I’m gonna take a lot of heat for this, and trust me when I say I already have in my work Slack, but Metroidvanias don’t do anything for me. I’m a big Castlevania fan, but primarily before they became Metroidvanias. I also don’t consider this a knock on the subgenre; it’s really just all of the backtracking to previously explored locations that loses my interest.
Anywho, I finally found one that I genuinely want to play, and not just to impress my co-workers. Although, anyone who knows me won’t be surprised by the Metroidvania that finally made me care about Metroidvanias – Kong: Survivor Instinct, an official Monsterverse entry that takes place directly after the events of the excellent 2021 movie Godzilla vs. Kong.
For clarity, Kong: Survivor Instinct just came out today and I haven’t had the chance to play it, so I can’t actually say whether it’s any good, but it looks neat! Visually, there’s a lot going on, from the detailed renderings of famous kaiju to the rubble-laden environments basking in moonlight and cloud cover. I think it looks really nice, but again, all I’ve seen are screenshots and thus can’t vouch for how it all looks/performs in motion.
Developer 7Levels describes the game as a 2.5D action-adventure game with “realistic platforming, challenging combat, and metroidvania-style exploration during a thrilling quest of survival worthy of the Monsterverse franchise.” The story sounds pretty basic, but serviceable enough, starring an oil rig worker named David who’s looking for his missing daughter amidst the absolute chaos that follows in the wake of a war between Titans. David also has to contend with the Hyenas, a mercenary group with a new villainous scheme that re-emerges following the events of the 2019 film Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
I’m pretty much sold on everything about this game besides the “Metroidvania-style exploration,” which almost certainly portends gated backtracking through levels I’ve already seen. But hey, if it takes an official Monsterverse game to open me up to a genre with so many beloved games, that might not be such a bad thing.
Kong: Survivor Instinct is out now on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
I suppose it might be time for me to pick something from our list of the best Metroidvania games.
