18 votes

Against 'Metroidbrania': a landscape of knowledge games

5 comments

  1. [3]
    donn
    Link
    [noise, low-stakes rant] I hate when people are prescriptive about language. When I say Metroidvania, people know the exact kind of game I'm referring to. In Japanese "探索型アクション" is just how the...

    [noise, low-stakes rant]

    'Search action' is a calque of a Japanese term that refers to the same thing as 'metroidvania'. It's increasingly preferred by Western fans of the genre

    I hate when people are prescriptive about language. When I say Metroidvania, people know the exact kind of game I'm referring to. In Japanese "探索型アクション" is just how the cookie crumbled. I don't know what reasons of linguistic or moral purity or whatever that makes people want to pivot away from the term Metroidvania which works and does its job quite well, actually.

    there hasn't been a new search action Castlevania in a long time now.

    There hasn't been a new Castlevania period in a long time now. The second-to-last Castlevania is "search-action." The team behind it also later worked on Metroid Dread. It couldn't be more on the nose. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlevania:_Lords_of_Shadow_–_Mirror_of_Fate

    11 votes
    1. [2]
      TommyTenToes
      Link Parent
      It's similar to roguelike vs roguelite where basically all modern games fit into the latter category if we're being pedantic but the former term is more broadly understood and thus more useful. A...

      It's similar to roguelike vs roguelite where basically all modern games fit into the latter category if we're being pedantic but the former term is more broadly understood and thus more useful. A very small minority actually cares if a roguelike game is actually similar to Rogue the game.

      5 votes
      1. Minori
        Link Parent
        I use roguelite when I mean roguelite because the average reader still sees roguelike. Even in speech, it's similar enough that most people won't notice. I think the difference between the two...

        I use roguelite when I mean roguelite because the average reader still sees roguelike. Even in speech, it's similar enough that most people won't notice. I think the difference between the two words is useful to know, but it's not worth being prescriptive over.

        2 votes
  2. guissmo
    Link
    Love the Venn diagram in this article. Helps me discover new games and lets me know what to expect!

    Love the Venn diagram in this article. Helps me discover new games and lets me know what to expect!

    4 votes
  3. chocobean
    Link
    Lawnmowering is one of the terms I've not heard of before, and perfectly describes my least favourite type of puzzle game. On the other hand, Database Thriller sounds right up my alley. A few of...

    Lawnmowering is one of the terms I've not heard of before, and perfectly describes my least favourite type of puzzle game.

    On the other hand, Database Thriller sounds right up my alley. A few of the titles mentioned are horror, unfortunately, but Immortality has been wishlisted.

    3 votes