Metroidvania with classes

[Jesse Willadson]

So my room-mate has been playing Symphony of the night. I love the game, but I was wondering if there is a game that follows the same design philosophy: 2d, exploration, good art, but where you can choose your class, with the classes having different abilities and such.

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

To my chagrin, there's not much like Metroidvania except Metroidvania. Circle of the Moon made some special modifications to your stats and abilities based on your name entry (Magician Class= Fireball, Fighter Class= Gradius, Shooter Class= Crossbow, Thief Class= Dagger), and two of the DSvania games had multiple characters with different abilities.

Other than that I can't think of anything that meets that criteria except maybe Mega Man ZX and its sequel (except those let you change class any time you want because, y'know, it's Mega Man).

 

[Danny Dowling]

I don't really get what the term Metroidvania means tbh.

Metroid is where the non linear level design comes from... Castlevania is where...? Last I checked, Castlevania was more or less the same, but you have a whip instead of a sword.

Soooo yeah what is the Castlevania part that the Metroid part didn't cover?

 

[Lunar Templar]

I don't really get what the term Metroidvania means tbh.

Metroid is where the non linear level design comes from... Castlevania is where...? Last I checked, Castlevania was more or less the same, but you have a whip instead of a sword.

Soooo yeah what is the Castlevania part that the Metroid part didn't cover?

Symphony of the Night basically, it was the first Castlevania to play like a Metriod game in terms of exploration and nonliterary,(well, and not horribly suck at it) something they've since run with for the 2D games, and since 'it needed' a term, it got 'Metriodvania'

 

[Scars Unseen]

I don't really get what the term Metroidvania means tbh.

Metroid is where the non linear level design comes from... Castlevania is where...? Last I checked, Castlevania was more or less the same, but you have a whip instead of a sword.

Soooo yeah what is the Castlevania part that the Metroid part didn't cover?

While Metroid technically came first, the MSX2 version of Castlevania(known as Vampire Killer) came out the same year and had a similarly open design. Belmont's Revenge was also a more open design. So the term fits. Of course, Metroid was more consistent with the style's use...

 

[Shocksplicer]

You're basically describing Rogue Legacy, except that it's also a roguelike, and your choice of class is from a randomly selected pool. I recommend it.

 

[Danny Dowling]

I don't really get what the term Metroidvania means tbh.

Metroid is where the non linear level design comes from... Castlevania is where...? Last I checked, Castlevania was more or less the same, but you have a whip instead of a sword.

Soooo yeah what is the Castlevania part that the Metroid part didn't cover?

Symphony of the Night basically, it was the first Castlevania to play like a Metriod game in terms of exploration and nonliterary,(well, and not horribly suck at it) something they've since run with for the 2D games, and since 'it needed' a term, it got 'Metriodvania'

Okay so to be a Metroidvania it still has to be Castlevania then? Since the term is describing a Castelvania game with a non-linear style like Metroid. Okay

 

[Danny Dowling]

You're basically describing Rogue Legacy, except that it's also a roguelike, and your choice of class is from a randomly selected pool. I recommend it.

Yeah I was thinking the same. Rogue Legacy answers a lot of questions lol

 

[Lunar Templar]

I don't really get what the term Metroidvania means tbh.

Metroid is where the non linear level design comes from... Castlevania is where...? Last I checked, Castlevania was more or less the same, but you have a whip instead of a sword.

Soooo yeah what is the Castlevania part that the Metroid part didn't cover?

Symphony of the Night basically, it was the first Castlevania to play like a Metriod game in terms of exploration and nonliterary,(well, and not horribly suck at it) something they've since run with for the 2D games, and since 'it needed' a term, it got 'Metriodvania'

Okay so to be a Metroidvania it still has to be Castlevania then? Since the term is describing a Castelvania game with a non-linear style like Metroid. Okay

Not really. The term is pretty much used for any game like that anymore, it's the short hand for 'non-liner 2D exploration based platformer' and there needs to be more of them.

minus the rogue like nonsense.

 

[2xDouble]

Metroidvania-style games with different characters/character classes, hm? Pretty much any LEGO game. Of course, you usually have to finish a level with specific characters before you unlock "free play" mode.

 

[SFMB]

Unepic is a Metroidvania of sorts. You could give it a try?

 

[otakon17]

I don't really get what the term Metroidvania means tbh.

Metroid is where the non linear level design comes from... Castlevania is where...? Last I checked, Castlevania was more or less the same, but you have a whip instead of a sword.

Soooo yeah what is the Castlevania part that the Metroid part didn't cover?

It's a mash-up of "Metroid" and "Castlevania" that mostly refers to Symphony of the Night. The distinction is the gameplay, which is a big focus on exploration and uncovering tools and weapons that allow you to backtrack to earlier areas you couldn't access before. I honestly love the gamestyle but there aren't many that emulate it nowadays.

As for a side-scrolling "Metroidvania" like game with different classes? Valdis the Cursed City comes to mind actually since there are 4 possible characters you can play as. But it has a much higher focus on combat and timed platforming over SotN by far.

 

[DrOswald]

I think Valdis Story: Abyssal City is kind of like this. You don't pick a class, but you do pick a character and I am pretty sure they are each a different play style. Never played it myself but I hear really good things. You should check out it out.

 

[Schadrach]

Not really. The term is pretty much used for any game like that anymore, it's the short hand for 'non-liner 2D exploration based platformer' and there needs to be more of them.

minus the rogue like nonsense.

Check out Valdis Story. PC metroidvania-type game. Metacritic 83, user score 82. http://store.steampowered.com/app/252030/

Backed it on Kickstarter back when. Not disappointed.

EDIT: LOL, two other people recommend it while I'm writing this post. =p

 

[Danny Dowling]

I don't really get what the term Metroidvania means tbh.

Metroid is where the non linear level design comes from... Castlevania is where...? Last I checked, Castlevania was more or less the same, but you have a whip instead of a sword.

Soooo yeah what is the Castlevania part that the Metroid part didn't cover?

Symphony of the Night basically, it was the first Castlevania to play like a Metriod game in terms of exploration and nonliterary,(well, and not horribly suck at it) something they've since run with for the 2D games, and since 'it needed' a term, it got 'Metriodvania'

Okay so to be a Metroidvania it still has to be Castlevania then? Since the term is describing a Castelvania game with a non-linear style like Metroid. Okay

Not really. The term is pretty much used for any game like that anymore, it's the short hand for 'non-liner 2D exploration based platformer' and there needs to be more of them.

minus the rogue like nonsense.

Sounds a bit strange. people saying "Metroidvania" when they basically just mean "like Metroid".

 

[Danny Dowling]

You're basically describing Rogue Legacy, except that it's also a roguelike, and your choice of class is from a randomly selected pool. I recommend it.

I really enjoyed Rogue Legacy, but found the difficulty ungainly; there's an unlock system that carries over from previous runs, but your character doesn't and how powerful a character you get depends on chance. So I ended up with some runs being very easy and others being basically pointless at my skill level.

They designed it so that you had to re-run a lot.

The thing with Rogue Legacy really is to plan ahead. A lot. At first it's just about exploring the castle and staying away from the other 3 areas, then after a while you're strong enough to beat the eye. Then your runs are about beating the castle, then the forest, again until you can beat the boss of that section and you just keep going through and going through accumulating money to spend and getting all the runes until a character class you like comes along that is suitable for beating the boss you're currently on.

Also later you get a skill to re-roll your heir, so if you get stuck with all those crappy spellcasters you can re-roll them away.

 

[Pheo1386]

I'm not sure if many would agree, but I thought Dark Souls (especially Dark Souls 1) was the most metroidvania game I've played since..... Well...... Metroidvania (SOTN)

I appreciate that you are more interested in 2D titles though, so in that case I'd agree and recommend Rouge Legacy. A very enjoyable game.

 

[Slegiar Dryke]

I always thought metroidvania refered not only to the non-linear exploration based aspect of things, but also the item progression through the game, finding stuff to help you further progress as you explored more =/