You can go anywhere you want, as long as it's here.
After years of incessant nagging, I finally got around to picking up a copy of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. And I have to honestly say, I'm glad I did. Everything about the experience that it offers is fantastic. The controls are tight, the aesthetic is creepy and beautiful. The music does a great job setting the tone and really adds to the immersion factor. It even does a good job with incorporating a leveling system and other RPG elements, something that had done little more than add an arbitrary game-lengthening grind portions. Now you are reading this and thinking "Where does this kid get off loving this game in a love/hate post? Doesn't that just mean you hate it and you're trying not to say it?" But, what you should really be thinking is:
And it's a part I really wish I didn't have to talk about. Because I really do love this game, and other games of the genre I've played in the past. Super Metroid is still to this day considered one of, if not the best game on the Super Nintendo. And I would be lying if I said I didn't sink hours into Castlevania: Circle of the Moon and Metroid Fusion on the GBA. My problem is not with the games, it's with the ultimately flawed mechanics they are built around. I want to preface this with saying that as many things I have to say, both good and bad, I will still love and continue to play these games, and you should too!
There really is no such thing as non-linear gameplay when it comes to these titles. And before you say it, yes the old Castlevania games were completely linear, but that will not be my focus here. These games start you on the path of no return, and give you many choices in the process, but only just one clear destination. This is the first mechanic that I truly found to have a love/hate relationship with. Running around various open areas, exploring the map, finding items and secret areas is an extremely rewarding experience. It makes you feel good about being observant and going off the beaten path. It rewards you for doing things you didn't have to, and you have fun in the process. But, no matter how much fun you have exploring this world, you will ultimately hit a brick wall, magically sealed door, treacherous jump or unbeatable boss. That’s where the exploration and running around stops being so much fun, and starts being annoying and dumb (technical industry terms).
Maybe this is a product of my generation of gamers having too many guided experiences in games, but I don’t like that I have to become a digital cartographer. Every time I make it somewhere I can’t progress or obtain a new item, I have to remember everywhere I’ve been, every crack in the wall, every unopened door. Even if I do have a “light bulb over the head” moment wherein I remember exactly where something is I need to return to, something is always missing. That feeling in the back of my head like I am taking two steps forward while taking one step back is always looming in the background. Is this actually where I am supposed to go? Did I miss anything? Am I about to step completely unprepared into a big boss fight or tough area? This constant questioning of my accomplishment really stymies the feeling of progress to a painful slow. <SPOLIERS> Just last night I had gotten as much of the map explored as I could without looking too much up, so I killed the spirit haunting Richter and proceeded into the inverted castle. Extreme awesomeness of the fact that I can play the entire game AGAIN but F*#$ING UPSIDE DOWN aside, I was extremely irked to look back at my save file and see that I was shy of the 100% mark on the first half of the game..</SPOLIERS>
Maybe I’m a bad gamer, maybe I’m a hypocrite for really enjoying this game while bashing the genre as a whole. I don’t like the idea that this game essentially forces to you to be a completionist, that even though I can defeat every boss and progress the story, I will know that there is somewhere I haven’t been to. Some small corner with an invisible grey crack on a grey wall, in a grey room full of grey enemies that I didn’t know I have to super jump and punch at the right angle to expose a room. A room that contributes to the total percent of my score, but actually just contains a weapon I will never use or a health recovery item I will completely forget about. I don’t feel rewarded for spending an hour trying to get something off the beaten path if it’s completely arbitrary. Maybe those of you blessed with the proper number of cones in your eyes and the ability to detect subtle changes in color tones have less trouble, but some of the secrets in these games are just ridiculous. Trying to find cracks in walls is probably not so bad for your normal folk, but for my money it’s not worth it. At least in Super Metroid they give you a scanner.
All these things aside, the genre is not dead in any sense of the word. There are developers, AAA and independent alike, making games in this genre. Some of them are even pretty good! Check out Outland on XBLA. It takes the classic controls, combat and exploration mechanics of a classic metroidvania, but throws it in a absolutely beautiful modern asthetic, and adds a Ikaruga style color changing mechanic that makes platforming and puzzle solving that much more unique and interesting. Another honorable mention is the independent game Cave Story. It is a classic take on the metroidvania formula, but with the old fashioned styling of an 8bit game that has become ever so popular in new independent titles. They are both worth at least a play, and Cave Story can be found in Indie Bundles and Steam sales regularly. Stay playing my friend, if you find something you like, play it! and if you love it, don't listen to me, but remember to think!!