Gal Guardians: Demon Purge - Review (Gal*Gun but Castlevania Style!?)

[@martinmalkonen3081]

Its refreshing to see someone doing fairly unbiased reviews and actually reccommending games instead of just critizising them biasly.

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

Thanks very much! I always try to look at every game I play from every point of view, even points of view that I don't personally follow. It's something that I feel is lost in a world of clickbait, ragebait and negativity. I certainly have played some games that I felt were poorly designed BUT, I still try to find the good OR consider who might enjoy it, even if I didnt. Thanks a lot for watching my review and for your comment, I appreciate it!😊👍🏻

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

QUICK NOTE: I've decided to change the title of the video after getting a few comments which have educated me on the "Metroidvania" genre. In the video I refer to this game as a "Metroidvania" pretty much the entire time and that's simply because I thought it was one. It shows up as one when you search the term on Google and it was marketed as such. However, I've been told about some subtle differences and about what makes a game a true "Metroidvania". Grim Guardians seems to be classed a "Castlevania style game" but not a true "Metroidvania". Sorry for any confusion, I'm very new to this type of game but I'm absolutely willing to learn. Thank you to everyone who provided the information, I appreciate it👍🏻

[@ShadowCthulhu]

Gal*gun in open world, I will definitely try this out. That one scene look like it was ripped from Chrono Trigger. Recommendations 2D: Bloodstained Ritual of the Night (you mentioned already) Record of Lodoss War Deedlit in the Wonder Labyrinth (also mentioned) Blasphemous (kind of like a 2D Dark Souls) Hollow Knight Salt And Sanctuary (also close to a 2D Dark Souls) TMNT Danger of the Ooze (this is from PS3 generation) Axiom Verge Shantae Series Overlord Escape from Nazarick (Nintendo Switch) Castlevania Advance Collection Castlevania Requiem Minoria Micetopia (can be completed in about 1hr) Mummy Demastered EDIT added: Apotheon (Characters designed to look like Greek pottery) Chasm (world is always different Rouge-like?) Forgone Shadow Complex Remastered Strider (PS3/PS4) Metroid (any game outside of the Prime series) If I can think of others I will edit this post. EDIT: These are more like ClassicVania Games TMNT Shredder's Revenge Bloodstained Curse of the Moon series Castlevania Anniversary Collection

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

Well if you do decide to pick it up, I hope you have a good time with it! Thanks for the suggestions as well, I've made a note of them all and I will absolutely look into them all. I really appreciate you watching the review!😊👍🏻

[@ShadowCthulhu]

@@ConsolesOnlyGaming Already order a physical copy, had it ordered when I saw it on Play-Asia about a week ago.

[@xyzYAZEEDxyz]

You must play Castlevania SOTN, its the pinnacle of the genre, i belive a remaster version is available exclusively on ps4.

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

I will absolutely look into that! Thanks very much and cheers for watching my review! I appreciate it.😊👍🏻

[@shingouki8285]

I have to say portrait of ruin is the Pinnacle of the genre personally, but to each their own.

[@Sonnance]

Been looking forward to this game, glad to hear it turned out well! And hey, welcome to the Metroidvania rabbit hole, heh. As a fan of the genre, this one caught my eye because of both how unexpected it was (arcade/rail shooter -> Metroidvania is such an odd leap I had to see what they were up to) as well as how it seemed to be doing some unconventional things for the genre (a co-op mode, machine gun with reload primary, and some of the traversal abilities shown in the trailer.) Definitely interested in seeing the full thing for myself. And yeah, “awkward” combat is kind of a staple of Metroidvanias, especially those more Symphony of the Night inspired. Not awkward as in bad, but more a learning curve to figure out how to deal with enemies at odd angles, while avoiding damage yourself, as well as learning to safely use laggy moves or even cancel the lag itself (often with landing-cancels.) Excited to hear the bosses have some almost puzzle-like elements, as mechanically interesting bosses are one thing Metroidvanias don’t always focus on. As for what other Metroidvanias to try? Well, there are a lot of good ones, but for a few of my favorites: The Metroid series itself, of course. Super Metroid (SNES) is probably the most representative of the genre, but I’ve always loved Metroid Fusion (GBA) for its heavier story focus, even if it sacrifices a lot of non-linearity in the process. Castlevania, SotN onwards. Pre-SotN, the series didn’t have the same exploratory focus, being more linear action platformers, but most 2D entries after follow SotN’s lead in that regard. SotN (PS1), of course, being the definitive example, and Aria of Sorrow (GBA) being maybe my favorite(?) for its extensive abilities. For some smaller names, Axiom Verge if you like weird H. R. Giger-esque sci-fi with robust lore, Salt & Sanctuary for a soulsborne twist, and Touhou: Luna Nights for its unique combat and traversal mechanics. So yeah, definitely no shortage of quality titles, but those are a few favorites that jump to mind. Anyway thanks, as always, for the review!

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

Hey man, thanks for the incredibly detailed comment. I've read the whole thing and made some notes😁. Its good to know that everything I got from the game and explained in the video, made sense. I was getting a little annoyed of some of the deaths which felt cheap but I started to get better at it and basically treated it like a souls game. By that I mean, used my deaths as a learning tool and stopped myself getting irritated. I think its really great and I'm looking to play more! What do you think of Bloodstained and Wonder Labyrinth? I considered playing those as well. Anyway, thanks a lot for watching the review, I always appreciate that! Also, no need to thank me for the video, but you're most welcome👍🏻😊

[@Sonnance]

@@ConsolesOnlyGaming Heh, yeah sorry about that. Brevity is not my strong suit. (I swear, I do try though!) And yeah, Bloodstained is definitely solid. It doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel, and some of the optional stuff can get a bit grindy, but it’s a very high quality Metroidvania with a lot of content. As for Deedlit, I actually haven’t beaten that yet. It’s made by the same team that made Touhou Luna Nights, but for some reason isn’t gripping me as much. Beautiful spritework, and some neat mechanics, but I’ve found myself putting it down for long stretches at a time. Had trouble pinning down exactly why though, sorry.

[@hazzar7784]

Waoah I'll be picking this up. The front hall looked ripped out of Symphony of the Night. These graphics are beautiful. I'll need to pick this up when I can

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

Haha yea, I've never played SOTN but the moment I started playing this game I was reminded of Castlevania. Its really quite good in my opinion and if you like the genre then I have to imagine you'd enjoy this game. Let me know if you do pick it up, I'd like to know what you think of it! Thanks for watching as always!👍🏻

[@danbooke2001]

Men of culture, unite!

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

Well of course! lol. Sadly there isn't too much fan service in this as they clearly weren't going for that, but its still pretty cool. There's a few bits of full screen art here and there plus some in-game stuff like the plant/tentacle boss, but nothing too spicy. Still though, I quite like the game overall.

[@jaymillz82]

Bloodstained as a whole is very good, highly recommend

[@jamberrycloud]

Looks pretty neat, and the art is nice (pixel art, but not trying to be the "fancy" modern type, if that makes sense lol). Not familiar with the source material though; Bullet Girls 2 was my guilty pleasure "shooter" 😆. Also not an expert on the metroidvania genre, but I think "backtracking" is a necessary and prominent component of a game in the genre. To a scrub like me, this looks more like a Rockman (Megaman) type game; maybe the gothic theme here is misleading lol. Haven't played (m)any in the (wider) genre either, but have purchased several 2D sides rolling action games based on recommendations and general gaming media consumption. Disclaimer though: they are almost all backlog games 🥲 since gaming time is limited and new titles keep coming out 😆. Bloodstained (you mentioned, widely recommended, Igarashi) Bloodrayne Betrayal [Fresh Bites] (animation so smooth) Ender Lilies (wanted to check out the dev) Touhou Luna Nights (nice art, music said to be good) Rain World (said to be legendary, but must go in blind) Sakuna of Rice and Ruin (the farming is actually not that prominent, but time/resource management is) Downwell (perhaps the only action game that functions on phone/touchscreen) Finally any of the Vanillaware titles! (duh)

[@Durka-Durka01]

Got this one ordered. 👍

[@daaa57150]

Yes play Bloodstained, it's a very good Metroidvania. But more importantly, start with Super Metroid and Symphony of the Night, the 2 classics that made the name of the genre. Gal Guardians is a Metroidvania but very close to the old Castlevanias in the gameplay I think, it looks like a beefed up Rondo of Blood to me (I'm 2h in the game).

[@fdevlin5932]

Apparently the word metroidvania has been misused so often that it has lost any definition and become entirely meaningless.

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

As I said in the video, I'm very new to this style of game so I did some research and the term "Metroidvania" seemed to suit this game so that's what I went with. I basically saw this: "Metroidvania is a sub-genre of action-adventure games and/or platformers focused on guided non-linearity and utility-gated exploration and progression. These games usually feature a large interconnected world map the player can explore, although parts of the world will be inaccessible to the player until they acquire special items, tools, weapons, abilities, or knowledge within the game". As far as I understood it, Grim Guardians is basically that. I'm not arguing with you by the way, I'm trying to better understand things. Perhaps you could explain to me why it isn't a Metroidvania? I do wanna thank you for watching though, I appreciate that!

[@fdevlin5932]

@@ConsolesOnlyGaming Dude it’s been misapplied since the day after day one. Here’s the full truth: only Castlevania games can be correctly labeled Metroidvanias. Symphony of the night was nicknamed a Metroidvania because it was a Castlevania game with Metroid gameplay elements. The genre should be, and should always have been, Metroid-like. Maybe if a game has both Metroid-like elements and Castlevania-like elements, it could be called a Metroidvania. But 99 times out of 100, when people say Metroidvania, they’re referring to a metroid-like.

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

Ah I see, well that's absolutely fair enough. As I mentioned, I've not really played a game of this kind properly before so its all very new to me. I really do appreciate the information though, I've changed the title of the video AND posted a pinned comment about it. Obviously I cant change the use of the word IN the video itself, but I think most people should understand. Thanks again!

[@CorruptedH]

Not a metroidvania

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

You dont think so? It has pretty much everything a game in that genre would have so I'm a bit confused as to why you think it isnt a Metroidvania. Including areas you cant reach until you unlock an ability that lets you do so. I mean, if you Google "upcoming Metroidvania games", Grim Guardians shows up.

[@ShadowCthulhu]

@@ConsolesOnlyGaming If the game is stage based it is ClassicVania games rather than the Metroid style Open World games. That is where the confusion of these sites shows, when they claim every 2D side scroller is a "metroidvania". Metroid style open world games are one large inter-connected world that you "open" as you progress, hence the original name being "open the world" games. Me and you have talked about this before. So I can understand the confusion, it comes from how these sites just lump things together and change names of genres.

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

@ShadowCthulu Ah I see, but that's the thing, the game world does open up as you progress but not on the first playthrough. Even though the game world is broken up into stages, that's only at the start. Beating the first run isnt really beating the game, its basically a long tutorial. Once you get through that, you can go to any place in any stage and walk between them whenever you want as if it was an open world. You can then use your new abilities to find secrets and reach new areas and open shortcuts that you couldnt before. So I mean, isnt that exactly what a metroidvania is except that first tutorial run? Or, is the stage set up with bosses at the end of each one THE thing that makes it different? Just so you know, I'm not trying to argue lol Just trying to understand a genre thats very new to me😊