structure to these titles that could be considered the seed of the openness of Souls games after it.

Needless to say, fusing two genres together can have insurmountable effects on the industry; something we're even seeing today with the growth of card-based dungeon crawlers and more. MetroidVania started something special, and the ingenuity and bravery is still appreciated and felt today. This is especially felt today and is most notably in the indie video game space.

MetroidVania In The Indie Scene

It’s difficult to browse through digital storefronts today and not encounter a MetroidVania or Metroid-like title. Genre comes in waves and trends, and this can very well be attributed to the age group of developers, as well as the games they grew up playing. Similar to how the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Switch saw many MetroidVania’s come to light out of the indie scene, as we enter a new generation, we’re beginning to see indie-interpretations on the 3D mascot platformer genre. Seeing the legacy of classic titles such as Metroid carried on through each new generation of developers is frankly beautiful. It’s a form of preservation and games history, in a sense. More often than not, we see people playing something like Axiom Verge, and in turn desire to go back to explore the roots of what makes it so special. It’s a shame some of these legacy titles can be quite difficult to play, but that’s a whole other soapbox for another time.

In celebration of Metroid’s 35th Anniversary, as well as the release of the first original 2D Metroid title in nearly 20 years, below you’ll find some of my personal recommendations for indie MetroidVania titles and why I think they’re worth checking out.

Axiom Verge 1+2

Axiom Verge is the creation of a sole developer Thomas Happ. The game is a love letter through and through to not just the MetroidVania genre, but Metroid specifically with its grotesque sci-fi horrors. The game also features glitches as a gameplay feature crafted to look like the classic graphical glitches from NES games which you can use to your advantage to get around and find secrets.

Axiom Verge 2 released just this year so I haven’t been able to play it myself, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t include it on this list.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

As one of the few Kickstarter indie darlings on this list, I unfortunately have a love/hate relationship with Bloodstained. The game is created by Iga of Castlevania fame and features his largest castle yet, paired with a wide feature of customizability for items and abilities. After a not-so-desirable initial experience, caved and double-dipped, buying the PlayStation 4 version of the game earlier this year. Finally being able to play and enjoy the game was a fantastic experience.

My issues with the game itself stem only from the Nintendo Switch port of this game, though being patched specifically all these years, I still can’t recommend this version of the game as it's fraught with stuttering, hitching, and worst of all, crashes.

Bloodstained also has two spin-offs; Curse of the Moon 1 & 2. These smaller games are far linear homages closer to the early days of Castlevania, rather than when the door swung open with Symphony.

Chasm

Another Kickstarter title, Chasm likes to have it both ways. On one hand, the game features handcrafted rooms and a home base location that you upgrade throughout the story. On the other hand, it holds a procedurally generated world map unique to your playthrough. Rather than it being a roguelike upon every excursion, your playthrough or save is unique in its map.

Foregone

Foregone was one of the first games we got codes for as a team, even before we became Six One Indie, we reviewed this on our podcast almost a year ago. While Mike Towndrow and Kyle Stephenson enjoyed and even praised the game (the reason I have the game on this list), Jake Palmer and I had the misfortune of playing the Switch version which unfortunately did not run well. While I also had some other issues with it, the game can be fun and is worth a look on sale.

Guacamelee! 1+2

Oh yeah, Guac-a-Melee man. While I only finally played through the first game earlier this year and started the second, these games more than solidified their place in MetroidVania Hall of Fame. From the tight and unique gameplay (you WRESTLE your enemies!), to the wonderful writing and the sheer litany of jokes, Guacamelee is an absolute treasure.

Hollow Knight

Hollow Knight blends beautiful hand-drawn visuals with a true melancholic emotion felt throughout. As you traverse this abandoned world, you start to reawaken its inner workings, slowly piecing together what happened to this land. Hollow Knight is also tough as nails, and should be played with the knowledge that you will die a lot. However, the fights are exhilarating. When you finally do defeat the myriad of bosses the game has a true sense of accomplishment is felt.

Hollow Knight has a follow-up, "Silksong", currently in development.

The Messenger

I started playing The Messenger last year around the holidays, and as soon as I started, I couldn’t stop. The game is that good (and aggravating to add), one of which demands your attention. Unique to this title is the era-shift where through portals you travel forward or backward through time, changing the game’s look while it occurs. 

Iconoclasts

This is the game I’ve had the least amount of time with on this list and is purely here to call me out for it. I love the look and feel of this MetroidVania, especially the character designs and animation. I really need to get back into it. It’s also weird that this one isn’t talked about much considering it was a PS+ title back when. Go check it out, it's on everything, and then yell at me to get off my duff and finish it.

Addendum

Akin to the game that started it all, the MetroidVania genre is beautiful, exciting, and most importantly, a blast to experience each and every time. Before the indie scene truly took off in recent years, it was a genre that was mostly left in the past with a few exceptions in the AAA space. With this new wave of developers carrying the touch and truly reviving the genre to its fullest potential, I’m relieved to believe MetroidVanias will be here to stay for the long haul.

Written by Matthew Wright