{"id":818068,"date":"2025-12-08T18:11:53","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T18:11:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed"},"modified":"2025-12-08T18:11:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T18:11:53","slug":"game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\/","title":{"rendered":"Game of the Week: exploring the other things that make a Metroidvania great"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Some weeks picking a favourite game is pretty easy, but there’s been a lot of lovely stuff in the mix of late. Stellar Blade brings a surprisingly pleasant sense of PS2 focus to proceedings<\/a>, while Manor Lords<\/a> and No Rest for the Wicked<\/a> are both much-wanted early access games that promise to blossom in their own ways. Final Fantasy 16 had its own pleasures too<\/a>. What a week!<\/p>\n

That said, I can’t get away from Tales of Kenzera, the Afro-futurist Metroidvania that Ed reviewed<\/a> at the start of the week. It’s not just the appeal of the setting or the art or the thrill at seeing truly personal games that deal with personal experience. It’s something Ed wrote in his review that made me realise I had been misreading an entire genre for years.<\/p>\n

Maybe ‘misreading’ is the wrong word. More like mis-weighting. It’s more that I had been missing a vital component of what makes these games so special. When I think of Metroidvanias I think of the big, obvious stuff. These are intricate games in which you’re dropped into complex spaces, and these spaces offer a lot of options for where you can go at any moment. They have different types of doors and many of these doors are unlocked by new powers you steadily collect as you explore. That, I had assumed, was it: the Metroidvania template.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some weeks picking a favourite game is pretty easy, but there’s been a lot of lovely stuff in the mix of late. Stellar Blade brings a surprisingly pleasant sense of PS2 focus to proceedings, while Manor Lords and No Rest for the Wicked are both much-wanted early access games that promise to blossom in their own ways. Final Fantasy 16 had its own pleasures too. What a week! That said, I can’t get away from Tales of Kenzera, the Afro-futurist Metroidvania that Ed reviewed at the start of the week. It’s not just the appeal of the setting or the art or the thrill at seeing truly personal games that deal with personal experience. It’s something Ed wrote in his review that made me realise…<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":818069,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[230],"tags":[259,542,79,9116,75,2275,59,136,1928,8773,54,9398,9399],"class_list":["post-818068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eurogamer","tag-action-adventure","tag-electronic-arts","tag-fantasy","tag-game-of-the-week","tag-indie","tag-metroidvania","tag-pc","tag-platformer","tag-puzzle","tag-side-view","tag-single-player","tag-surgent-studios","tag-tales-of-kenzera-zau"],"yoast_head":"\nGame of the Week: exploring the other things that make a Metroidvania great | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Some weeks picking a favourite game is pretty easy, but there's been a lot of lovely stuff in the mix of late. Stellar Blade brings a surprisingly\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Game of the Week: exploring the other things that make a Metroidvania great | Arcader News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some weeks picking a favourite game is pretty easy, but there's been a lot of lovely stuff in the mix of late. Stellar Blade brings a surprisingly\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-08T18:11:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"270\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\"},\"headline\":\"Game of the Week: exploring the other things that make a Metroidvania great\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-08T18:11:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":252,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Action-Adventure\",\"Electronic Arts\",\"fantasy\",\"Game of the Week\",\"indie\",\"metroidvania\",\"PC\",\"Platformer\",\"Puzzle\",\"Side view\",\"single-player\",\"Surgent Studios\",\"Tales of Kenzera: ZAU\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Eurogamer\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\\\/\",\"name\":\"Game of the Week: exploring the other things that make a Metroidvania great | Arcader News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-08T18:11:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\"},\"description\":\"Some weeks picking a favourite game is pretty easy, but there's been a lot of lovely stuff in the mix of late. Stellar Blade brings a surprisingly\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great.jpg\",\"width\":480,\"height\":270,\"caption\":\"Game of the Week: exploring the other things that make a Metroidvania great\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Game of the Week: exploring the other things that make a Metroidvania great\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"description\":\"Free Arcade News from the Best Online Sources\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\",\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Arcade News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cricketgames.tv\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/author\\\/arcade-news\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Game of the Week: exploring the other things that make a Metroidvania great | Arcader News","description":"Some weeks picking a favourite game is pretty easy, but there's been a lot of lovely stuff in the mix of late. Stellar Blade brings a surprisingly","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Game of the Week: exploring the other things that make a Metroidvania great | Arcader News","og_description":"Some weeks picking a favourite game is pretty easy, but there's been a lot of lovely stuff in the mix of late. Stellar Blade brings a surprisingly","og_url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\/","og_site_name":"Arcade News","article_published_time":"2025-12-08T18:11:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":270,"url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Arcade News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Arcade News","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\/"},"author":{"name":"Arcade News","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839"},"headline":"Game of the Week: exploring the other things that make a Metroidvania great","datePublished":"2025-12-08T18:11:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\/"},"wordCount":252,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great.jpg","keywords":["Action-Adventure","Electronic Arts","fantasy","Game of the Week","indie","metroidvania","PC","Platformer","Puzzle","Side view","single-player","Surgent Studios","Tales of Kenzera: ZAU"],"articleSection":["Eurogamer"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\/","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\/","name":"Game of the Week: exploring the other things that make a Metroidvania great | Arcader News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great.jpg","datePublished":"2025-12-08T18:11:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839"},"description":"Some weeks picking a favourite game is pretty easy, but there's been a lot of lovely stuff in the mix of late. Stellar Blade brings a surprisingly","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great.jpg","width":480,"height":270,"caption":"Game of the Week: exploring the other things that make a Metroidvania great"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/game-of-the-week-exploring-the-other-things-that-make-a-metroidvania-great\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Game of the Week: exploring the other things that make a Metroidvania great"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/","name":"Arcade News","description":"Free Arcade News from the Best Online Sources","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839","name":"Arcade News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Arcade News"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/cricketgames.tv"],"url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/author\/arcade-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=818068"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818068\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1419884,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818068\/revisions\/1419884"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/818069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=818068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=818068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=818068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}