What about games like Super Meat Boy and Celeste, where said platforming is the sole focus of the game (rather than something that's just a small portion of it)? (Note that these two games are definitely not metroidvanias.)


I do thing that Hollow Knight could have used some sort of assist mode.

Two things that would helped the game considerably:
* A mode where the penalty for death is eliminated; you'd still be sent back to the last bench you used, and fragile charms would still break, but you wouldn't have to find your shade to get your money back and fix your soul meter.
* An option to spawn at the start of the room you were in instead of going back to the previous bench.

Honestly, it hasn't felt that way for me.

What I'd be more interested in is some SaGa-likes, or other turn-based RPGs that do things differently while staying in-genre. Also, more Wizardry-likes (first person dungeon crawlers with turn-based combat, and where the focus is solely on exploration and combat rather than things like story or NPC interaction) would be nice. (Note that later Sir-Tech Wizardry games don't fit this definition of a Wizardry-like.)

Also, bullet hell SHMUPS (even though they tend to be different), action puzzle games (think Tetris), and troll platformers (think Syobon Action).

True. Or even just follow the example of Super Metroid and place benches at most 1 screen away from the boss. This would definitely change my mind and start playing it again. It could very easily be implemented as an option, so that more hardcore gamers do not feel it's too easy.

I haven't played them. I did watch my husband play Super Meat Boy a bit and I could tell I would have hated it.

Note that there is a shortcut or two in the white palace in HK. Still I would agree that it's a bit much, considering that's the route to the proper ending and final boss.

I got it recently from finkleroy in the gog community giveaway, a leftover from Doc0075's massive giveaway.

Just finished my playthrough. Enjoyed it very much. Did both normal endings and Vilete one of the true endings.

I'm yet to race through that secret dungeon and face the extra bosses, though.

I do wish it had a more elaborate map and a little less pallet swap enemies, but, overall, it was a very fun ride. :)