When comparing Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet vs Strider, the Slant community recommends Strider for most people. In the question“What are the best metroidvania games for PC?” Strider is ranked 5th while Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is ranked 18th. The most important reason people chose Strider is:
Strider is a really fast-paced side-scrolling hack and slash. The enemies will never stop trying to shoot your or end you in any way possible. This could easily become punishingly difficult, but is avoided thanks to the very responsive controls. You'll scale walls and kill groups of enemies within seconds, which truly makes you feel like an assassin with inhuman reflexes. The boss fights increase the tempo and may seem really cheap at first. Luckily, you'll learn their abilities over time, which will allow you to predict and counter them all. Defeating a boss without taking a single hit feels incredibly satisfying.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Excellent sound design and aesthetic create an immersive, unique world
Normal play has eerie sound effects that make way for wonderful orchestral scores during cut scenes. The overall design of the sound for this game is well thought out.
Pro Minimal story that lets the player get to the meat of the game
There is an intro to the game that sets up the story and from there not much in the way of continuing this though cutscenes. It is up to the player to fill in the blanks with their imagination which lets one get to the gameplay with little interruptions.
Pro 4 player local and online co-op modes
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet features a four player online and local co-op mode.
Pro Fast, fun combat
Strider is a really fast-paced side-scrolling hack and slash. The enemies will never stop trying to shoot your or end you in any way possible. This could easily become punishingly difficult, but is avoided thanks to the very responsive controls. You'll scale walls and kill groups of enemies within seconds, which truly makes you feel like an assassin with inhuman reflexes.
The boss fights increase the tempo and may seem really cheap at first. Luckily, you'll learn their abilities over time, which will allow you to predict and counter them all. Defeating a boss without taking a single hit feels incredibly satisfying.
Pro Tons of collectibles
You can find new upgrades, concept art, story info, character info, and costumes during the game. There are also hidden challenges such as Survival and Beacon. Only the upgrades are marked on the map, so the rest can be difficult to find, making 100% completion a tough goal to reach.
Pro Big game world that rewards exploration
The world of Strider is massive city where you'll be climbing a lot of high walls and tall buildings. It also hides a lot of upgrades that will help you clear a level or beat a boss a lot easier. Most of these can only be accessed later when you have the right type of weapon (similar to Metroid Prime). So you'll be spending a lot of time exploring (backtracking) if you decide to access these new locations.
Cons
Con Boring and repetitive
Con Short
Only takes a 4 to 5 hours to finish the game.
Con Cannot skip pre-boss chatter
This is not an issue if you don't die to a boss, but if you do, you have to sit through their introduction and banter every time. You cannot skip talk scenes you've already seen. The final boss, in particular, is quite the chatter-box.
Con No "Fast-Travel" really
It is a big game world, and most of the time you are stuck exploring it all by foot. There is something that lets you travel between areas, but they are few and far between and not really all that helpful. Plus, it is unlocked fairly late into the game. If you know there is something you need to return to on the other side of the game, you are in for a good hike.
Con Story is not explained
Strider has a very simple "good guy defeats evil tyrant" type of story, but none of the characters are truly fleshed out.