Literally every genre in every medium has a few critically acclaimed darlings that get a lot more attention than others. I don't see how Metroidvanias are unique in that regard.
HK's status is no more bizarre than SOTN or SM's. Those games are highly revered because they are incredibly high quality, high impact games.
And yes I do want you to call out some games. Your last several posts you have been alluding to incredible under the radar Metroidvanias that HK fans have never heard of. Tell us what these mysterious games are, if they're as high quality as HK and SOTN then I'm sure everyone in this thread would like to play them.
In the same way as HK, i really like SOTN and SM, but of course they have a bigger historical reason to be so loved. I'm not arguing against any of them being high quality games, but at the same time i don't think they're 3 steps above everything else. Personally i think Metroid Fusion is better than SM and Order of Ecclesia is better than SOTN, though obviously they aren't as important in terms of impact.
Maybe because it's mostly an "indie" genre aside Nintendo with Metroid nowadays, but different from other genres, i feel like popular Metroidvanias doesn't really increase the popularity of the genre itself.
I feel like you're being facetious about the list part, but whatever, some stuff to consider:
Valdis Story: It has probably the best combat in a side scrolling game, with lots of diablo like build possibilities and 4 different characters. It's probably more on the hard side but it's the golden standard for combat in Metroidvanias for me.
La-Mulana 1/2: Nothing beats them in terms of tight non linear level design. They are packed with content, but never feel bloated.
Unepic: Another enormous metroidvania, packed with unique, diverse level design and a pseudo D&D character progression. It ends with a rather weird tower defense setpiece but it's great how the game tries to feel really different every area.
Castle in the Darkness: Just an honest and tight game with a similar jump and slash routine to HK and really fun map that is similar to SOTN, in the way it starts linear but branches well in different paths later.
Untitled Story: More focused in precision platforming but with super fun non linear level design. It's free and imo every fan of the genre with any kind of computer should try it atleast once.
Bunny Must Die: A lot of people on Era would probably hate the super weeby aesthetics, but i love how unique the almost bullet hell enemy design is.
Environmental Station Alpha: Feels like a minimalistic Metroid at first, but really nails the feeling of mystery on its extremely cryptic post game. Like if you're doing some kind of arg inside the game, it's hard to explain.
Dunno how many would like these more than HK or even like them for starters, but they're worth a play and deliver experiences you won't see in HK, for sure.
I think in the end i also don't understand how Chrono Trigger is so much better than other stuff or how Ocarina of Time is so much better than other stuff in the same way with HK.
If you can "cite a lot of stuff that you would consider as good as HK/SOTN/SM" in a conversation about the popularity of those particular games in relation to other Metroidvanias, it's probably because the really popular ones did something that caused a whole bunch of people to notice them and that "lot of stuff" you can cite, for whatever reason, didn't hit the same.
I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but you're not gonna get an objective metric on whether or not Hollow Knight deserves it popularity relative to its quality, because "it's popular because it sold a lot" is a verifiable statement and "the game deserves to have sold a lot" isn't, since that's something up to subjective interpretation of its audience, and your argument to the effect of "Hollow Knight sold so much because its fans don't play more Metroidvanias" is silly because you're trying to decide what makes someone feel something about a video game.
Ori and the Blind Forest more like Boring and the Whine Forest lmao gottem
I think people itt are taking it backwards. I'm very happy that HK sold a lot and i think it's clearly deserved. But holy fuck there's so many great stuff in the genre that gets only the crumbs. HK not being a ladder for the genre is super frustrating.
In hindsight, it was probably not the best idea to post it in this specific thread and i can see how pretentious i sound when i say that. But i still want to stand to my point, just maybe don't know how to express it better.
