After I tried Hollow Knight for the 3rd time I finally had the realization that I just don’t like metroidvanias. Tunic, Ori, HK, Guacamelee. Bounced off every single one of them despite wanting to like them. The closest I’ve ever gotten to liking one was Death’s Door, but that took some work to get through. Not really a metroidvania but it sort of feels like one? Ultimately the music and vibe/combat kept me going and you don’t really need to return to locations if you don’t want to, so you can keep marching forward for 90% of the game.
I honestly think it’s all the in-house directs now that really killed it. The sad thing is now they all get to control their narratives and put on a pretty, but tightly produced/curated show and we all lose the little snipes back and forth and comparisons that happen at events like E3. It felt more…gladiatorial, I guess?