And I've already said this in your Afterimage review, I believe, but that game has one of the most rewarding worlds I have ever explored in an MV, and I believe I have 50+ in my belt at this point. I loved finding things all over the place, especially when it was a new weapon or something I actually used. We need more games riddled with secrets that are actually progressive. A great game to aspire to with their overall world design - even if you just downsize it or add more fast travel points
1:09:30 Valo. Valo the First Knight is the absolute roadblock on your first run. And then you come back later, especially after getting the i-frame dash, and she's surprisingly easy. 1:18:18 Once you hit a certain point, the nodes cost 2 and 3, and you run out pretty easily. 1:21:15 The game isn't really that open. It's deceptive. What I love about Afterimage is that it's actually moderately linear, but it has the illusion of being open because of how large each map area is. 1:21:55 Uhh, you know you can warp at the major confluences without using a resting potion, right? 1:24:40 You must complete Renee's third ending and one of Ifree's ending to unlock the portion of the game that lets you reach 42's endings. 1:29:35 Nope! Not disappointed at all. From a member of the speedrunning community, thank you for giving this game it's due. The thing I think is funniest about Afterimage is that there's a Mossbag-like lore video, and it's TWO-AND-A-HALF-HOURS long. Anyway, I love that you appreciated everything about the game, but the one thing I really think needs to be lauded more than anything else about Afterimage is the *movement*. There are only a few games that just FEEL right. Hollow Knight feels good to play. The stiffness of games taking after Symphony of the Night kinda don't. Blasphemous definitely does not. And Afterimage feels amazing. It's super fluid, and for me, fluidity is at the essence of the metroidvania experience. Other games try to "clone" Hollow Knight, but the one that actually emulates the parts that matter -- while establishing its own identity and legit doubling up on the content -- is Afterimage. I couldn't be happier to see it at the top of your tierlist.
I actually did forget you can fast travel between main confluence 😆 😅 And I’ve totally watched that vid. That’s how I know about the story 😆 And good call on the movement. Sometimes I take great controls for granted.
You spoil us, sir... This video is such a treat! I'm a huge fan of both Monster Boy and Elderand, so it was great revisiting those through the lens of your analysis. Have not tried Dust or Ghost Song but you sold me on giving both a shot! Lastly, you def caught me off guard with the tier placement for Afterimage, but I can't disagree about its quality. It's just one of the many MVs that ended up getting too hard for me at a certain point. With a few more accessibility options, it would likely make my S tier also :) Happy Thanksgiving Luke! P.S. I'm in Canada, where we had thanksgiving in October.
Elderand was exactly what you said. A quick and fun time, but not bad by any means. I wish there were more armor and weapon options. I didn’t find more than a couple weapons really worth using at the end. But still a good game.
I remember the first trailer for Ghost Song. It was enthralling with it's eerie atmosphere, creepy setting and the music gave me chills. The final product is 8/10, but not really what that first trailer made it seem like :P.
You described the combat in Elderland in the full vid as “Rouge Legacy” like and that is the perfect description. Thankful for a hefty backlog from you. Last Faith is up next!
perrrrrrrrrrfect timing for this video. I was just contemplating purchasing a few of these during the current steam sale edit: and just like that I purchased afterimage.
I own damn near every "major" MV, but I probably only finish 10% of them. Though it's not my favorite MV, something about Ghost Song just made me keep playing and finish it. To me, that is a big deal. I think it says a lot about the game's narrative, pacing, and atmosphere that I wanted to see it through. This is the exact effect Timespinner had on me. Not my favorite, but it hooked me. And for that reason I hold both games in high regard
"Yes, you're going to hate the first 2 hours of Monster Boy, and of course, Ufouria's interface has some terrible issues, and Dusk doesn't have an interconnected world." >Places all three above F.I.S.T. as children cry.
I remember I requested Valdis Story: Abyssal City to you to make a review, Hollow Knight Comparison why it EASILY DEFEATS AND DETHRONE HOLLOW NIGHT and make a long live stream play through of this game! DO IT MAN!
Good reviews. My impressions: - Monster Boy: I agree with what you say. I ended up dropping the game at 70-80% as I was very tired of the puzzles. There are too many. But it's a good game, very charming and well made. - Elderand: It's a good game for me. It is not pretentious, nor is it long, and it delivers what it promises. - Ghost Song: I agree. The atmosphere and narrative is the best. Unfortunately it seems that in the end the game is truncated and in combat I think it could improve. I've had mixed feelings, but it's a good game. - Afterimage: It is an excellent metroidvania. I just think his gigantism is a problem. In my first false ending I reached 60 hours... it's too much I think. I wouldn't say it's an S tier, but it is a solid A+. About the tierlist in general: - I think several of the games on the list should be classified as "non-MV". - Death Gambit, I understand that you particularly liked it... but as a metroidvania, I think it is a bad game, and as a 2D action game it is very mediocre... even poorly made. - FIST: I think it is a solid and complete enough game to be compared to games like Mummy, TimeSpinner, and several tier C games. I think it minimally deserves a B or A. Good video. Greetings and like. PS: I'm currently playing Ultros. It's one of the weirdest metroidvanias I've ever played... I don't know if I'm liking it or not, but I plan to finish it just because of the weirdness.
I've checked out your channel a bit now, metroid/vania enjoyer myself, i haven't seen Sundered Eldritch Edition or HAAK on your channel, maybe i missed them, but imo they both pretty good. If you haven't tried them as a Guru they a must.
Yayyy! Afterimage is awesome. I have one comment about the joke ending (spoilers ahead): I think it's definitely a goofy stupid the matrix reference, but one that does serve a purpose. It's there to prime players to the whole concept of a simulated world, which Afterimage itself is. The Goliaths and the primeval beings are the "constants" tasked with maintaining the world and constrained by the Heart/CODE, while humans, built after Luca's own image, are the "variables" of the simulation, with the sea of souls being a database for variables that have exceeded a certain memory threshold. The rewards for the entire quest is indeed pretty shit though haha.
ghost song is a 10 out of 10 but i never hear anyone mention the real storyline of the game having to do with jezicoe who splits himself into 3 parts the other 2 being construct and saymund. does that part of the game just go over peoples heads or maybe they just don't appreciate science fiction? either way i thought the real storyline behind the ships crew was amazing and under rated.
I didn’t mention it because I didn’t want to spoil anything, but iirc, the dude split himself into 3 parts because beings in outer space eat your soul once you die. Jezicoe (sp?) split himself to tether the being with his soul, thus stopping the beast from devouring souls altogether, and that’s why ghosts are on the planet. This is also why the deadsuit was created: to house souls after death so they wouldn’t be eaten. And then you meet that lady who is a spirit that basically is part of an organization that ensures these beings eat souls, and because of what Jezicoe did, the organization sent those bugs to destroy him AND she keeps sending bounty hunters to this day to kill him so she can release the being. It really is an interesting story. I hope I got the details right. I think people may miss the story because the NPCs that convey it are unpredictable to find. Plus, the whole pebble part is easily missable and a little obscure. Just another reason why I love this game so much.
I'm not disappointed, I'm stopping watching you now. You can live your life freely =) Joke aside, Afterimage is a pure gem. I'm happy that you liked it like i did.
I really, really like Afterimage but there just a few crucial parts that keeps it from S tier for me, which is a huge pity overall it's an amazing game. Personally the biggest issues is that while each enemy combat is diverse it doesnt feel like the right game for it because of how big everything is, so pretty early on I just skipped fighting most enemies since each one feels too long too fight, and I mean just the basic enemies, bosses were really cool though. The majority of weapon skills feel useless and I stuck with a handful per weapon. And that teleportation system was just absolutely mean.
needing to use a comsumable to fast travel on Afterimage made me drop it for a couple of weeks, seriously, WHO DA FUCK THOUGHT THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA!?!? 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
Elderand was aight, low B tier for me but ghost song and afterimage are peak. Not S tier like will of the wisps, blasphemous or the last faith but VERY strong A tier metroidvania's. And ones that i really loved losing myself in their worlds
Afterimage's story makes zero sense to me even after reading all the lore in the descriptions. So I went on youtube to look up an explanation of the lore and found a two and a half hour video...😮
HEY THERE BUB GURU OF METROIVANIAS! All of your rating is ALL RATED GOOD! Your list made me feel good that you did not included HOLLOW KNIGHT OVER RATED SH*********T!
Afterimage is just way too big for my liking got it on sale I thiiiiink I'm near the end but I need to get all the glyphs and stuff for the endings and the memory shards but Im looking at this stupid big map that's filled in and still being told there's 10% of area left gonna have to bow out for now on it maybe come back to wrap up later but definitely not a metroidvania for me
Man fuck wonder boy, it's the worst game i've ever played and it being in A tier kinda drives me nuts. But your list so not much i can do about it except cry in the comments 😂 reason why i don't like it is that fucking difficulty man... Why the fuck is it such a hard game? I mean i like hard games, death's gambit, blasphemous, the last faith are all amazing games that really clicked for me. But this game? It feels so unreasonably punishing. I would have probably liked it if it was nice and chill because there's so much puzzle variety spread across all the rooms... Just wasted potential more than anything. Personally i'd create an entirely new tier for wonderboy all the way on the bottom, maybe like G or H-tier, nice and far away from all the other metroidvania's. It makes kong survivor instinct look like a masterpiece in comparison. GRRR idk why i'm so angry literally just seeing the cover art makes my blood boil and i'm not even joking. What did this game do to me to make me so tilted? 😂
@MetroidvaniaGuru yeah i'm sorry dude i love mv's but screw that game... 😅 It's also funny how much our opinions differ on so many games despite both of us being obsessed with MV's. God i love mv's so much, if they were a person i would kiss them on the lips (with their consent ofc). I'm gonna play bo path of the teal lotus now, hope i can beat it cuz apparently it's pretty hard 😂
Ghost song love warms my heart. Surprisingly good
And I've already said this in your Afterimage review, I believe, but that game has one of the most rewarding worlds I have ever explored in an MV, and I believe I have 50+ in my belt at this point. I loved finding things all over the place, especially when it was a new weapon or something I actually used. We need more games riddled with secrets that are actually progressive. A great game to aspire to with their overall world design - even if you just downsize it or add more fast travel points
That game does such a great job at budling the world and characters around it, such an excellent title
I see Afterimage. I click.
1:09:30 Valo. Valo the First Knight is the absolute roadblock on your first run. And then you come back later, especially after getting the i-frame dash, and she's surprisingly easy.
1:18:18 Once you hit a certain point, the nodes cost 2 and 3, and you run out pretty easily.
1:21:15 The game isn't really that open. It's deceptive. What I love about Afterimage is that it's actually moderately linear, but it has the illusion of being open because of how large each map area is.
1:21:55 Uhh, you know you can warp at the major confluences without using a resting potion, right?
1:24:40 You must complete Renee's third ending and one of Ifree's ending to unlock the portion of the game that lets you reach 42's endings.
1:29:35 Nope! Not disappointed at all. From a member of the speedrunning community, thank you for giving this game it's due.
The thing I think is funniest about Afterimage is that there's a Mossbag-like lore video, and it's TWO-AND-A-HALF-HOURS long.
Anyway, I love that you appreciated everything about the game, but the one thing I really think needs to be lauded more than anything else about Afterimage is the *movement*. There are only a few games that just FEEL right. Hollow Knight feels good to play. The stiffness of games taking after Symphony of the Night kinda don't. Blasphemous definitely does not. And Afterimage feels amazing. It's super fluid, and for me, fluidity is at the essence of the metroidvania experience. Other games try to "clone" Hollow Knight, but the one that actually emulates the parts that matter -- while establishing its own identity and legit doubling up on the content -- is Afterimage. I couldn't be happier to see it at the top of your tierlist.
I actually did forget you can fast travel between main confluence 😆 😅
And I’ve totally watched that vid. That’s how I know about the story 😆
And good call on the movement. Sometimes I take great controls for granted.
Afterimage and Ghost Song are amazing games. 💯 agree with the list
I finished Elderand yesterday and it was such a fun game to play. Super thankful for it too
You spoil us, sir... This video is such a treat! I'm a huge fan of both Monster Boy and Elderand, so it was great revisiting those through the lens of your analysis. Have not tried Dust or Ghost Song but you sold me on giving both a shot! Lastly, you def caught me off guard with the tier placement for Afterimage, but I can't disagree about its quality. It's just one of the many MVs that ended up getting too hard for me at a certain point. With a few more accessibility options, it would likely make my S tier also :) Happy Thanksgiving Luke! P.S. I'm in Canada, where we had thanksgiving in October.
It has an easy difficulty now i think and you can switch on the fly afaik
My brother from up North! Happy Late Thanksgiving! 🇨🇦
"Afterimage is one of the best MVs of all time. Hope I didn't disappoint." Sir, you most definitely did not.
It's a very good one but the story is like ????!
Elderand was exactly what you said. A quick and fun time, but not bad by any means. I wish there were more armor and weapon options. I didn’t find more than a couple weapons really worth using at the end. But still a good game.
I remember the first trailer for Ghost Song. It was enthralling with it's eerie atmosphere, creepy setting and the music gave me chills. The final product is 8/10, but not really what that first trailer made it seem like :P.
Yay Afterimage is S tier! Definitely a gem of a MV.
It IS a gem of an mv, but its a shining A at best. imo
Watching from Mexico. Thanks for all the good content.
Hola! Thanks for watching!
You described the combat in Elderland in the full vid as “Rouge Legacy” like and that is the perfect description.
Thankful for a hefty backlog from you. Last Faith is up next!
Dude last faith is amazing, enjoy!
@ got the physical on a good deal. Glad that most of the kin’s are worked out. Cheers
I forgot I described it like Rogue Legacy! That’s a pretty good comparison.
perrrrrrrrrrfect timing for this video. I was just contemplating purchasing a few of these during the current steam sale
edit: and just like that I purchased afterimage.
I hope you love it!
Yay, I'm glad that Afterimage is getting the love that it deserves. Can you update your Google Doc tier list?
Done!
Mexico🇲🇽🎉 love your content🙌 thanks🙏
Hola! Thanks for watching!
I own damn near every "major" MV, but I probably only finish 10% of them. Though it's not my favorite MV, something about Ghost Song just made me keep playing and finish it. To me, that is a big deal. I think it says a lot about the game's narrative, pacing, and atmosphere that I wanted to see it through. This is the exact effect Timespinner had on me. Not my favorite, but it hooked me. And for that reason I hold both games in high regard
"Yes, you're going to hate the first 2 hours of Monster Boy, and of course, Ufouria's interface has some terrible issues, and Dusk doesn't have an interconnected world." >Places all three above F.I.S.T. as children cry.
I agree, I was a little unfair with FIST. I need to reevaluate it soon
@@MetroidvaniaGuru for the children...
I remember I requested Valdis Story: Abyssal City to you to make a review, Hollow Knight Comparison why it EASILY DEFEATS AND DETHRONE HOLLOW NIGHT and make a long live stream play through of this game! DO IT MAN!
Happy to see you rank monster boy high . It's a top ten for me
It’s so good
Ive played a lot of metroidvanias and afterimage is my favorite, 3 playthroughs and already planning to do a 4th in the near future
Ghost Song!!!!! (It’s one of the best MVs for me).
Good reviews. My impressions:
- Monster Boy: I agree with what you say. I ended up dropping the game at 70-80% as I was very tired of the puzzles. There are too many. But it's a good game, very charming and well made.
- Elderand: It's a good game for me. It is not pretentious, nor is it long, and it delivers what it promises.
- Ghost Song: I agree. The atmosphere and narrative is the best. Unfortunately it seems that in the end the game is truncated and in combat I think it could improve. I've had mixed feelings, but it's a good game.
- Afterimage: It is an excellent metroidvania. I just think his gigantism is a problem. In my first false ending I reached 60 hours... it's too much I think. I wouldn't say it's an S tier, but it is a solid A+.
About the tierlist in general:
- I think several of the games on the list should be classified as "non-MV".
- Death Gambit, I understand that you particularly liked it... but as a metroidvania, I think it is a bad game, and as a 2D action game it is very mediocre... even poorly made.
- FIST: I think it is a solid and complete enough game to be compared to games like Mummy, TimeSpinner, and several tier C games. I think it minimally deserves a B or A.
Good video. Greetings and like.
PS: I'm currently playing Ultros. It's one of the weirdest metroidvanias I've ever played... I don't know if I'm liking it or not, but I plan to finish it just because of the weirdness.
Did you play the Afterlife revision of Deaths gambit? its like a whole different game.
I looooved Monster Boy!
I've checked out your channel a bit now, metroid/vania enjoyer myself, i haven't seen Sundered Eldritch Edition or HAAK on your channel, maybe i missed them, but imo they both pretty good. If you haven't tried them as a Guru they a must.
I haven’t covered them in the channel yet, but they are indeed wonderful.
Monster Boy!!!
Yayyy! Afterimage is awesome. I have one comment about the joke ending (spoilers ahead):
I think it's definitely a goofy stupid the matrix reference, but one that does serve a purpose. It's there to prime players to the whole concept of a simulated world, which Afterimage itself is. The Goliaths and the primeval beings are the "constants" tasked with maintaining the world and constrained by the Heart/CODE, while humans, built after Luca's own image, are the "variables" of the simulation, with the sea of souls being a database for variables that have exceeded a certain memory threshold. The rewards for the entire quest is indeed pretty shit though haha.
Yeah, I KINDA thought that was what that ending was implying, but I never sat down to actually piece it all together. I appreciate the insight!
From your russian fan! u r awesome! Monster Boy is favorit game of my son
Nice! My daughters love it, too!
ghost song is a 10 out of 10 but i never hear anyone mention the real storyline of the game having to do with jezicoe who splits himself into 3 parts the other 2 being construct and saymund. does that part of the game just go over peoples heads or maybe they just don't appreciate science fiction? either way i thought the real storyline behind the ships crew was amazing and under rated.
I didn’t mention it because I didn’t want to spoil anything, but iirc, the dude split himself into 3 parts because beings in outer space eat your soul once you die. Jezicoe (sp?) split himself to tether the being with his soul, thus stopping the beast from devouring souls altogether, and that’s why ghosts are on the planet.
This is also why the deadsuit was created: to house souls after death so they wouldn’t be eaten.
And then you meet that lady who is a spirit that basically is part of an organization that ensures these beings eat souls, and because of what Jezicoe did, the organization sent those bugs to destroy him AND she keeps sending bounty hunters to this day to kill him so she can release the being.
It really is an interesting story. I hope I got the details right.
I think people may miss the story because the NPCs that convey it are unpredictable to find. Plus, the whole pebble part is easily missable and a little obscure.
Just another reason why I love this game so much.
Afterimage a S rank bravo.
cheers from Uruguay 🇺🇾
Monster Boy being at A is no surprise. Super fun.
I'm not disappointed, I'm stopping watching you now. You can live your life freely =)
Joke aside, Afterimage is a pure gem. I'm happy that you liked it like i did.
I'm a metroidvania lover from 🇩🇿 🇩🇿
Russian viewer? That`s me, happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
I see UFOURIA, I click!
I see Bubble Bobble Dragon as pfp. I Heart!
Seems like Afterimage is the "most" MV that ever MV'd.
I really, really like Afterimage but there just a few crucial parts that keeps it from S tier for me, which is a huge pity overall it's an amazing game. Personally the biggest issues is that while each enemy combat is diverse it doesnt feel like the right game for it because of how big everything is, so pretty early on I just skipped fighting most enemies since each one feels too long too fight, and I mean just the basic enemies, bosses were really cool though. The majority of weapon skills feel useless and I stuck with a handful per weapon. And that teleportation system was just absolutely mean.
needing to use a comsumable to fast travel on Afterimage made me drop it for a couple of weeks, seriously, WHO DA FUCK THOUGHT THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA!?!? 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
Elderand was aight, low B tier for me but ghost song and afterimage are peak. Not S tier like will of the wisps, blasphemous or the last faith but VERY strong A tier metroidvania's. And ones that i really loved losing myself in their worlds
Afterimage's story makes zero sense to me even after reading all the lore in the descriptions. So I went on youtube to look up an explanation of the lore and found a two and a half hour video...😮
Yup. From ol Indie Explorer. I love that vid.
Interesting, thanks!
Can you do Silksong?
...Wtf? Silksong isnt out, and its release has been questionable at best, if it DOES release, ever, be sure Mv Guru will cover it
As soon as it releases, I’ll cover it for you 😎
HEY THERE BUB GURU OF METROIVANIAS! All of your rating is ALL RATED GOOD! Your list made me feel good that you did not included HOLLOW KNIGHT OVER RATED SH*********T!
Elderand!!!!
Im with your friend. I found elderand mediocre, i couldn't wait to finish it 😂
😆
You forgot the peepo of the glorious Micronesia. 😅
Glorious! I will never forget to shout out Micronesia again!
South African🇿🇦
Ok… Afterimage as the #1…. Yeah I think maybe we wouldn’t agree on much.
That’s cool. A little disagreement is the spice of life 😆
Afterimage is just way too big for my liking got it on sale I thiiiiink I'm near the end but I need to get all the glyphs and stuff for the endings and the memory shards but Im looking at this stupid big map that's filled in and still being told there's 10% of area left gonna have to bow out for now on it maybe come back to wrap up later but definitely not a metroidvania for me
Hey where is the samurai jack gba metroidvania game!! 😅
Loved elderand a viking mv I'm always hype for guess I should've gave wonderboy some more time less than a hr played I hated that pig
The pig sucks. But if you can stomach him for a couple hours, it really does become a good game.
Gave afterimage a try and did not get a feel for it😢
Quell
Stay with it, might change your mind
That’s okay. There are plenty of MVs out there 👍
Argentina!
Hola!
What I learned is you're never doing Hollow Knight.
Depends. I told my discord I’ll do hollow knight when Silksong releases 😆
Venezuela 🇻🇪
Hola!
Sweden
Hej!
Man fuck wonder boy, it's the worst game i've ever played and it being in A tier kinda drives me nuts. But your list so not much i can do about it except cry in the comments 😂 reason why i don't like it is that fucking difficulty man... Why the fuck is it such a hard game? I mean i like hard games, death's gambit, blasphemous, the last faith are all amazing games that really clicked for me. But this game? It feels so unreasonably punishing. I would have probably liked it if it was nice and chill because there's so much puzzle variety spread across all the rooms... Just wasted potential more than anything. Personally i'd create an entirely new tier for wonderboy all the way on the bottom, maybe like G or H-tier, nice and far away from all the other metroidvania's. It makes kong survivor instinct look like a masterpiece in comparison. GRRR idk why i'm so angry literally just seeing the cover art makes my blood boil and i'm not even joking. What did this game do to me to make me so tilted? 😂
😆 💀
@MetroidvaniaGuru yeah i'm sorry dude i love mv's but screw that game... 😅 It's also funny how much our opinions differ on so many games despite both of us being obsessed with MV's. God i love mv's so much, if they were a person i would kiss them on the lips (with their consent ofc). I'm gonna play bo path of the teal lotus now, hope i can beat it cuz apparently it's pretty hard 😂
@@d00mnoodle24 you got this!
That is actually Monster Boy which is not quite as difficult as Wonder Boy
Your comment just made me interested to actually try the game, really