the metroidvania, for all of its ubiquity in the modern indie space, has become an unambitious genre. yes, there is artistry in just crafting a world that is fun to explore and navigate, but it is all too easy to forget that the forebearers of the genre were not (just) about touring a set of tubes and collecting shit. very few games aspire to have as open a structure and boast as liberating progression as super metroid. the way that metroid fusion exploits the metroidvania form as a language of fear and isolation got it some maligning but it has etched it a permanent space in gaming's canon. perhaps even more pioneering was symphony of the night, a game brimming with so much confidence in its interlocking systems that all meshed together
environmental station alpha forgoes grandiosity at all junctures for actions of purpose. the boss fights are not ostentatious in visual or mechanical design but are uniquely engaging to theorycraft around and pulsepounding to execute on. the powerups are not situational but instead maximally general, each one gradually increasing your intuitive command over your character while judiciously sharing space with each other.
of course, the real star is the world. the setting immediately comes off as a prosaic "lava world, plant world, water world, hub" layout, but instead of being disastrously predictable the preconceptions of these areas are more often than not challenged and broken the more you dig into the zones and explore their secrets. as the game opens you are subjected to more eclectic and even downright surreal environments, and then...
this game's symphony of the night castle-upside-down moment is nowhere near as dramatic but much more revolutionary. it begins when you find a detail that just doesn't quite fit in with the rest. it is then a certified house of leaves moment, baiting you to pull back the walls and make dangerous voyages past the familiar "find keys for this lock" quest to figure out okay what the hell is actually happening here. you are forced to think of the station not as a generic metroidvania spaghetti land of stopgaps but instead to engage with the diegesis of the world.
yes, it is sometimes tediously obtuse. yes, it takes a bit to begin unravelling. but in this game i was thinking about much more than just "oh fuck where did i find the room with that door i can get through now" and the fact that this thought did not go wasted but was rewarded in spades and spades makes this a special game.
environmental station alpha forgoes grandiosity at all junctures for actions of purpose. the boss fights are not ostentatious in visual or mechanical design but are uniquely engaging to theorycraft around and pulsepounding to execute on. the powerups are not situational but instead maximally general, each one gradually increasing your intuitive command over your character while judiciously sharing space with each other.
of course, the real star is the world. the setting immediately comes off as a prosaic "lava world, plant world, water world, hub" layout, but instead of being disastrously predictable the preconceptions of these areas are more often than not challenged and broken the more you dig into the zones and explore their secrets. as the game opens you are subjected to more eclectic and even downright surreal environments, and then...
this game's symphony of the night castle-upside-down moment is nowhere near as dramatic but much more revolutionary. it begins when you find a detail that just doesn't quite fit in with the rest. it is then a certified house of leaves moment, baiting you to pull back the walls and make dangerous voyages past the familiar "find keys for this lock" quest to figure out okay what the hell is actually happening here. you are forced to think of the station not as a generic metroidvania spaghetti land of stopgaps but instead to engage with the diegesis of the world.
yes, it is sometimes tediously obtuse. yes, it takes a bit to begin unravelling. but in this game i was thinking about much more than just "oh fuck where did i find the room with that door i can get through now" and the fact that this thought did not go wasted but was rewarded in spades and spades makes this a special game.