I mean there's such a wide variety of combat in the genre, and some games don't even have combat. Like the combat in Steamworld Dig, Axiom Verge, and Prince of Persia couldn't be more different. Yoku's Island Express and Animal Well don't really have any combat at all. What specific games have you tried and failed at?
So far I’ve tried Hollow Knight, which is probably the one I’ve gotten the farthest in, Symphony of the Night, Super Metroid/M Fusion, Ori and the Blind Forest, and Blasphemous, along with a few others that I can’t remember at the moment. I’ve also played the demos for Metroid Dread and PoP The Lost Crown, as well as games with similar moment to moment gameplay like Rogue Legacy. And I’m terrible at all of them.
For reference, I used to have a Switch but now only have a PS5.
Interesting that Hollow Knight is the one you’ve gotten the farthest in! I think of that as having the hardest combat of all the ones you list (30 tries for an HK boss is not that unusual). Then again, it also has a lot of Dark souls influence so maybe it’s more familiar? If that’s the case, maybe give Grime a try. I wouldn’t normally recommend that to someone struggling with the combat aspect, since it’s pretty challenging, especially the boss fights, but it’s also the most “Dark Souls-y” MV I’ve played, so maybe it would come easier to you. There are also some MVs without combat or where combat isn’t the focus: Sheepo, Yoku’s Island Express, Steamworld Dig 2, Toki Tori 2
Isn't combat (against bosses specifically) like the main focus of Rabi-Ribi? I haven't played it, just most of Tevi (the spiritual successor), and that is very combat focused.
I was bad at Hollow Knight too at first. It was my first real metroidvania. It’s like these games use different muscles that you’re not used too. After a bunch of practice I eventually developed some muscle memory and have almost gotten through the pantheons. I still have no idea how people do any the bosses hitless but I also never thought I’d be able to beat several of them in a row.
Ori And The Blind Forest / Ori And The Will Of The Wisps are more platforming focused and super fun- highly recommend, though they aren't on PlayStation right now. Could probably run on a lower spec laptop though, and they're also on switch/Xbox cloud gaming (which isn't bad depending on your location/internet, and you can get a free trial or a month from a key site for like $4)
A quick difference between Dark Souls and the average MV is that in DS you can grind and level as much as you want before the first real boss and have access to a ton of weapons, Lightning buff and throwable. Most MV games pit you against the first boss with starting moves and gear. Another difference is that in DS you can bait out boss attacks to decide when and where they happen and while some MV bosses behave like this many more attack in fixed patterns that cover specific parts of the screen. If you are struggling with a MV initial boss the best advice is to try to practice avoiding all of its attacks while not taking damage for a bit and once you have the pattern down you should have an idea of when it’s safe to attack.
If you tell me a specific game you are working on I can offer more tailored advice.
This is great advice already, thank you.
At the moment I’ve been hopping around and hoping for one to click so I’m not working on any specific game necessarily, but the ones I would really like to beat are Blasphemous, Symphony of the Night, and Hollow Knight. I also really liked what little I played of Ritual of the Night but I haven’t put enough time into it to know if I’m gonna have the same issues.
Off the top of my head for Blasphemous you can find an NPC who will refill your health during the first boss fight as long as you stay on the left side of the arena in range of her. You want to stay close to the antler thing so you can slide through his bash attacks and when he makes roots come up either get far away or figure out standing between them. You have to destroy the thorns he leaves on the ground or they still damage you.
In HK the first boss should be Grub Mother. When she bounces around the arena keep moving under her so she’ll miss and it should be easy.
I can’t remember who the first SOTN boss but the best hack for early game is to remap your shield button to a shoulder button and block a lot. The shield is very difficult to use in default settings but this will let you attack while blocking.
Everyone recs gato robato but I struggled with the underwater rat boss. Maybe I accidentally stumbled upon it too early? The game wouldn’t let me get out and explore to try finding other upgrades which really annoyed me after I found that boss. I eventually got so frustrated I quit.
And I’ve beaten a ton of metroidvanias in the past including getting 102% in Hollow Knight. Couldnt beat some later game bosses and post game but im decent at metroidvanias.
AFAIK Gato Robato is quite linear so I doubt you stumbled on anything.
The underwater fight is more of an R-Type/Bullet-Hell fight but certainly surmountable. I grew up with SHMUPS tho so maybe they just aren't your thing?
Interesting I always thought it just locked me there but you could be right. I’ve never been one for bullet hell. The few in Islets were fine but I also know those are on the easier side.
So I suggest you simple metroidvania games at first like monster boy the cursed kingdom. It's pretty easy one. Ori series also have difficulty options. Don't play if some games look hard for you. Hollow knight basically one of the hardest. However if you get used to it won't be as hard as soulslike games (except fcking pantheon 5th. After some attempts you might not be able to use your hands for a while after it)
I played a bit of Ori when I had a Switch and even then I struggled against the basic enemies. Unfortunately now all I have is a PS5 so Ori is not a possibility for me. I will definitely look into Monster Boy though.
Ori should be piece of cake for soulslike gamer imo. Yeah unfortunately Microsoft holds its right for Xbox.
Monster boy is funny game and it's on the psn plus list. If you have tier you can play it for free.
That’s actually perfect, PS Plus is how I’ve been trying most of these games.
But yeah, it’s bizarre. There’s just something about it that’s not making sense in my brain but I just take so much damage all the time.
Try the game Afterimage. The combat is not that taxing and you can spam kill most enemies to be honest. Can you do double jump/dash combo’s to reach platforms however..
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is easy to just grind , level up and then just trash the bosses by being way overpowered. And with all the little side quests, doing that grinding is actually fun. At least in my opinion.
Was the first MV I completed and the only one I've got the platinum for, so I'd consider it pretty easy going.
I actually started Bloodstained yesterday after seeing it was on PS Plus. I’m currently just a little ways into the castle after the first boss. I’ve been enjoying it and I love how hard it plays into the PS1 vibe.
Try just avoiding enemy attacks without trying to hit them. That should give you an idea of attack patterns and timing. Then you can start attacking while also still avoiding being hit.
Start with Metroid Dread
You're supposed to start out vulnerable. I like Metroid because when you start, everything on the planet is hunting you. By the end of the game, everything is running away from you.
I played the demo when I had a Switch but I couldn’t beat it 💀 Like there is clearly a fundamental issue with how I play these games that needs to be fixed.
I died a thousand times playing Dread. If that one didn't click, you might just not dig those games. DREAD is challenging, but it is so forgiving. The controls are perfect. The game is designed to be beat without taking a hit.
Unfortunately I don’t have a Switch anymore so I can’t go back to it. I’m not willing to write off the genre yet. I did that with RTS games, I just don’t have the right brain to enjoy them and that’s fine. But I KNOW I would love this genre if I can just get the combat to click.
Interesting problem. Seems like after an hour or so your brain would have made the necessary adjustments to work in the 2D environment. If you haven't, maybe try playing exclusively with the d-pad for movement to force yourself into a more 2-dimensional way of thinking.
It’s weird because I’m good at normal 2D platformers. If these games were all about just parkouring through the levels I could beat them without a problem 😂
The thing with these games is that usually the beginning is the hardest part, when you're still learning the mechanics and you don't have health/abilities. I always hate it too, but if I like the game enough I just get through that and then the middle/end of the game is enjoyable.
I am genuinely fine with that, I have no issue struggling with a game. But I struggle to the point of just not being able to progress. And not just in a way that’s like “oh I can’t get that dodge timing down”, it’s like “I literally can’t even understand what I’m doing wrong”. There’s a very large and important piece of the puzzle missing from my brain.
That new game Animal Well is apparently all platforming and no combat, but then again people are debating whether it’s really a metroidvania or not (I don’t know the reasons and don’t have an opinion on that). So maybe that might suit you, but on the other hand probably won’t help you get better at 2D combat.
Blasphemous has a combat system that felt more like a Souls game with parry timing and all that, so I don’t know if that would help you to be better or make it worse lol. But there’s that.
Blasphemous is actually one of the games that made me want to get into the genre. I love the whole vibe of the game but I struggled in that one too. But another commenter helped me realize something about my approach that I’m thinking will help a lot. I’ve been treating the games like Mario style platformers with combat, whereas I should be treating them like Souls style combat games with platforming and approach each enemy slower.
My issue then would be that it’s already so easy for me to get overwhelmed. In Blasphemous specifically, the farthest I ever got was the snowy mountain area near the start. There would be multiple enemies that would go underground and shoot up from under you, as well as multiple regular enemies, and I had no idea how to deal with them all.
>people are debating whether it’s really a metroidvania or not
man people are so pedantic, i can't see how it could be anything else? it does have combat, just no direct damage. very weird to consider it anything else. what genre would it even fall into? "non-linear puzzle platformer with enemies and indirect combat"? lol.
I enjoyed animal well, it's got basically no combat and it's all platforming challenges, and after "beating" it there's so much left to explore, it might not be the best example of the genre due to the lack of combat, but maybe actually finishing one will help give you some extra incentive to git good for the rest.
And as others have said, the start is often the hardest part, I was just playing castlevania harmony of dissonance which isn't objectively harder than the rest, but I had come out of circle of the moon and it was just jarring how much harder it felt because I was used to the endgame of the previous game and having all the powerups and levels. Heck, I've had periods when I'll start playing a MV and stop after an hour just to do the same with another because I'm frustrated just to repeat the cycle half a dozen times and give up for a couple months until I get the itch to play one again and can finally pull together the patience to get past that initial wall.
Idk if anyone has suggested Dead Cells yet, but there are accessibility options if things are too tough. This is similar to dark souls in that you collect cells (souls) for different weapons and equipment. They still regularly update and reference TONS of other rogue-likes with free DLC and paid DLC. (There's a castlevania DLC too!)
I’ve actually played quite a bit of Dead Cells on Switch and I’ve been thinking about going back to it. That’s the only game with that style of combat that’s ever really clicked with me but it scratches more of my roguelike itch than it does my desire to get into this genre. Maybe I should use it to “hone my skills”.
Yeah! That's a great way to look at it. I like this game because you can take different approaches to every situation. Definitely could use this game to "hone your skills"
Most metroidvania combat is either focused on precise dodging like Hollow Knight or avoiding the attacks with a timed parry/dodge button. If you are good at platformers you should be fine for the first and you should also know the latter from your soulsborne games. Do you treat these games differently and only focus on doing maximum damage? That will never work with difficult bosses it's a better approach to just start surviving the bosses without attacking to learn their patterns and then looking for chances to do damage.
I’m not necessarily “focusing on doing maximum damage”, but I do think I’m treating them a bit like Souls games where I’ve developed the confidence to be able to play a bit more recklessly. But it’s a completely different genre that I really have no experience in, so I need to be treating it like the *first* time I played Souls.
Maybe this is just a new kind of skill you have to develop. A lot of 3D games, but the souls games in particular, rely on invincibility frames to dodge attacks because 3d hitboxes are hard to judge on 2d screens. Most 2D games don‘t have dodge rolls with invincibility frames, so positioning yourself where you won‘t be hit is more important than timing your dodges to be invincible when the attack hits.
Also Animal Well just release and it doesn‘t feature any combat, but a lot of cool exploration, puzzle solving and platforming.
Hello there, I highly recommend Monster Boy & The Cursed Kingdom for PS5, it’s also on sale right now for $7.99 ~ usually $40 until the end of May. It’s a fun metroidvania game with fun cartoon graphics, can change from a handful of different characters to complete a multitude of puzzles. Combat is fairly simple, loads of upgrades for your character ranging from weapons, armor, and power ups, it can get challenging but I think this might be up your alley!
For symphony, level up before approaching the next boss. It’s a bit of a grind but it should help you get past Slogra/Gaibon. Plus the grind will give you more items/weapons, etc. Also in general, take your time with enemies. Focus more on dodging and less on attacking. As you improve and learn, this will change, but for now just slow down and learn their patterns.
For the classicvania’s, lean into the sub weapons. Every 10 enemies killed with a sub weapon (including bone pillar fireballs!) will drop a II or III on the next single heart candle whipped. Axe, Cross, and Holy Water are your friend. Holy Water will paralyze enemies and bosses. If there is a tough jumping section, try and nab the Clock sub weapon to pass easily without getting knocked back by an enemy mid-jump.
I started a new playthrough and managed to take them down after only a few tries, playing slower has definitely helped a lot. My issue now is that I can’t play slower when there’s more than two or three enemies coming at me, I just get overwhelmed and I’m not sure what to do at that point.
Rooms will always reset when you leave and come back. If it gets too hot, run for the door and re-enter. Then proceed little by little so you only spawn one enemy at a time. There will of course be rooms where you naturally get approached by multiples. I suggest using a spell like summon spirit (⬅️➡️⬆️⬇️attack) in addition to melee. When you get more MP you can try tetra spirit (hold⬆️↗️➡️↘️⬇️attack) or soul steal (⬅️➡️↘️⬇️↙️⬅️➡️attack) to eliminate onslaughts.
if i had to guess, your issue isn't combat itself, but combining combat with movement/damage avoidance. what i do when i first face a boss that i know is probably hard is to work on avoidance first. once i'm comfortable enough to avoid taking damage, then i will work in attacks. you can approach any enemy in a metroidvania this way. dying 30 times to the first boss of sotn tells me that you're probably taking a ton of unnecessary damage, and probably not focusing enough on movement itself.
if you want to start with something easy, check out the shantae games. shantae and the pirate's curse is usually the best one to start with.
I’m definitely taking a lot of damage. When there’s multiple different attacks coming at me I can’t help but get hit by at least one of them. I did figure out how to block in SotN specifically so that’s made things a lot easier, but I’m still taking a lot of damage.
Start Aeterna Noctis. Get the easy games out of the way first.
Honest here, its usually very similar than soulslike where you learn bosses/enemy patterns. Dodge and sneak in a couple attack here and there.
A common mistake is to button smash and try to power through the game. If you adapt a more conservative approach by doding attacks for instance, you'll start witnessing the "opening" to attack...
I do feel like I definitely end up button mashing. That honestly might be a big issue. I’m thinking of the basic enemies like I do a goomba where you can just stomp on it, when I should be thinking of them like I do basic enemies in Souls where they need to be treated like they can easily kill you until you understand them better.
Symphony of the Night, Circle of the Moon, Harmony of dissonance, Aria of Sorrow, Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin, and Order of Ecclesia. Just note, when they say the Metroidvanias are easy, they are not talking about Circle of the Moon or Order of Ecclesia, those two Metroidvanias are not easy.
I'm like opposite. I wanna love dark souls but I can't make it past a boss. Maybe it's cause I'm old, but 3d games are 10,000% harder for me than 2d games.
Are you bad at all 2D games? Like do you suck at Mario too?
No, I’ve actually always been pretty good at platformers, both 2D and 3D. It’s specifically the combat that I’m terrible at for some reason.
I mean there's such a wide variety of combat in the genre, and some games don't even have combat. Like the combat in Steamworld Dig, Axiom Verge, and Prince of Persia couldn't be more different. Yoku's Island Express and Animal Well don't really have any combat at all. What specific games have you tried and failed at?
So far I’ve tried Hollow Knight, which is probably the one I’ve gotten the farthest in, Symphony of the Night, Super Metroid/M Fusion, Ori and the Blind Forest, and Blasphemous, along with a few others that I can’t remember at the moment. I’ve also played the demos for Metroid Dread and PoP The Lost Crown, as well as games with similar moment to moment gameplay like Rogue Legacy. And I’m terrible at all of them. For reference, I used to have a Switch but now only have a PS5.
Interesting that Hollow Knight is the one you’ve gotten the farthest in! I think of that as having the hardest combat of all the ones you list (30 tries for an HK boss is not that unusual). Then again, it also has a lot of Dark souls influence so maybe it’s more familiar? If that’s the case, maybe give Grime a try. I wouldn’t normally recommend that to someone struggling with the combat aspect, since it’s pretty challenging, especially the boss fights, but it’s also the most “Dark Souls-y” MV I’ve played, so maybe it would come easier to you. There are also some MVs without combat or where combat isn’t the focus: Sheepo, Yoku’s Island Express, Steamworld Dig 2, Toki Tori 2
I will definitely look into all of those, thank you!
Isn't combat (against bosses specifically) like the main focus of Rabi-Ribi? I haven't played it, just most of Tevi (the spiritual successor), and that is very combat focused.
Ahh wait you’re right I was having a brain fart – I was thinking of Toki Tori 2 haha – very different game
I recently played Disney illusion island and it is a pretty decent "baby's first metroidvania" that you could try. I finished it in like a day
Isn’t that a Switch exclusive? Or am I mistaken?
Oh right, my bad did not know that
Yeah it’s a shame, it looks pretty cool.
I was bad at Hollow Knight too at first. It was my first real metroidvania. It’s like these games use different muscles that you’re not used too. After a bunch of practice I eventually developed some muscle memory and have almost gotten through the pantheons. I still have no idea how people do any the bosses hitless but I also never thought I’d be able to beat several of them in a row.
Ori And The Blind Forest / Ori And The Will Of The Wisps are more platforming focused and super fun- highly recommend, though they aren't on PlayStation right now. Could probably run on a lower spec laptop though, and they're also on switch/Xbox cloud gaming (which isn't bad depending on your location/internet, and you can get a free trial or a month from a key site for like $4)
A quick difference between Dark Souls and the average MV is that in DS you can grind and level as much as you want before the first real boss and have access to a ton of weapons, Lightning buff and throwable. Most MV games pit you against the first boss with starting moves and gear. Another difference is that in DS you can bait out boss attacks to decide when and where they happen and while some MV bosses behave like this many more attack in fixed patterns that cover specific parts of the screen. If you are struggling with a MV initial boss the best advice is to try to practice avoiding all of its attacks while not taking damage for a bit and once you have the pattern down you should have an idea of when it’s safe to attack. If you tell me a specific game you are working on I can offer more tailored advice.
This is great advice already, thank you. At the moment I’ve been hopping around and hoping for one to click so I’m not working on any specific game necessarily, but the ones I would really like to beat are Blasphemous, Symphony of the Night, and Hollow Knight. I also really liked what little I played of Ritual of the Night but I haven’t put enough time into it to know if I’m gonna have the same issues.
Off the top of my head for Blasphemous you can find an NPC who will refill your health during the first boss fight as long as you stay on the left side of the arena in range of her. You want to stay close to the antler thing so you can slide through his bash attacks and when he makes roots come up either get far away or figure out standing between them. You have to destroy the thorns he leaves on the ground or they still damage you. In HK the first boss should be Grub Mother. When she bounces around the arena keep moving under her so she’ll miss and it should be easy. I can’t remember who the first SOTN boss but the best hack for early game is to remap your shield button to a shoulder button and block a lot. The shield is very difficult to use in default settings but this will let you attack while blocking.
play sheepo, let me know how it goes. We'll go from there
I haven’t heard of this but I will look into it for sure. Don’t be surprised when I come back and say I struggled with it though lmfao
Yeah try some of the smaller ones. I highly recommend Xeodrifter and GatoRobato.
Everyone recs gato robato but I struggled with the underwater rat boss. Maybe I accidentally stumbled upon it too early? The game wouldn’t let me get out and explore to try finding other upgrades which really annoyed me after I found that boss. I eventually got so frustrated I quit. And I’ve beaten a ton of metroidvanias in the past including getting 102% in Hollow Knight. Couldnt beat some later game bosses and post game but im decent at metroidvanias.
AFAIK Gato Robato is quite linear so I doubt you stumbled on anything. The underwater fight is more of an R-Type/Bullet-Hell fight but certainly surmountable. I grew up with SHMUPS tho so maybe they just aren't your thing?
Interesting I always thought it just locked me there but you could be right. I’ve never been one for bullet hell. The few in Islets were fine but I also know those are on the easier side.
So I suggest you simple metroidvania games at first like monster boy the cursed kingdom. It's pretty easy one. Ori series also have difficulty options. Don't play if some games look hard for you. Hollow knight basically one of the hardest. However if you get used to it won't be as hard as soulslike games (except fcking pantheon 5th. After some attempts you might not be able to use your hands for a while after it)
I played a bit of Ori when I had a Switch and even then I struggled against the basic enemies. Unfortunately now all I have is a PS5 so Ori is not a possibility for me. I will definitely look into Monster Boy though.
Ori should be piece of cake for soulslike gamer imo. Yeah unfortunately Microsoft holds its right for Xbox. Monster boy is funny game and it's on the psn plus list. If you have tier you can play it for free.
That’s actually perfect, PS Plus is how I’ve been trying most of these games. But yeah, it’s bizarre. There’s just something about it that’s not making sense in my brain but I just take so much damage all the time.
Ori and the will of the wisp on easy mode I feel is the best place to get better with. It has super easy combat and fun/enjoyable platforming
I would love to but I am unfortunately only on PS5. I should add that to the post.
That's a shame, I wish exclusives weren't a thing
Try the game Afterimage. The combat is not that taxing and you can spam kill most enemies to be honest. Can you do double jump/dash combo’s to reach platforms however..
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is easy to just grind , level up and then just trash the bosses by being way overpowered. And with all the little side quests, doing that grinding is actually fun. At least in my opinion. Was the first MV I completed and the only one I've got the platinum for, so I'd consider it pretty easy going.
I actually started Bloodstained yesterday after seeing it was on PS Plus. I’m currently just a little ways into the castle after the first boss. I’ve been enjoying it and I love how hard it plays into the PS1 vibe.
Try just avoiding enemy attacks without trying to hit them. That should give you an idea of attack patterns and timing. Then you can start attacking while also still avoiding being hit.
Start with Metroid Dread You're supposed to start out vulnerable. I like Metroid because when you start, everything on the planet is hunting you. By the end of the game, everything is running away from you.
I played the demo when I had a Switch but I couldn’t beat it 💀 Like there is clearly a fundamental issue with how I play these games that needs to be fixed.
I died a thousand times playing Dread. If that one didn't click, you might just not dig those games. DREAD is challenging, but it is so forgiving. The controls are perfect. The game is designed to be beat without taking a hit.
Unfortunately I don’t have a Switch anymore so I can’t go back to it. I’m not willing to write off the genre yet. I did that with RTS games, I just don’t have the right brain to enjoy them and that’s fine. But I KNOW I would love this genre if I can just get the combat to click.
Interesting problem. Seems like after an hour or so your brain would have made the necessary adjustments to work in the 2D environment. If you haven't, maybe try playing exclusively with the d-pad for movement to force yourself into a more 2-dimensional way of thinking.
It’s weird because I’m good at normal 2D platformers. If these games were all about just parkouring through the levels I could beat them without a problem 😂
The thing with these games is that usually the beginning is the hardest part, when you're still learning the mechanics and you don't have health/abilities. I always hate it too, but if I like the game enough I just get through that and then the middle/end of the game is enjoyable.
I am genuinely fine with that, I have no issue struggling with a game. But I struggle to the point of just not being able to progress. And not just in a way that’s like “oh I can’t get that dodge timing down”, it’s like “I literally can’t even understand what I’m doing wrong”. There’s a very large and important piece of the puzzle missing from my brain.
I dunno if it's your brain try the game(s) on substances and see if that helps/hinders lol
I play most games on substances lmfao
That new game Animal Well is apparently all platforming and no combat, but then again people are debating whether it’s really a metroidvania or not (I don’t know the reasons and don’t have an opinion on that). So maybe that might suit you, but on the other hand probably won’t help you get better at 2D combat. Blasphemous has a combat system that felt more like a Souls game with parry timing and all that, so I don’t know if that would help you to be better or make it worse lol. But there’s that.
Blasphemous is actually one of the games that made me want to get into the genre. I love the whole vibe of the game but I struggled in that one too. But another commenter helped me realize something about my approach that I’m thinking will help a lot. I’ve been treating the games like Mario style platformers with combat, whereas I should be treating them like Souls style combat games with platforming and approach each enemy slower. My issue then would be that it’s already so easy for me to get overwhelmed. In Blasphemous specifically, the farthest I ever got was the snowy mountain area near the start. There would be multiple enemies that would go underground and shoot up from under you, as well as multiple regular enemies, and I had no idea how to deal with them all.
>people are debating whether it’s really a metroidvania or not man people are so pedantic, i can't see how it could be anything else? it does have combat, just no direct damage. very weird to consider it anything else. what genre would it even fall into? "non-linear puzzle platformer with enemies and indirect combat"? lol.
I enjoyed animal well, it's got basically no combat and it's all platforming challenges, and after "beating" it there's so much left to explore, it might not be the best example of the genre due to the lack of combat, but maybe actually finishing one will help give you some extra incentive to git good for the rest. And as others have said, the start is often the hardest part, I was just playing castlevania harmony of dissonance which isn't objectively harder than the rest, but I had come out of circle of the moon and it was just jarring how much harder it felt because I was used to the endgame of the previous game and having all the powerups and levels. Heck, I've had periods when I'll start playing a MV and stop after an hour just to do the same with another because I'm frustrated just to repeat the cycle half a dozen times and give up for a couple months until I get the itch to play one again and can finally pull together the patience to get past that initial wall.
Any chance playing some 2D fighting games might help?
Definitely not impossible, I’ve never been good at those either lmao.
Idk if anyone has suggested Dead Cells yet, but there are accessibility options if things are too tough. This is similar to dark souls in that you collect cells (souls) for different weapons and equipment. They still regularly update and reference TONS of other rogue-likes with free DLC and paid DLC. (There's a castlevania DLC too!)
I’ve actually played quite a bit of Dead Cells on Switch and I’ve been thinking about going back to it. That’s the only game with that style of combat that’s ever really clicked with me but it scratches more of my roguelike itch than it does my desire to get into this genre. Maybe I should use it to “hone my skills”.
Yeah! That's a great way to look at it. I like this game because you can take different approaches to every situation. Definitely could use this game to "hone your skills"
Most metroidvania combat is either focused on precise dodging like Hollow Knight or avoiding the attacks with a timed parry/dodge button. If you are good at platformers you should be fine for the first and you should also know the latter from your soulsborne games. Do you treat these games differently and only focus on doing maximum damage? That will never work with difficult bosses it's a better approach to just start surviving the bosses without attacking to learn their patterns and then looking for chances to do damage.
I’m not necessarily “focusing on doing maximum damage”, but I do think I’m treating them a bit like Souls games where I’ve developed the confidence to be able to play a bit more recklessly. But it’s a completely different genre that I really have no experience in, so I need to be treating it like the *first* time I played Souls.
Yeah treating it like a new Souls is probably the best approach, good luck!
Maybe this is just a new kind of skill you have to develop. A lot of 3D games, but the souls games in particular, rely on invincibility frames to dodge attacks because 3d hitboxes are hard to judge on 2d screens. Most 2D games don‘t have dodge rolls with invincibility frames, so positioning yourself where you won‘t be hit is more important than timing your dodges to be invincible when the attack hits. Also Animal Well just release and it doesn‘t feature any combat, but a lot of cool exploration, puzzle solving and platforming.
Hello there, I highly recommend Monster Boy & The Cursed Kingdom for PS5, it’s also on sale right now for $7.99 ~ usually $40 until the end of May. It’s a fun metroidvania game with fun cartoon graphics, can change from a handful of different characters to complete a multitude of puzzles. Combat is fairly simple, loads of upgrades for your character ranging from weapons, armor, and power ups, it can get challenging but I think this might be up your alley!
For symphony, level up before approaching the next boss. It’s a bit of a grind but it should help you get past Slogra/Gaibon. Plus the grind will give you more items/weapons, etc. Also in general, take your time with enemies. Focus more on dodging and less on attacking. As you improve and learn, this will change, but for now just slow down and learn their patterns. For the classicvania’s, lean into the sub weapons. Every 10 enemies killed with a sub weapon (including bone pillar fireballs!) will drop a II or III on the next single heart candle whipped. Axe, Cross, and Holy Water are your friend. Holy Water will paralyze enemies and bosses. If there is a tough jumping section, try and nab the Clock sub weapon to pass easily without getting knocked back by an enemy mid-jump.
I started a new playthrough and managed to take them down after only a few tries, playing slower has definitely helped a lot. My issue now is that I can’t play slower when there’s more than two or three enemies coming at me, I just get overwhelmed and I’m not sure what to do at that point.
Rooms will always reset when you leave and come back. If it gets too hot, run for the door and re-enter. Then proceed little by little so you only spawn one enemy at a time. There will of course be rooms where you naturally get approached by multiples. I suggest using a spell like summon spirit (⬅️➡️⬆️⬇️attack) in addition to melee. When you get more MP you can try tetra spirit (hold⬆️↗️➡️↘️⬇️attack) or soul steal (⬅️➡️↘️⬇️↙️⬅️➡️attack) to eliminate onslaughts.
if i had to guess, your issue isn't combat itself, but combining combat with movement/damage avoidance. what i do when i first face a boss that i know is probably hard is to work on avoidance first. once i'm comfortable enough to avoid taking damage, then i will work in attacks. you can approach any enemy in a metroidvania this way. dying 30 times to the first boss of sotn tells me that you're probably taking a ton of unnecessary damage, and probably not focusing enough on movement itself. if you want to start with something easy, check out the shantae games. shantae and the pirate's curse is usually the best one to start with.
I’m definitely taking a lot of damage. When there’s multiple different attacks coming at me I can’t help but get hit by at least one of them. I did figure out how to block in SotN specifically so that’s made things a lot easier, but I’m still taking a lot of damage.
Start Aeterna Noctis. Get the easy games out of the way first. Honest here, its usually very similar than soulslike where you learn bosses/enemy patterns. Dodge and sneak in a couple attack here and there. A common mistake is to button smash and try to power through the game. If you adapt a more conservative approach by doding attacks for instance, you'll start witnessing the "opening" to attack...
I do feel like I definitely end up button mashing. That honestly might be a big issue. I’m thinking of the basic enemies like I do a goomba where you can just stomp on it, when I should be thinking of them like I do basic enemies in Souls where they need to be treated like they can easily kill you until you understand them better.
Maybe go for Castlevania metroidvanias they're all pretty easy
Is that true? I feel like I’ve heard the opposite lol
The not metroidvanias are pretty hard but the metroidvanias are super easy
Which ones are which? Lol
Symphony of the Night, Circle of the Moon, Harmony of dissonance, Aria of Sorrow, Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin, and Order of Ecclesia. Just note, when they say the Metroidvanias are easy, they are not talking about Circle of the Moon or Order of Ecclesia, those two Metroidvanias are not easy.
I'm like opposite. I wanna love dark souls but I can't make it past a boss. Maybe it's cause I'm old, but 3d games are 10,000% harder for me than 2d games.