I don’t really know. To be honest, I just saw Castlevania attached and threw my wallet at the cashier. Fingers crossed I don’t regret that impulse. But I think the game has a metroidvania aspect to it, so when you die there are points you can fast travel to instead of starting completely from the beginning.

Yeah Kiwami 2 was really fun! I'm thinking of going with Like a Dragon for the next one to mix it up a bit.

Nice! Humble Bundle is doing a pretty sweet Metroidvania deal so that's how I got it

I've played kiwami before actually! in fact it was the one that got me into Yakuza as it was a free ps plus game. That was a long ass time ago, and going back to it now after beating 0 feels a biiit janky

Having a great time with it. It's been hyped up to me a lot over the years and it's definitely not disappointing.

Since you've asked about metroidvanias and I played a lot of them recently, here's some feedback:

Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth:
- Very fun and not too difficult, feels a lot like old-school metroidvanias. The only issue is that it's really short, less than 10h for full completion.

Touhou Luna Nights
- Same developer as Lodoss War, another one I highly recommend. It's harder (in particular in bosses) compared to Lodoss War, but I feel it gives you the proper proper tools to tackle the challenge. Another short game with less than 10h for full completion.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
- Surprisingly good game from Ubisoft. Plataforming sections can be quite challenging, but not too frustrating due to fantastic controls. There's some difficulty spikes in bosses, but nothing unsurmountable. Huge map, the main complaint I have about the game is that there's nowhere near enough fast travel spots.

Ori and the Blind Forest
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
- Overhyped but still good. A lot of focus on plataforming but controls are nowhere near as tight as the ones in Prince of Persia. A LOT of cheap deaths, can be frustrating to play at times.

Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights
- Beautiful game, but goddamn hard, feels like Hollow Knight 1.5. If you're looking for some challenge is a good option.

Minoria
- Can't recommend this one. Stupid hard, you die incredibly easy and nothing in the game really shines.

Need to start changing my outlook on games/my backlog. Need to stop treating games as someone I have to finish or beat, there's just not enough time in the day. Gonna try dropping games when they start to drag and noting when/why in here so I know where I was at if I ever decide to come back.

> How are the Ori games?

Good games, but IMO the praise they get is excessive. I think there's some pretty major flaws in the games, in particular in the first one.

> My reflexes aren't what they used to be but I like a metroidvania, would I enjoy it?

Honestly, not sure.

They have tricky and unforgiving platforming sections, and can get really frustrating because there's a lot of trial-and-error involved and one small mistake means restarting the whole sequence.

IMO the first game also has an issue with the plataforming controls - maybe I've been spoiled by games like Mario and Celeste, but they felt "floaty" and not accurate enough for the kind of precise platforming they were asking for.

The story is fantastic and I cannot wait to start YK2, but I really REALLY had it with the controls in the first one, even on a DualSense controller. I hope YK2's controls are better!

Sorry, just saw you message about DQM. I always forget to check my messages.

If you’re just progressing to beat the story I’d say it isn’t too grindy at all honesty. I just 100% it though and THAT was absurdly grindy.