Everyone’s heard ofMetroidandCastlevania, the two namesakes of the Metroidvania portmanteau. However, while they’re undoubtedly the two biggest examples, standing alongside the genre’s heavy-weight champions are dozens of games that deserve their time in the spotlight. RELATED:Things Metroid Does Better Than Castlevania (& 5 That Castlevania Is Superior At) Some debate what truly makes a Metroidvania.Super MetroidandCastlevania: Symphony of the Nightset the bar high by takingaction platformer conceptsand blending them with exploration-based gameplay and roleplaying game elements....

Autobiographical stories, especially those that are grounded in real-life experiences, may be the rarest narrative genre employed in video games. Developer Synersteel, consisting of Anthony and Nicholas Vaccaro, is aiming to change that withValley of Shadow: an intensely personal narrative puzzle game about grief, emotional trauma, and healing through the lens of fanciful magic. Theindie gameis still a ways away, expected to debut on Steam next year, but people with an interest in titles that tackle real issues and serious subjects should take note....

In Riot Games’ free-to-play titleValorant,the word smurf no longer evokes fond memories of small blue humanoids who live in mushrooms. In the 5-v-5 tactical shooter, where ranked matches and teamwork form the core of the game, a smurf now has a much more negative connotation. Players across all levels ofValorant, in both ranked and unranked matches, have complained that smurfing negatively impacts the game for everybody else. And Riot Games has recently released a blog post entitled “Ask Valorant” in order to address this growing problem....

Mario Karthas inspired all kinds of copycats, though one of the most bizarre is easilyWarped Kart Racers.Warped Kart Racers, for the uninitiated, is a newly revealedMario Kartclonereleasing on Apple Arcade this month based on Fox’s adult animated sitcoms.Family Guy,King of the Hill, and more are represented, with the roster featuring fan favorite characters from the shows along with appropriate vehicles and tracks. Warped Kart Racersis launching with 20 characters in total, spread out across all four shows that are represented in the game....

TheHarry Potterfranchise has been one of the biggest entertainment franchises ever since the first book was published in 1997. The firstHarry Potterbook became a worldwide phenomenon, spawning a billion dollar film franchise, numerous sequels, supplementary books, video games, and much more. There are multipleHarry Pottertheme parks as well, really driving home the mindboggling popularity that the franchise has enjoyed for decades now. As one of the biggest media franchises ever, it’s no surprise that newHarry Pottercontent is still coming out on a regular basis....

Summary When a game’s features resonate with fans, it will most likely be passed down to subsequent titles, all while being tweaked and refined to keep fans invested. This trend is evident in franchises likeGod of War, whereRagnarokstuck with most of its predecessors' combat and role-playing elements to give fans one of thebest games of 2022. Similarly,Far Cry 5stands out as a commercial success and holds the title of the fastest-selling installment in the Ubisoft icon, and in light of recent developments, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the developer toeing the same line....

Summary SomeWorld of Warcraft Classicfans have discovered some interesting lore about Night Elves hidden in Season of Discovery via an NPC named Illari Duskfeather. Though the canonicity of this particularWorld of WarcraftNPC is debatable, the implications for her existence add a unique depth to the popular player race. Warning: Spoilers for World of Warcraft Classic Season of Discovery Phase 2 below. Season of Discovery is aClassic World of Warcraftserver that introduces some new twists to the game world....

Sonic Frontiershas been the subject of surprising controversy lately, with fans of the franchise and onlookers criticizing the recent presentations of Sega’s upcoming open-world 3D platformer. In wake of this criticism, many have called for Sega to delay the upcoming 3D platformer, claiming that the footage of the game showcased by IGN bears a lack of polish and requires more development time. After weeks of criticism leveraged atSonic Frontiers' gameplay, Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka has now responded and says that Sonic Team has no desire to delaySonic Frontiers, and that fans just “don’t understand” the game....

Summary A new update brings relief toXboxgamers who were once annoyed while browsing the Xbox Store for their next digital game purchase on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles. The recent Home experience update has been criticized byXboxplayers due to its incremental rollout around the world, but fans will be able to enjoy a new quality-of-life feature immediately after booting up their console. On July 26, Microsoft began to roll outthe new Home experience update for Xbox consoles....

Most of the battle royale genre fans have heard the tragedy ofPUBGbeing dethroned byFortnitein the course of a couple of months. Epic’s game took Bluehole’s child by surprise and introduced tons of quality-of-life features that were absent inPUBGback then. Funnily, the history repeated itself a few years later when all of a sudden,Apex Legendsreleased to an overwhelmingly positive reception. RELATED:10 PlayStation Vs. Xbox Memes That Are Too Funny For Words...

Throughout theFire Emblemseries, players are able to utilize a wide variety of unique characters in their armies. While some of the most iconic characters in the franchise wield weaponry such as swords, the series is filled to the brim with potent magic users. Offensive magic comes in numerous forms such as elemental anima magic and light magic. Magic units have a great deal of appeal, as they can easily subvertthe defenses of bulky armored units....

Summary For those who can’t get enough of Marvel characters, there are plenty of games available that could cater to their superhero or villain needs. Thanks to their wide spectrum of powers and abilities, Marvel characters can be placed in almost any video game genre and have them showcase their awe-inspiring feats of strength and intellect. Related:Marvel and DC Characters That Fortnite Can Still Add But which Marvel character has the most video game appearances?...

Besides Wolverine himself, there’s arguably noX-Mencharacter more iconic than the team’s founder and mentor, Professor Charles Xavier — better known as Professor X. As such, it’s appropriate that Professor X was the firstX-Mencharacter to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Indeed, fans were delighted to see Professor X make a brief appearance inDoctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madnessas a member of the Illuminati of Earth-838, played once again by Sir Patrick Stewart....