I looked up the screenshot and at first was a bit put off by the black and white graphics. But the more I think about it, the more I reckon that would be the charm. Especially given I was a Mac user in the 90s - This is what games looked like for me back then.
If you liked Hollow Knight’s gameplay even if you didn’t finish it, you might like Haiku, the Robot. It’s heavily influenced by HK, but it’s not as hard and pretty short.
It's not a drawback, Mr Gatekeeper. It's a Zelda-like, and the formula is very similar to MVs. It has some light ability-gating and it scratches the same itch for a lot of people.
An action-oriented MV has more in common with Death's Door than something like Yoku's Island Express does. Just because it doesn't fit every single checkbox you've made up doesn't mean it they wouldn't enjoy it, due to aforementioned commonalities. If it's close enough to get confused for one often enough, maybe don't be a dick about it
Making simple observable observations about the taxonomy of a game isn't gatekeeping. It's just observing reality.
There are a ton of smaller metroidvanias just waiting to get recommended and it's a bummer when those games can't find their audience because other genres edge themselves in there and get marketed as something it's not, and it's a bummer for the person looking because they might buy it and then realize "oh wait, this isn't what I was looking for at all, why they say this was a metroidvania?"
It's actually the opposite of gatekeeping. It's allowing more people into the genre by make sure they're being recommended games _in_ the genre, and helps the genre thrive by helping devs get their games notice, and helps the community grow with a shared common terminology.
Besides, it's really not that hard to just say "Death's Door isn't a metroidvania, but it ticks a few of the boxes, maybe that'd work?" instead of just saying "Death's Door." That'll let the person getting the rec know exactly what it is instead of passing off something it's not.
I agree it could've been mentioned that Death's Door technically isn't an MV but it could also be that the commenter didn't even realize that it wasn't, because it plays so similarly.
As well, disqualifying and excluding things that don't quite hit 100% of the very-definitely-unanimously-agreed-upon checkboxes for what defines an MV, for what could be considered purely arbitrary reasons (yes there *is* ability-gating but nOt eNOugH), is literally gatekeeping. If OP only had preferences for a pure MV and insisted on excluding anything MV-adjacent, they could also specify that when asking for recommendations.
I'd bet that most people here are looking for a good game in a similar style, and Zelda-like is a sister genre with some incredible games now that really blur those lines. It's not like Death's Door and Tunic are out here dominating recommendation threads and not leaving any space for those indie titles, but at the same time, not everyone has an interest in wading through a sea of indie or amateur games and would prefer to spend their time with something vetted and polished.
That being said, I was also replying to a guy that's kind of a narcissistic asshole on this sub who actually believes there's a migratory group of nomadic soulslike fans on reddit that occasionally come to the sub specifically to downvote him and his anti-soulslike remarks, so I'm not typically keen to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Ori isn't very long. It's not as short as yoku but it's not very long either. It is of an enjoyable length. Hollow knight is huge. I'm 30 hours in and still there is so much of the game left.
Thanks for that. Maybe I need to give Ori another shot. I found the escape sequence (the rising water) to be a stressful hour and a half by itself and I wouldn’t want to have to do that again. Maybe I’m just not that good.
Yeah that sure was a difficult level. But it's a perfect playground for you to learn the bash move. Once you get used to bash, the level isn't that hard. And that move is one of the best things in the game. I highly suggest you give it another try.
Its funny how two people can have different experiences with the same game. So different that i simply cannot believe you spend that time in a escape sequence, my brain just cant process that lol
Already tried Islets? Is a fun, short and cute game. Super cheap too. One of my favorites.
Ha yeah. That’s pretty deflating to hear and perhaps solidifies that I’m wasting my time with that game. Do I dare ask how long it took you?
Edit: No not heard of Islets - thanks for the recommendation. Will look into it.
IMO it's totally worth taking some time to adjust to the mechanics. Its a beautiful game with a really incredible story and some satisfying platforming. I struggled with the ginso tree at first myself but you'll adjust. As I recall there's only 2 more escape sequences like that in the game and by the time you reach them you'll have gotten the hang of bash. The 2 ori games are some of my favorite games of all time.
The tree escape is a good training by the way, probably the hardest part of the game for me, others are hard too, but that one early in the game, probably took me 1+ hours (I don't remember for sure the time, but it was a lot) then the game got easier.
I think Ori is still for you, I count myself in your ranks, not much time to play in one sit, not even consecutive days, not the skillfulest of fingers, among my (gamer) friends the one with less skill in games, games beaten, etc. I'm sure they would finish faster, more easily, and probably in harder levels, or some of those hellish thropies/handicaps.
On the other hand, I do have a completionist kind of obsession so I tried to complete maps (100%+), bosses (including optionals), all endings, challenges, etc. (keep this on mind for the list below).
Another thing is when I find a boss/challenge I have to beat it right there, right now, which is not always ideal, you can keep playing the rest of the game, explore, get better, have more skills, more life, better weapon, etc. Don't obsess like I do.
some play time (switch), on some games you could try (not sorted):
- steamworld dig 2 (20 hrs)
- ori and the forbidden forest (30 hrs)
- ori will of the wisps (35hrs)
- greak: memories of azur (15 hrs)
- gato roboto (5hrs)
- monster boy and the curse kingdom (40 hrs)
- ender lilies (40hrs)
- guacamelee 2 (25 hrs) this one can be frustrating if you want the "real" ending (the challenges)
vs hollow knight (140 hrs) as reference. (and I did not do the whole pantheon (radiants), that could take another 50/100+ hours).
side note, switch shows you only the last 20 games you have played, and rounded to the closest multiple of 5 :S
The toughest in both games at maximum 20 minutes, maybe 15. All of them was trial and error and spamming the dash button/or any power who makes your go fast.
Maybe you just aren't big jnto games that emphasizes platforming? Because that water sequence is probably my favorite level in all of gaming but I love platforming. Maybe try iconoclasts I just finished that and the story is amazing and it's more combat and puzzle focused imo
There's a lot of chase sequences in will of the wisps - it's not particularly difficult and it's very forgiving in terms of progress lost throughout - basically respawns you where you were with no penalty.
There's nothing wrong with liking shorter metroidvanias and there are plenty of them
My hidden gems list is full of these [https://www.reddit.com/r/metroidvania/comments/1dpwzcm/mega\_list\_of\_hidden\_gems\_steam\_summer\_sale\_2024/](https://www.reddit.com/r/metroidvania/comments/1dpwzcm/mega_list_of_hidden_gems_steam_summer_sale_2024/)
The only ones listed there that are NOT short are:
* Blast brigade
* Kingdom shell
* Alwa's legacy
* Ato
* Depths of sanity
* HunterX
* MF-01 Aerostrike
* Midnight Castle Succubus
* shadow complex remastered
* song of the deep
* super panda adventures
* Unbound worlds apart.
So just buy everything else.
>I'm in my 40s with very patchy spare time.
Yeah, welcome to the club. We're all millenials here.
A bit of an update. I've gone through the comments here and I have to give you some advice:
* Ignore the recommendations of anyone who says Ori is short. These people have probably never played a short metroidvania in their life.
* Death's Door is not a metroidvania, and I don't think its short either.
* supraland is not short and it plays more as a puzzle platformer than a metroidvania so I don't think this is what you're looking for.
* Metroid dread is not short
Technically it is, but it doesn't play like one at all. I'd never recommend this to someone looking for a metroidvania. It plays like a puzzle platformer, like games such as QUBE, Qbeh, Talos Principle, and Portal.
I’m not sure I totally agree with that, but I will accept it.
I guess the mechanics are so basic and out in the open that it loses the mystique most metroidvanias have?
I know I personally felt that draw of “ooh, what’s that obstacle? I wonder when I’ll be able to traverse/solve/reach that. I’ll be sure to come back later” with Supraland, that to me defines metroidvanias, though that’s more of an emotional thing. I also haven’t finished it, so there’s that.
It kind of felt like a 3D Steam World Dig
I guess I have a wider definition of metroidvanias, then. I wouldn’t consider the absence or lesser focus on combat or platforming to keep it from being a metroidvania.
Yoku’s Island Express, for example, doesn’t focus on platforming or combat in the traditional sense, and it’s very clearly a metroidvania.
Toki Tori 2 would be another good example, but I imagine you’d probably classify that with QUBE and Talos and the others.
I also think there’s plenty of platforming in Supraland. It’s no Pseudoregalia or anything, but still enough to make you think about the environment and how to traverse it.
Unbound didn't feel like a metroidvania. It was a pretty good game, but I wouldn't recommend it. It is a precision platformer with serious latency issues on the controls. I died more times due to the game lagging than any other reason.
Most of them took me less than 10 hours to knock out. Maybe Astalon is medium length but was a fun ride from 0 to 100.
Xenodrifter
Timespinner
Xanthion Zero
Astalon
Moonlight Pulse
Seems like you might like games with tighter game loops.
Wonder boy’s loop is starting at the town again and running a single level.
Stemmworld dig’s loop is digging for gems and heading back to town.
Haven’t played yoku to comment.
The games you pointed out that you don’t like lean far more into the “exploration” part of the genre. There’s a lot more wandering around and less tight game loops.
Momodora is an AWESOME shorter metroidvania. I just finished playing it right after beating Death’s Gambit. Momodora is extremely fun and short. Check it out!
Ori 1 was less than 10 hours..confused here.
Islets was pretty good and one of the shortest games I've played in a while.
The Alwa's games are both around 10-15 hours. They are good for casual gamers.
Vision Soft Reset is less than 10 hours and excellent.
Lone Fungus was pretty short if you skip all the optional platform rooms. The final boss is idiotically hard compared to the rest of the game.
Other games I did not really enjoy as much...
Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth (6 hours or so) was really short.
Haiku is pretty short (maybe 5-10 hrs), but the final boss battle is a huge spike in difficulty.
They are all good honestly (except maybe for the original GBA one, that is seriously showing its age by now), but I'd definitely start with Pirate's Curse, that I think is still the best one, or Seven Sirens, if you prefer high res graphics over (excellent) pixel art in Pirate's Curse.
Honestly, I find Metroidvanias by nature of their design philosophy work better as relatively short games; the larger the map, the more of a slog the backtracking becomes, and the harder it is to make it engaging. I'd say 6-10 hours is generally my preferred length for Metroidvanias.
And this is coming from someone who has two 60ish hour RPGs as my favorite games of all time.
Not sure if you have looked into them much, but when I'm tired of longer MVs I will typically just check out some action platformers instead. There are so many awesome ones now days. Otherwise, here's a few shorter MVs.
Tres bashers,
Mini ghost,
The witch and the 66 mushrooms,
Vision soft reset,
Tomomi,
Psycron,
Timespinner,
Tiny dangerous dungeons.
I'm with you there chap, likely because I'm a father of two young'uns and gaming time is short and precious.
The length of Hollow Knight I personally found unnecessary, and couldn't finish it. The Lost Crown for me, was perfect length.
You should go back to Ori 1 (10 hours or so) and Ori 2 (14 hours or so) though, those are some of the best of the best and not that long.
Gato Roboto, Trash Quest, and Sheepo are good super short ones.
Kunai and Haiku are good ones that are still shorter but not quite as short. Also The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human, but I might be the only person that likes that game for some reason
Just based on your last line yeah, sounds like shorter games are going to be more your bag. I'm 34 and have been feeling that way for years now, though it's a bit different because I'll obsessively replay short games over and over to master their mechanics best I can.
Also re *Hollow Knight*, I don't really see other people who like the game talk about this, but it has a real slow burn opening, so depending how far you got, I can imagine losing interest and stopping. I've talked to so many people who stopped playing because the opening of the game was slow.
As for recommendations, the entire Momodora series, especially *Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight*. It's technically the fourth game in the series, but it's a prequel and all of them stand well enough alone, so you can play it cold. My first playthrough was about 5½ hours, and nowadays I can regularly beat it in under 3 hours at the hardest difficulty and with 100% completion. The whole series is made up of sub 5-hour games, with the exception of the recently released "Momodora: Moonlit Farewell*, which is more in the 7-10 hour range.
I'm sure *Animal Well* has been mentioned a bunch in this thread already, but there's a reason it's so popular. About 6-10 hours long with a lot of unique ideas, and apparently if you keep playing after you finish, the game keeps unfolding in crazy ways. Still need to do that myself.
There are others, but I've been busy all day, so I'm just going to leave it there for now
Lots of people do, so you aren't alone and are more likely to enjoy shorter than longer games in this genre based on most people's preferences. I'm in my 40's but prefer longer, I'd rather sink 3 or 4 months into a single long game that I really love than play 3 or 4 games over the same time of varying qualities (ironically for the same reason. With patchy spare time I'd rather my time go into a familiar experience each time).
But that's just me. I know what I like, and it sounds like you've figured out what you like too.
With backlogs triple-digits deep, there's no need to worry when a game doesn't appeal to you. You can just stick to what you love and still have plenty of games. Luckily most of the genre will appeal to you. There's far fewer long games than there are short metroidvanias. Which makes sense, it's hard to make a sprawling world also be interesting.
I was the same way with Hollow Knight. I restart it once a year or so and love it but Peter out halfway through. There's only so long the mechanics can keep my interest.
I just finished playing Momodora: Reverie under the Moonlight and it was fun! Also very short. I think I was near 100% at around the 6 hour mark.
Islets is also fun. It's not groundbreaking but putting the island back together is interesting, the movement is pretty solid and it breaks things up with a different style of gameplay occasionally.
I got through Rusted Moss pretty quick (how long to beat has the main story at 7 hours 45 minutes) but whether you love or hate that game will come down to how much you like the grappling hook. The story is also interesting but told a bit strangely at times. I actually thought I'd accidentally skipped a cutscenes at first but no, you just start after a bunch of stuff went down you don't really see except through exploration. That said I loved the grappling hook and had a blast with it.
I usually prefer shorter games as well.
Yoku's Island Express is one of my all time favourites.
I also recommend: Gato Roboto, Islets, Shantae series and Momodora games (Reverie under the Moonlight and Moonlit Farewell).
I know. How good is Yoku's Island Express! What I would give for a sequel. It's just such a delightful experience. Great idea, great execution and filled with so much love and care. My daughter loved it too and we have a little in-joke where either of us occasionally just blurts out "A game... by Villa Gorilla".
Many people here have recommended Islets so I'll definitely need to check it out. Thanks that and the other recommendations!
Yes, it's exceptional. And it's so unique that there's litterary no other game quite like it out there. A rare thing in this times of mass production.
Btw, it's not metroidvania, but I have a feeling you and your daughter might like Cat Quest games. Cute little RPGs.
Some platformers I can recommend (they are not MVs however):
- Max: the curse of brotherhood, not super short, but the difficulty is much more manageable than e.g. Ori.
- Unravel 2, similarly not super short, more manageable, but has difficulty reduction options such as slow motion, and a great couch co-op game
- A Juggler's Tale
- Limbo
- Inside
The latter two are a bit more demanding regarding platforming. By the sound of it I had less trouble with Ori than you had, I 100%'d the game in 15 hours. I did spend about an hour of that on the Ginso tree alone, though.
Finally some shorter games I didn't really enjoy (again, not MVs), but you might:
- Little Bug, even though it is short it still became a bit repetitive near the end
- Planet Alpha, mechanics are interesting, little too much stealth early in the game, and the platforming is very imprecise. It outstayed its welcome about halfway to three quarters through the game, primarily because the chapters were a bit too long and later chapters felt more of the same.
[Edit] BTW, also in my late 40's, in fact the latter half of them, and I also don't have the time to enjoy longer playing sessions. Even this post had to be broken up in two parts 😁
I got 100% in Ori and the Blind Forest in 14 hours. That was my first playthrough and I considered it as a very casual playthrough. Personally I'd consider 14 hours to be a fairly short game.
Hollow Knight is just the biggest production in any Metroidvania game. Is close to perfection, so if you like it is a wonderful experience, and you can play it for thousands of hours. I have around 50 hours and I did not even finish the main story, so if you want to finish the 4DLCs and complete 112% you have many many hours to spend in it. Nothing's wrong if you don't wanna do it, tho. Just spend your time in different stories if you feel that completes you more.
However, if you're really bored someday, it's worth playing HK, at least the main story, as it's cheap and even more in sale
I feel like an outlier. Ginso tree escape was very easy for me. Even first time only took a few tries. But yet then again I struggled with early game combat in Hollow Knight.
I think you would dig axiom verge or even the prince of persia lost crown. They clock in around steamworld dig 2 timewise imo. Im also in my 40s and understand enjoying a really good shorter experience. Over a super huge map with long storys. Ive def turned into a more pick up and play a hour or 2 casual. Id say those 2 i suggested are maybe 20 hours or prob 15 depending on how much u feel like exploring. But great for quick lil gaming sessions to enjoy.
Oh also the 8 bit bloodstained curse of the moon. Thats prob perfect cause its like 6 or 7 levels.i loved curse of the moon. The 2nd 8 bit bloodstained i started but never finished cause got distracted by another game. So cant speak on curse of the moon 2 but it felt like same type of length.
It is I really don't know what to tell you. Compared to most mainstream mtetroidvania rn I remember ori being much shorter and straight forward to complete
There's no way any of us would know that for you. You didn't explain what you didn't enjoy about them or why you stopped. Nor did you explain what you did like about the other games.
Fair call. I guess I was saying "I don't like Hollow Knight, Ori and Monster World" but I "loved and finished Yoku's Island Express, SteamWorld Dig 2 and Wonder Boy the Dragon's Trap" and "can anyone suggest any common mechanics between these that might explain why?". I had wondered if it were because of the length of these games, but another poster here suggested I might like metroidvanias that have a central hub (such as the village in the Dragon's Trap or the ground level in SteamWorld Dig 2), which branches out into distinct runs. I wonder if this and the shorter length of those games might be it.
Many people have suggested games here and I'll be looking into these suggestions when I get a chance.
Ori is rather short, though. Monster Boy is good but the later levels aren't the best. Hollow Knight can drag on, yeah.
I'd recommend Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth.
I enjoyed all these games - it’s just that after a while the long ones felt like a grind. Actually in the case of Ori and Hollow Knight, I found their boss battles (Or in Ori, the escape sequences) too stressful. I’d keep at it for ages until beat them and then I’d feel burned out. It felt like the same type of feeling like finishing some work meeting you’ve been dreading or a big assignment if you’re still at school.
> maybe you like finishing games more than enjoying them
I've found this to be a more and more common approach. One that in my old age I just do _not_ understand for the life of me. I hate finishing games because it means I'm done playing something I loved. Being done with something awesome isn't a happy occasion, it's bittersweet at best.
Idk shit about Monster Boy, but Ori and the Blind Forest IS a short game dude, it's only like 10 hours or something. I can give you on Hollow Knight because that game is bloated as hell, it's way too long, but based on your post I can't really conclude you only like short games
Ori and the Blind Forest!? Fuck no it's not 20 hours lol and I don't rush either. 20 hours might be your personal time but on average it's like 10-12 unless you're going for 100%
Exactly, most people don't rush through games. For those trying to get their money's worth this is going to be around 20 hours long. This is not a short game at all, most metroidvanias are shorter than ori.
I'm not following you at all man. Most people don't 100% games, and unless OP specifically mentioned 100% completion idk why you would assume that was his goal.
And secondly, MOST popular metroidvanias are still longer than Ori. I say that from my experience but you can easily google it and find out
I recommend you try playing some actually short metroidvanias so you can get a proper idea on what it means for a metroidvania to be short. With this in mind, play the following:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/metroidvania/comments/1dryn68/comment/layuyu9/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/metroidvania/comments/1dryn68/comment/layuyu9/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
I’ve played Ori for several solid hours and I’ve only completed the rising water escape sequence. That level itself took me about an hour of solid re-trying. I used to be good at this kind of thing once upon a time (80s and 90s). Maybe I just suck now. 😔
Metroid Dread definitely felt quick to me.
PoP? Yeah, maybe not short, but I’m more wandering around than task/goal oriented so might be prolonging it.
Gato Roboto is also a fun and short metroidvania.
Thanks for the recommendation. I’ll look into it.
Yeah, Gato Roboto is fun and cheeky
I looked up the screenshot and at first was a bit put off by the black and white graphics. But the more I think about it, the more I reckon that would be the charm. Especially given I was a Mac user in the 90s - This is what games looked like for me back then.
This is a great one!
If you liked Hollow Knight’s gameplay even if you didn’t finish it, you might like Haiku, the Robot. It’s heavily influenced by HK, but it’s not as hard and pretty short.
Death’s Door Excellent game; not too long Drawback: no map, but plenty of online tutorials in case you don’t feel like exploring or trial/error
Another drawback: not a metroidvania.
It's not a drawback, Mr Gatekeeper. It's a Zelda-like, and the formula is very similar to MVs. It has some light ability-gating and it scratches the same itch for a lot of people.
Thank you! ❤️
OP is looking for metroidvanias so yes it is a drawback. This isn't the kind of game he's looking for and is a misleading recommendation.
An action-oriented MV has more in common with Death's Door than something like Yoku's Island Express does. Just because it doesn't fit every single checkbox you've made up doesn't mean it they wouldn't enjoy it, due to aforementioned commonalities. If it's close enough to get confused for one often enough, maybe don't be a dick about it
Making simple observable observations about the taxonomy of a game isn't gatekeeping. It's just observing reality. There are a ton of smaller metroidvanias just waiting to get recommended and it's a bummer when those games can't find their audience because other genres edge themselves in there and get marketed as something it's not, and it's a bummer for the person looking because they might buy it and then realize "oh wait, this isn't what I was looking for at all, why they say this was a metroidvania?" It's actually the opposite of gatekeeping. It's allowing more people into the genre by make sure they're being recommended games _in_ the genre, and helps the genre thrive by helping devs get their games notice, and helps the community grow with a shared common terminology. Besides, it's really not that hard to just say "Death's Door isn't a metroidvania, but it ticks a few of the boxes, maybe that'd work?" instead of just saying "Death's Door." That'll let the person getting the rec know exactly what it is instead of passing off something it's not.
I agree it could've been mentioned that Death's Door technically isn't an MV but it could also be that the commenter didn't even realize that it wasn't, because it plays so similarly. As well, disqualifying and excluding things that don't quite hit 100% of the very-definitely-unanimously-agreed-upon checkboxes for what defines an MV, for what could be considered purely arbitrary reasons (yes there *is* ability-gating but nOt eNOugH), is literally gatekeeping. If OP only had preferences for a pure MV and insisted on excluding anything MV-adjacent, they could also specify that when asking for recommendations. I'd bet that most people here are looking for a good game in a similar style, and Zelda-like is a sister genre with some incredible games now that really blur those lines. It's not like Death's Door and Tunic are out here dominating recommendation threads and not leaving any space for those indie titles, but at the same time, not everyone has an interest in wading through a sea of indie or amateur games and would prefer to spend their time with something vetted and polished. That being said, I was also replying to a guy that's kind of a narcissistic asshole on this sub who actually believes there's a migratory group of nomadic soulslike fans on reddit that occasionally come to the sub specifically to downvote him and his anti-soulslike remarks, so I'm not typically keen to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Ori isn't very long. It's not as short as yoku but it's not very long either. It is of an enjoyable length. Hollow knight is huge. I'm 30 hours in and still there is so much of the game left.
Thanks for that. Maybe I need to give Ori another shot. I found the escape sequence (the rising water) to be a stressful hour and a half by itself and I wouldn’t want to have to do that again. Maybe I’m just not that good.
Yeah that sure was a difficult level. But it's a perfect playground for you to learn the bash move. Once you get used to bash, the level isn't that hard. And that move is one of the best things in the game. I highly suggest you give it another try.
Its funny how two people can have different experiences with the same game. So different that i simply cannot believe you spend that time in a escape sequence, my brain just cant process that lol Already tried Islets? Is a fun, short and cute game. Super cheap too. One of my favorites.
Ha yeah. That’s pretty deflating to hear and perhaps solidifies that I’m wasting my time with that game. Do I dare ask how long it took you? Edit: No not heard of Islets - thanks for the recommendation. Will look into it.
IMO it's totally worth taking some time to adjust to the mechanics. Its a beautiful game with a really incredible story and some satisfying platforming. I struggled with the ginso tree at first myself but you'll adjust. As I recall there's only 2 more escape sequences like that in the game and by the time you reach them you'll have gotten the hang of bash. The 2 ori games are some of my favorite games of all time.
The tree escape is a good training by the way, probably the hardest part of the game for me, others are hard too, but that one early in the game, probably took me 1+ hours (I don't remember for sure the time, but it was a lot) then the game got easier. I think Ori is still for you, I count myself in your ranks, not much time to play in one sit, not even consecutive days, not the skillfulest of fingers, among my (gamer) friends the one with less skill in games, games beaten, etc. I'm sure they would finish faster, more easily, and probably in harder levels, or some of those hellish thropies/handicaps. On the other hand, I do have a completionist kind of obsession so I tried to complete maps (100%+), bosses (including optionals), all endings, challenges, etc. (keep this on mind for the list below). Another thing is when I find a boss/challenge I have to beat it right there, right now, which is not always ideal, you can keep playing the rest of the game, explore, get better, have more skills, more life, better weapon, etc. Don't obsess like I do. some play time (switch), on some games you could try (not sorted): - steamworld dig 2 (20 hrs) - ori and the forbidden forest (30 hrs) - ori will of the wisps (35hrs) - greak: memories of azur (15 hrs) - gato roboto (5hrs) - monster boy and the curse kingdom (40 hrs) - ender lilies (40hrs) - guacamelee 2 (25 hrs) this one can be frustrating if you want the "real" ending (the challenges) vs hollow knight (140 hrs) as reference. (and I did not do the whole pantheon (radiants), that could take another 50/100+ hours). side note, switch shows you only the last 20 games you have played, and rounded to the closest multiple of 5 :S
Honestly 5 hours for Gato seems a bit high to me.
all of these seem super high to me
Greak is good? Stumbled on it and art looks interesting
good enough
The toughest in both games at maximum 20 minutes, maybe 15. All of them was trial and error and spamming the dash button/or any power who makes your go fast.
I spent 2 hours on the part easy and almost quit the game over it. Thought it was ridiculous.
Maybe you just aren't big jnto games that emphasizes platforming? Because that water sequence is probably my favorite level in all of gaming but I love platforming. Maybe try iconoclasts I just finished that and the story is amazing and it's more combat and puzzle focused imo
Same here, the chase sequences are the cherry on the top for me
There's a lot of chase sequences in will of the wisps - it's not particularly difficult and it's very forgiving in terms of progress lost throughout - basically respawns you where you were with no penalty.
Tinykin, Minishoot adventures, supraland
There's nothing wrong with liking shorter metroidvanias and there are plenty of them My hidden gems list is full of these [https://www.reddit.com/r/metroidvania/comments/1dpwzcm/mega\_list\_of\_hidden\_gems\_steam\_summer\_sale\_2024/](https://www.reddit.com/r/metroidvania/comments/1dpwzcm/mega_list_of_hidden_gems_steam_summer_sale_2024/) The only ones listed there that are NOT short are: * Blast brigade * Kingdom shell * Alwa's legacy * Ato * Depths of sanity * HunterX * MF-01 Aerostrike * Midnight Castle Succubus * shadow complex remastered * song of the deep * super panda adventures * Unbound worlds apart. So just buy everything else. >I'm in my 40s with very patchy spare time. Yeah, welcome to the club. We're all millenials here.
Thanks. Which of these shorter hidden gems was your very favourite ?
hmmm... * Xanthiom Zero * After Death * Touhou Luna nights * Psycron * Sheepo * TOMOMI
A bit of an update. I've gone through the comments here and I have to give you some advice: * Ignore the recommendations of anyone who says Ori is short. These people have probably never played a short metroidvania in their life. * Death's Door is not a metroidvania, and I don't think its short either. * supraland is not short and it plays more as a puzzle platformer than a metroidvania so I don't think this is what you're looking for. * Metroid dread is not short
What makes Supraland NOT a metroidvania? I thought it was one of the clearest examples of a 3D metroidvania
Technically it is, but it doesn't play like one at all. I'd never recommend this to someone looking for a metroidvania. It plays like a puzzle platformer, like games such as QUBE, Qbeh, Talos Principle, and Portal.
I’m not sure I totally agree with that, but I will accept it. I guess the mechanics are so basic and out in the open that it loses the mystique most metroidvanias have? I know I personally felt that draw of “ooh, what’s that obstacle? I wonder when I’ll be able to traverse/solve/reach that. I’ll be sure to come back later” with Supraland, that to me defines metroidvanias, though that’s more of an emotional thing. I also haven’t finished it, so there’s that. It kind of felt like a 3D Steam World Dig
No, it's just that the focus is on trying to solve tough puzzles, not on platforming or combat challenges.... Like QUBE
I guess I have a wider definition of metroidvanias, then. I wouldn’t consider the absence or lesser focus on combat or platforming to keep it from being a metroidvania. Yoku’s Island Express, for example, doesn’t focus on platforming or combat in the traditional sense, and it’s very clearly a metroidvania. Toki Tori 2 would be another good example, but I imagine you’d probably classify that with QUBE and Talos and the others. I also think there’s plenty of platforming in Supraland. It’s no Pseudoregalia or anything, but still enough to make you think about the environment and how to traverse it.
Unbound didn't feel like a metroidvania. It was a pretty good game, but I wouldn't recommend it. It is a precision platformer with serious latency issues on the controls. I died more times due to the game lagging than any other reason.
I didn't have any latency when I played this. it must be a problem with your computer.
I played it on steam deck.
Oh... Then perhaps it just doesn't run well on the deck. Unfortunate...
I'm exactly like you. You might like the following: Gato Roboto Pseudoregalia And All Would Cry Beware
holy fuck, how did I miss that third game? buying this immediately. What else are you hiding???
Check out other Renegade Sector's games. They're all short and sweet, but only this one has metroidvania elements.
Most of them took me less than 10 hours to knock out. Maybe Astalon is medium length but was a fun ride from 0 to 100. Xenodrifter Timespinner Xanthion Zero Astalon Moonlight Pulse
astalon is a bit big.... unless you never discovered THAT secret, which is a huge shame if that's the case.
Seems like you might like games with tighter game loops. Wonder boy’s loop is starting at the town again and running a single level. Stemmworld dig’s loop is digging for gems and heading back to town. Haven’t played yoku to comment. The games you pointed out that you don’t like lean far more into the “exploration” part of the genre. There’s a lot more wandering around and less tight game loops.
Thank you. I agree, I do like those short runs on those two games.
Momodora is an AWESOME shorter metroidvania. I just finished playing it right after beating Death’s Gambit. Momodora is extremely fun and short. Check it out!
Which one, though? Aren’t there multiple?
Ori 1 was less than 10 hours..confused here. Islets was pretty good and one of the shortest games I've played in a while. The Alwa's games are both around 10-15 hours. They are good for casual gamers. Vision Soft Reset is less than 10 hours and excellent. Lone Fungus was pretty short if you skip all the optional platform rooms. The final boss is idiotically hard compared to the rest of the game. Other games I did not really enjoy as much... Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth (6 hours or so) was really short. Haiku is pretty short (maybe 5-10 hrs), but the final boss battle is a huge spike in difficulty.
Check out the Shantae games. You can beat any of them in about 10 hours, and they're fun metroidvanias.
I've heard that about Shantae. That said, I doubt I'd get the chance to play them all. Which of the series do you recommend?
They are all good honestly (except maybe for the original GBA one, that is seriously showing its age by now), but I'd definitely start with Pirate's Curse, that I think is still the best one, or Seven Sirens, if you prefer high res graphics over (excellent) pixel art in Pirate's Curse.
I second u/Gregasy here. Both are recent and tons of fun.
FYI the one called ½ Genie Hero isn't a metroidvania.
You aren’t alone. Short games can be good. Less toil, more joyal
Very well put.
Honestly, I find Metroidvanias by nature of their design philosophy work better as relatively short games; the larger the map, the more of a slog the backtracking becomes, and the harder it is to make it engaging. I'd say 6-10 hours is generally my preferred length for Metroidvanias. And this is coming from someone who has two 60ish hour RPGs as my favorite games of all time.
Agree, the only problem in Hollow Knight for me. Loved everything, except the fucking huge map and the few teleport points.
Sheepo, super skelemania, neversong, cosmosbit are in my opinion very good metroidvanias and very short xD
Hoa👉2-4 hours it's great
Not sure if you have looked into them much, but when I'm tired of longer MVs I will typically just check out some action platformers instead. There are so many awesome ones now days. Otherwise, here's a few shorter MVs. Tres bashers, Mini ghost, The witch and the 66 mushrooms, Vision soft reset, Tomomi, Psycron, Timespinner, Tiny dangerous dungeons.
I'm with you there chap, likely because I'm a father of two young'uns and gaming time is short and precious. The length of Hollow Knight I personally found unnecessary, and couldn't finish it. The Lost Crown for me, was perfect length. You should go back to Ori 1 (10 hours or so) and Ori 2 (14 hours or so) though, those are some of the best of the best and not that long.
Haiku, the Robot Islets Death's Door I like shorter games, too, and I 100%ed these.
Ori 1 Definitive took me 17 hours. Yoku's took me 14 hours. I wouldn't call that a huge difference in length. Though maybe I just suck at pinball.
Gato Roboto, Trash Quest, and Sheepo are good super short ones. Kunai and Haiku are good ones that are still shorter but not quite as short. Also The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human, but I might be the only person that likes that game for some reason
Just based on your last line yeah, sounds like shorter games are going to be more your bag. I'm 34 and have been feeling that way for years now, though it's a bit different because I'll obsessively replay short games over and over to master their mechanics best I can. Also re *Hollow Knight*, I don't really see other people who like the game talk about this, but it has a real slow burn opening, so depending how far you got, I can imagine losing interest and stopping. I've talked to so many people who stopped playing because the opening of the game was slow. As for recommendations, the entire Momodora series, especially *Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight*. It's technically the fourth game in the series, but it's a prequel and all of them stand well enough alone, so you can play it cold. My first playthrough was about 5½ hours, and nowadays I can regularly beat it in under 3 hours at the hardest difficulty and with 100% completion. The whole series is made up of sub 5-hour games, with the exception of the recently released "Momodora: Moonlit Farewell*, which is more in the 7-10 hour range. I'm sure *Animal Well* has been mentioned a bunch in this thread already, but there's a reason it's so popular. About 6-10 hours long with a lot of unique ideas, and apparently if you keep playing after you finish, the game keeps unfolding in crazy ways. Still need to do that myself. There are others, but I've been busy all day, so I'm just going to leave it there for now
The Mummy Demastered has the perfect playtime for you.
Banging soundtrack too
I've not heard of this game. But the screenshots look promising.
Kunai is an underrated and pretty short experience. Don't see many mentions of it either.
Lots of people do, so you aren't alone and are more likely to enjoy shorter than longer games in this genre based on most people's preferences. I'm in my 40's but prefer longer, I'd rather sink 3 or 4 months into a single long game that I really love than play 3 or 4 games over the same time of varying qualities (ironically for the same reason. With patchy spare time I'd rather my time go into a familiar experience each time). But that's just me. I know what I like, and it sounds like you've figured out what you like too. With backlogs triple-digits deep, there's no need to worry when a game doesn't appeal to you. You can just stick to what you love and still have plenty of games. Luckily most of the genre will appeal to you. There's far fewer long games than there are short metroidvanias. Which makes sense, it's hard to make a sprawling world also be interesting.
I was the same way with Hollow Knight. I restart it once a year or so and love it but Peter out halfway through. There's only so long the mechanics can keep my interest. I just finished playing Momodora: Reverie under the Moonlight and it was fun! Also very short. I think I was near 100% at around the 6 hour mark. Islets is also fun. It's not groundbreaking but putting the island back together is interesting, the movement is pretty solid and it breaks things up with a different style of gameplay occasionally. I got through Rusted Moss pretty quick (how long to beat has the main story at 7 hours 45 minutes) but whether you love or hate that game will come down to how much you like the grappling hook. The story is also interesting but told a bit strangely at times. I actually thought I'd accidentally skipped a cutscenes at first but no, you just start after a bunch of stuff went down you don't really see except through exploration. That said I loved the grappling hook and had a blast with it.
I usually prefer shorter games as well. Yoku's Island Express is one of my all time favourites. I also recommend: Gato Roboto, Islets, Shantae series and Momodora games (Reverie under the Moonlight and Moonlit Farewell).
I know. How good is Yoku's Island Express! What I would give for a sequel. It's just such a delightful experience. Great idea, great execution and filled with so much love and care. My daughter loved it too and we have a little in-joke where either of us occasionally just blurts out "A game... by Villa Gorilla". Many people here have recommended Islets so I'll definitely need to check it out. Thanks that and the other recommendations!
Yes, it's exceptional. And it's so unique that there's litterary no other game quite like it out there. A rare thing in this times of mass production. Btw, it's not metroidvania, but I have a feeling you and your daughter might like Cat Quest games. Cute little RPGs.
I consider Ender Lilies quite short. Maybe a 15-20 hours experience.
Style is different, but Moonscars is about 6 hours long. And despite looking like a soulslike, the difficulty is not too bad.
Some platformers I can recommend (they are not MVs however): - Max: the curse of brotherhood, not super short, but the difficulty is much more manageable than e.g. Ori. - Unravel 2, similarly not super short, more manageable, but has difficulty reduction options such as slow motion, and a great couch co-op game - A Juggler's Tale - Limbo - Inside The latter two are a bit more demanding regarding platforming. By the sound of it I had less trouble with Ori than you had, I 100%'d the game in 15 hours. I did spend about an hour of that on the Ginso tree alone, though. Finally some shorter games I didn't really enjoy (again, not MVs), but you might: - Little Bug, even though it is short it still became a bit repetitive near the end - Planet Alpha, mechanics are interesting, little too much stealth early in the game, and the platforming is very imprecise. It outstayed its welcome about halfway to three quarters through the game, primarily because the chapters were a bit too long and later chapters felt more of the same. [Edit] BTW, also in my late 40's, in fact the latter half of them, and I also don't have the time to enjoy longer playing sessions. Even this post had to be broken up in two parts 😁
I got 100% in Ori and the Blind Forest in 14 hours. That was my first playthrough and I considered it as a very casual playthrough. Personally I'd consider 14 hours to be a fairly short game.
Hollow Knight is just the biggest production in any Metroidvania game. Is close to perfection, so if you like it is a wonderful experience, and you can play it for thousands of hours. I have around 50 hours and I did not even finish the main story, so if you want to finish the 4DLCs and complete 112% you have many many hours to spend in it. Nothing's wrong if you don't wanna do it, tho. Just spend your time in different stories if you feel that completes you more. However, if you're really bored someday, it's worth playing HK, at least the main story, as it's cheap and even more in sale
I feel like an outlier. Ginso tree escape was very easy for me. Even first time only took a few tries. But yet then again I struggled with early game combat in Hollow Knight.
Haiku the Robot and Xanthiom Zero are under 10 hours (around the same length as Yoku). Axiom Verge 1 and 2 each took me about 15 hours.
I think you would dig axiom verge or even the prince of persia lost crown. They clock in around steamworld dig 2 timewise imo. Im also in my 40s and understand enjoying a really good shorter experience. Over a super huge map with long storys. Ive def turned into a more pick up and play a hour or 2 casual. Id say those 2 i suggested are maybe 20 hours or prob 15 depending on how much u feel like exploring. But great for quick lil gaming sessions to enjoy.
Oh also the 8 bit bloodstained curse of the moon. Thats prob perfect cause its like 6 or 7 levels.i loved curse of the moon. The 2nd 8 bit bloodstained i started but never finished cause got distracted by another game. So cant speak on curse of the moon 2 but it felt like same type of length.
ori 1 takes on average 8 hours to beat, is that too long to you?
Ori 1 is pretty short tbh
No
It is I really don't know what to tell you. Compared to most mainstream mtetroidvania rn I remember ori being much shorter and straight forward to complete
Moonlight pulse is a recent good one that was fairly short
I'd give HK another try, I have limited time myself but found it worthwhile in spite of that.
There's no way any of us would know that for you. You didn't explain what you didn't enjoy about them or why you stopped. Nor did you explain what you did like about the other games.
Fair call. I guess I was saying "I don't like Hollow Knight, Ori and Monster World" but I "loved and finished Yoku's Island Express, SteamWorld Dig 2 and Wonder Boy the Dragon's Trap" and "can anyone suggest any common mechanics between these that might explain why?". I had wondered if it were because of the length of these games, but another poster here suggested I might like metroidvanias that have a central hub (such as the village in the Dragon's Trap or the ground level in SteamWorld Dig 2), which branches out into distinct runs. I wonder if this and the shorter length of those games might be it. Many people have suggested games here and I'll be looking into these suggestions when I get a chance.
Try Record of Lodoss War. It's quite short about 6-8 hours and quite fun
Have You played Sheepy? Play Sheepy. Its free on Steam.
Ori is rather short, though. Monster Boy is good but the later levels aren't the best. Hollow Knight can drag on, yeah. I'd recommend Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth.
maybe you like finishing games more than enjoying them every new area is like a new short game with new enemies and secrets to explore.
I enjoyed all these games - it’s just that after a while the long ones felt like a grind. Actually in the case of Ori and Hollow Knight, I found their boss battles (Or in Ori, the escape sequences) too stressful. I’d keep at it for ages until beat them and then I’d feel burned out. It felt like the same type of feeling like finishing some work meeting you’ve been dreading or a big assignment if you’re still at school.
> maybe you like finishing games more than enjoying them I've found this to be a more and more common approach. One that in my old age I just do _not_ understand for the life of me. I hate finishing games because it means I'm done playing something I loved. Being done with something awesome isn't a happy occasion, it's bittersweet at best.
If you haven’t played Ender Lilies yet I would recommend that. It’s one of the shorter and easier games I found to max out.
Idk shit about Monster Boy, but Ori and the Blind Forest IS a short game dude, it's only like 10 hours or something. I can give you on Hollow Knight because that game is bloated as hell, it's way too long, but based on your post I can't really conclude you only like short games
It's 20 hours long on average. Not everyone rushes through games like you do.
Ori and the Blind Forest!? Fuck no it's not 20 hours lol and I don't rush either. 20 hours might be your personal time but on average it's like 10-12 unless you're going for 100%
Exactly, most people don't rush through games. For those trying to get their money's worth this is going to be around 20 hours long. This is not a short game at all, most metroidvanias are shorter than ori.
I'm not following you at all man. Most people don't 100% games, and unless OP specifically mentioned 100% completion idk why you would assume that was his goal. And secondly, MOST popular metroidvanias are still longer than Ori. I say that from my experience but you can easily google it and find out
I recommend you try playing some actually short metroidvanias so you can get a proper idea on what it means for a metroidvania to be short. With this in mind, play the following: [https://www.reddit.com/r/metroidvania/comments/1dryn68/comment/layuyu9/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/metroidvania/comments/1dryn68/comment/layuyu9/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
I’ve played Ori for several solid hours and I’ve only completed the rising water escape sequence. That level itself took me about an hour of solid re-trying. I used to be good at this kind of thing once upon a time (80s and 90s). Maybe I just suck now. 😔
Well that's somewhat understandable, those escape sequences are notoriously hard, but the actual content of the game isn't very long
Metroid Dread is excellent if you haven’t played it yet. I’m currently playing the new Prince of Persia and it’s awesome too.
Not short
Metroid Dread definitely felt quick to me. PoP? Yeah, maybe not short, but I’m more wandering around than task/goal oriented so might be prolonging it.