I feel bad for Exophobia, not because it's a buggy mess, or too hard, but because of how little love it has received. The Metroidvania fans have been blessed in 2024 with incredible games: Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus, Gestalt Steam and Cinder, Biogun, Biomorph, Crypt Custodian, Nine Sols, Prince of Persia. SO MANY incredible Metroidvanias are releasing this year, and this one is right up there with them, but I can also understand a FPS game not being everyone's cup of tea.

Exophobia is a game that has inspiration to classic 'boomer shooter' titles like Wolfenstein and Doom, but has a Metroidvania twist to it and I will say like a game back in the 90s and 80s, it is a pretty vague game, but it's not a super large game as it only has four floors to travel between as you're stuck on a ship. The entire game you travel from floor to floor fighting aliens, gaining new powerups (mostly upgrading your gun, but some fun ones like a teleporter), and unlocking clues and collectibles to figure out what happened to the human crew on the ship. The story is pretty simple and easy to follow. Collectibles like book logs give you lore of the game if you so desire (they're optional).

The combat is like classic DOOM with the only horizontal movement with the gun and simple animations when enemies die. It's not that hard and if you do die you will lose all your progress with items found and get sent back to your last save. Which is fine, the game does have a lot of save points and you'll use them a lot as one of the most unique features with this game is the map disappearing and 'dying' if keep it open to long. You restore it by saving. It can be a frustrating mechanic, but makes you plan the game more accordingly.

Overall, Exophobia is a fantastic metroidvania. If you are a boomer shooter fan you will enjoy it, especially if you like metroidvanias. If you've only played more platformer esque metroidvanias you may struggle with this one a bit, but it's always good to broaden your gaming horizons. The combat isn't anything crazy, the bosses are pretty fun, the story isn't super long, and the collectibles are fun to get! If you beat the game and crave more their is a boss rush mode and endless mode.

Give it a shot!

Disclaimer: I'm only at 30% of completion at the time of this writing.

But the game is shaping up to be fantastic! I love everything so far, the graphics are great and easy to read even in the middle of a fight, the game is a joy to control (the slide is super satisfying) and it is pretty much a Metroid-like as an FPS.

You start the game all by yourself, in the middle of a huge building with multiple floors (with each their own atmosphere), and it's up to you to find your way out. Hostile aliens shoot at you, large alien soldiers are waiting for you in boss rooms, and you have no clue where to go: you just try to move forward. Grab a key, open a door, try to go to the left, stuck, go to the right, oh it's an elevator!
The difficulty feels absolutely right, not too easy, not too hard, and there's even a cool feature (that you can disable) with the map having a limited battery outside of save rooms: better make sure you quickly see where you need to go! But worry not, helpful signs can help you get back on the way to a safe place.

The game feels right on many, many points. I truly love it and can't wait to continue playing!