This review contains spoilers
I'll out myself as a bit of an underclassman in the world of Metroidvanias with this one. 2014's Strider is technically one of the only action platformers I've dedicated much time too in my entire “career” as a capital-G gamer. (Aside from Hollow Knight which I'm too terrible at to actually progress.) And even saying "much time" implies I covered every nook and cranny in the game's overworld... which I didn't. I'm a hog for narrative, even in games where narrative is secondary to intrinsic play, but peeling back the layers of Strider's world through the varied boss encounters and collectibles started to wane on me as my skill level with these types of games hovers around below average, and my patience was being hacked away minute by minute like Hiryu slashing through cyborg Soviets with plasma blades.
Double Helix, a studio primarily known for movie tie-in games and underwhelming sequels during the seventh gen had found some acclaim in the Xbox One's exclusive Killer Instinct revival and then, under Capcom's banner, this lean, mean hack-and-scale soft reboot of their dormant Strider series. It's been sitting in my library for ten years now, so hey, why not give it the fairest of fair shakes?
In positive points of order: the world design, enemy design, and general atmosphere of Strider are impeccable. Full of this oppressive, brutalist, Russo-fantasy architecture that allows Strider Hiryu to take advantage of the game's impressive climbing mechanics as well as enough variety in said architecture that it doesn't feel like a shameless asset flip. The enemies that populate the "biomes" (are we cool with calling stages and levels "biomes" now? I digress...) range from your typical XP farm grunts to mini Shai-Huluds and sometimes expected, sometimes unexpected mini bosses who will more likely than not send you into teeth-gnashing rage early in the experience.
Out with the good, in with the not-so good: Hiryu's clingy-ness and the absence of analog controls make the precision movements required in some of these encounters a frustrating chore as even one misstep in their final phases will send you trudging back through a short boss run or an unskippable cutscene, neither of which appeals to me as someone who grew up in a post-quicksave world. These issues become diminutive as you unlock more of Hiryu’s moveset, including powerful special attacks that will even the odds with crowd enemies or slippery phase changes. However, different problems crop up in place once the game re-balances itself in the endgame, and when I say the final boss arena is one of the most unintuitive, unnavigable pieces of shit I’ve had the displeasure of hacking and slashing in, I say it with my whole chest.
Strider is at its best when the control of movement and combat are in-sync with the player, but more often than not, it feels as though the game is disregarding or misreading your inputs. Couple an absolutely gnarly lack of i-frames that consistently lead to minor and major setbacks, and you’ve got a holistically muddled experience where the bulk of enjoyment stems from paying attention to things in the game that are not the game’s primary focus. (The sky art, background stages, bespoke animations, and concept art are fantastic!)
Credit where its due, this game does end with you killing a god and then riding its corpse from space into orbit, so let’s just settle on mixed bag and call it for now. I’ll return when I’ve put in the requisite hours with this franchise and Metroidvanias in general. That’s when the real gospel comes…
Double Helix, a studio primarily known for movie tie-in games and underwhelming sequels during the seventh gen had found some acclaim in the Xbox One's exclusive Killer Instinct revival and then, under Capcom's banner, this lean, mean hack-and-scale soft reboot of their dormant Strider series. It's been sitting in my library for ten years now, so hey, why not give it the fairest of fair shakes?
In positive points of order: the world design, enemy design, and general atmosphere of Strider are impeccable. Full of this oppressive, brutalist, Russo-fantasy architecture that allows Strider Hiryu to take advantage of the game's impressive climbing mechanics as well as enough variety in said architecture that it doesn't feel like a shameless asset flip. The enemies that populate the "biomes" (are we cool with calling stages and levels "biomes" now? I digress...) range from your typical XP farm grunts to mini Shai-Huluds and sometimes expected, sometimes unexpected mini bosses who will more likely than not send you into teeth-gnashing rage early in the experience.
Out with the good, in with the not-so good: Hiryu's clingy-ness and the absence of analog controls make the precision movements required in some of these encounters a frustrating chore as even one misstep in their final phases will send you trudging back through a short boss run or an unskippable cutscene, neither of which appeals to me as someone who grew up in a post-quicksave world. These issues become diminutive as you unlock more of Hiryu’s moveset, including powerful special attacks that will even the odds with crowd enemies or slippery phase changes. However, different problems crop up in place once the game re-balances itself in the endgame, and when I say the final boss arena is one of the most unintuitive, unnavigable pieces of shit I’ve had the displeasure of hacking and slashing in, I say it with my whole chest.
Strider is at its best when the control of movement and combat are in-sync with the player, but more often than not, it feels as though the game is disregarding or misreading your inputs. Couple an absolutely gnarly lack of i-frames that consistently lead to minor and major setbacks, and you’ve got a holistically muddled experience where the bulk of enjoyment stems from paying attention to things in the game that are not the game’s primary focus. (The sky art, background stages, bespoke animations, and concept art are fantastic!)
Credit where its due, this game does end with you killing a god and then riding its corpse from space into orbit, so let’s just settle on mixed bag and call it for now. I’ll return when I’ve put in the requisite hours with this franchise and Metroidvanias in general. That’s when the real gospel comes…
Played this yesterday. Really fun game, barring a few things with the story that felt a bit too minimal and some annoying bosses here and their. Still, interested to see what other things this series has in the future when I get to them.
Started it a decade ago on PS4, picked it up on Steam via Humble Bundle and ... I enjoyed it! Some control issues hampered my job and lead to cheap deaths at times but it feels like a prototype for the Mercury Steam Metroid games in a weird way.
Eu achei divertido, gostei das batalhas contra boss, achei bem simples. Não gosto muito do estilo, mas esse foi bem maneiro de jogar
The person who designed the final boss fight probably clubs baby seals, fuck that shit
Neat game but nothing close to special. Pretty cool looking but insanely easy bosses
After 8 long years, I finally have my first playthrough of STRIDER in the books. I bought this at launch, kept picking it up and putting it down over the years, tried starting new files, etc. etc. etc. and just nothing seemed to stick, but I can finally say after all this time that the game does kick more ass than my mind was letting on all this time.
Now I know this sounds a bit like I'm putting the game down at the jump, but it's far from an indictment of this game's ability to entertain; on the contrary, STRIDER wastes basically no time getting you on your feet and the pacing stays pretty much breakneck throughout. My final time clocked in just short of 5 hours, and even that was with some meandering for items and upgrades. Collectibles range from viewable pieces of concept art, world lore, and additional challenge stages to alternate color palette costumes for the titular Strider Hiryu and actual upgrades that help Hiryu more elegantly dispatch enemies en route to the next objective. It's a decent reason to spend time off-roading, so to speak, and the game will always ensure that players collect anything actually required to finish the critical path.
The moment to moment gameplay is a fast and intense affair, fairly balanced on Normal difficulty, though enemies don't vary much beyond a few main archetypes. It can be somewhat demanding on the hands, as it can require a lot of attack button presses, so I'd highly recommend a controller with a turbo setting for casual play (you will also need to charge your attacks from time to time by holding a button down, so keep that in mind) if you have access to one. It's definitely not as bestiary-focused as some of its genre peers and tends to focus on movement tech over actual combat, but there are a fair few encounters including some of the game's massive bosses to provide a challenge. This is further spiced up by a combat incentive that rewards players for not getting hit by bestowing Hiryu with immense power for a limited time. Visually, it holds up pretty well as a game from the PS3/360 era, with reasonably varied environments and some flashy effects. Music is mostly ambient, though there were some high-energy tracks that got me through some of the more grand set pieces toward the end of the game.
As a Metroidvania, unfortunately, STRIDER's a little bit linear -- most of the game's zones either require a key item obtained from the last area's boss or won't let you proceed without one from the current -- I'd like to see what kind of sequence breaking, if any, is possible but there is specific gating that seems to indicate that linear progression is required. It's not a terrible thing, I think Strider would much more strongly lend itself to speedruns than, say, randomizer content (a rabbit hole I'm currently gearing up to head down) but for anyone looking for the more variable content this one might not be for you.
Overall, STRIDER's pretty solid as an action game, and passable as a metroidvania-style game. Hiryu is such a badass character and it's honestly a little criminal Capcom hasn't set aside the time to get the guy in anything outside of MVC in the last near-decade, but this is a pretty solid game to sit on if any would be his last. I recommend it, even more so when it goes on sale on Steam (which it does fairly often). Kinda unbeatable at a price like $5 USD, but I'd say it's even worth it for the 20 or whatever it's usually offered at.
Now I know this sounds a bit like I'm putting the game down at the jump, but it's far from an indictment of this game's ability to entertain; on the contrary, STRIDER wastes basically no time getting you on your feet and the pacing stays pretty much breakneck throughout. My final time clocked in just short of 5 hours, and even that was with some meandering for items and upgrades. Collectibles range from viewable pieces of concept art, world lore, and additional challenge stages to alternate color palette costumes for the titular Strider Hiryu and actual upgrades that help Hiryu more elegantly dispatch enemies en route to the next objective. It's a decent reason to spend time off-roading, so to speak, and the game will always ensure that players collect anything actually required to finish the critical path.
The moment to moment gameplay is a fast and intense affair, fairly balanced on Normal difficulty, though enemies don't vary much beyond a few main archetypes. It can be somewhat demanding on the hands, as it can require a lot of attack button presses, so I'd highly recommend a controller with a turbo setting for casual play (you will also need to charge your attacks from time to time by holding a button down, so keep that in mind) if you have access to one. It's definitely not as bestiary-focused as some of its genre peers and tends to focus on movement tech over actual combat, but there are a fair few encounters including some of the game's massive bosses to provide a challenge. This is further spiced up by a combat incentive that rewards players for not getting hit by bestowing Hiryu with immense power for a limited time. Visually, it holds up pretty well as a game from the PS3/360 era, with reasonably varied environments and some flashy effects. Music is mostly ambient, though there were some high-energy tracks that got me through some of the more grand set pieces toward the end of the game.
As a Metroidvania, unfortunately, STRIDER's a little bit linear -- most of the game's zones either require a key item obtained from the last area's boss or won't let you proceed without one from the current -- I'd like to see what kind of sequence breaking, if any, is possible but there is specific gating that seems to indicate that linear progression is required. It's not a terrible thing, I think Strider would much more strongly lend itself to speedruns than, say, randomizer content (a rabbit hole I'm currently gearing up to head down) but for anyone looking for the more variable content this one might not be for you.
Overall, STRIDER's pretty solid as an action game, and passable as a metroidvania-style game. Hiryu is such a badass character and it's honestly a little criminal Capcom hasn't set aside the time to get the guy in anything outside of MVC in the last near-decade, but this is a pretty solid game to sit on if any would be his last. I recommend it, even more so when it goes on sale on Steam (which it does fairly often). Kinda unbeatable at a price like $5 USD, but I'd say it's even worth it for the 20 or whatever it's usually offered at.
A Cool metroidvania game.
It could be nice if it didn't crash every 3 fucking minutes
Most satisfying action platformer controls I've ever played. Kinda carries the game. I love being able to slash exactly as fast as I can mash the attack button.
Peak platformer that looks good and has great enemy and level design, but admittedly it's a sucky metroidvania with insufficient fast travel for how far back a lot of the upgrades are. It should've stuck with area-based linear progression and limited backtracking to the respective areas in which you acquired the "key to a certain lock" upgrades.
Also don't expect a super deep story. It's commies saying "Fuck you Strider, you won't defeat me" and then getting defeated. And frankly I'm fine with that. It plays like heaven.
Peak platformer that looks good and has great enemy and level design, but admittedly it's a sucky metroidvania with insufficient fast travel for how far back a lot of the upgrades are. It should've stuck with area-based linear progression and limited backtracking to the respective areas in which you acquired the "key to a certain lock" upgrades.
Also don't expect a super deep story. It's commies saying "Fuck you Strider, you won't defeat me" and then getting defeated. And frankly I'm fine with that. It plays like heaven.
While it definitely manages to be fun and enjoyable the whole way through it had a lot of wasted potential.
The story is very clichè and it slows down the pace of the game which is, outside of the instances previously mentioned, incredibly fast in the best way possible.
The gameplay had cool ideas such as the different types of modes to use, which changes the effects of the moves, this is probably the biggest complaint, it's underused and it feels like the game doesn't push you to actually switch between the styles except for the shield enemies.
Boss fights were pretty good, nothing incredible but they all offer different gameplay encounters and require to actually understand them for the most part.
The story is very clichè and it slows down the pace of the game which is, outside of the instances previously mentioned, incredibly fast in the best way possible.
The gameplay had cool ideas such as the different types of modes to use, which changes the effects of the moves, this is probably the biggest complaint, it's underused and it feels like the game doesn't push you to actually switch between the styles except for the shield enemies.
Boss fights were pretty good, nothing incredible but they all offer different gameplay encounters and require to actually understand them for the most part.
Strider's glow up is simply amazing, and the fact this game isn't praised nearly as much as it should is tragic. Strider is mostly know from Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 despite having 2 other games he starred in. Strider 2014 though easily sets up such a memorable version of himself that honestly whenever I think about the character, the fast paced, metroidvania version is all I think about.
The game is all about hitting hard and fast, like a ninja, and using the environment and enemies projectiles against them. A large portion of this games is simply rushing through enemy mobs as you reflect all the bullets they throw at you while performing cool tricks and triangle jump your way to the next location. With the way Strider 2014 uses movement also helps cement it as one of the cooler games to see when performed at higher play as there's just a cool amount of slips and slices that you can do while mowing down enemies. Bosses are even given great care to just how fun and challenging they can be, and while they can be brief, they are high action, and always a fun change of pace.
Aesthetically, Strider 2014 is a direct contrast of what you'd normally think of a ninja fighting an evil organization would look like. Everything about this game is super high tech, and all the environments and music help reinforce just how foreign Strider is to it, and how well he adapts to it throughout the game, often using various upgrades he finds throughout, both powering him up and helping him move even faster.
Mostly Strider 2014 is a hidden gem that Capcom doesn't advertise nearly as much as it should, and if you are interested in some high octane Metroidvania fun, Strider is easily a great pick.
The game is all about hitting hard and fast, like a ninja, and using the environment and enemies projectiles against them. A large portion of this games is simply rushing through enemy mobs as you reflect all the bullets they throw at you while performing cool tricks and triangle jump your way to the next location. With the way Strider 2014 uses movement also helps cement it as one of the cooler games to see when performed at higher play as there's just a cool amount of slips and slices that you can do while mowing down enemies. Bosses are even given great care to just how fun and challenging they can be, and while they can be brief, they are high action, and always a fun change of pace.
Aesthetically, Strider 2014 is a direct contrast of what you'd normally think of a ninja fighting an evil organization would look like. Everything about this game is super high tech, and all the environments and music help reinforce just how foreign Strider is to it, and how well he adapts to it throughout the game, often using various upgrades he finds throughout, both powering him up and helping him move even faster.
Mostly Strider 2014 is a hidden gem that Capcom doesn't advertise nearly as much as it should, and if you are interested in some high octane Metroidvania fun, Strider is easily a great pick.
Better than Metroid Dread
Good game. The lack of obvious save points is a little annoying.
This was a very fun game that I got for literally a dollar. It's a short, fun "metroidvania" though I hesitate to call it that because theres always an objective marker. I loved the combat and movement but man this game is not pretty. Like. At all. It looks half-melted most of the time. I also wasn't interested in the story. But, the movement and combat are so good I really didn't mind that much.
A solid game all around. Has interesting enough mechanics and is short. Killed god at the end which was nice.
a pretty solid metrovania that def needs some polish but i had a pretty good time playing this. i wouldnt try to 100% this unless you wanna encounter some jank.
my first speedrun achievement
7/10
Meio truncado em situações específicas mas bom de verdade
Meio truncado em situações específicas mas bom de verdade
I love metroidvania games, but this is a game that would've been a lot better if it was just a pure action game because the level design just isn't good enough for the metroidvania style
What an irritating game to play. Dreadful soundtrack when it remembers to play. Horrible scan line effect (?) over the screen that you can't turn off. Everything requires way too many hits. Gravity gimmick messes with your controls. Most annoying final boss I've ever played - that includes the one at the end of Axiom Verge. And just way too easy - neither you nor your enemies do anywhere near enough damage so the whole thing is just incredibly sloppy. Thankfully over in less than 4 hours. My wrist is aching from all the rapid pressing of the attack button you have to do.
Excellent game, the map may feel confusing sometimes, but it's incredible to explore. Loved the game, you should definetly play.
Underrated.
Underrated.
god i wish this game let me move with the dpad
Ninja guy.
Pretty decent.
I played this for a little while and it wasn't bad. A decent enough hack and slash platformer, but I don't really want to finish it.
A smooth and good looking action game. I wish the game was not so dark and the scenery did not all look the same. Quite confusing at times and it needs a modern re-release. Maybe if I finish the game my score would change but I think the game is good.
hoo boy, what a mess
Me gusto!
This game was made by Double Helix which just came off of Killer Instinct 2013, during Capcom's dark age and the worst gaming year of 2014 and was one of my favorite game experiences ever.
A MIRACLE OF A GAME
A MIRACLE OF A GAME