I'm a big fan of these kinda games where you explore an area collect items/level up to fight bosses.
My favorite is Order of Ecclesia for the DS. It was just great gameplay, a decent story, and great art.
I'm kinda unfamiliar with the new games in the genre, so I'd appreciate any suggestions. And is there a community of people who design those games?
I think there's sort of a maximum shelf life to the genre. Once you're making a mental map of everywhere you see with "come back with the high jump" then it loses a lot of its charm. Great games if you're not yet at that point, of course, but I am, so my recs are old.
Super Metroid - I mean, I assume you've played it, but you've gotta be sure, right? It holds up, but there's a handful of poorly telegraphed moments - namely, there's a wall you can blow up with super missiles to the right of the elevator to Norfair.
Super Metroid, again - I think seeing what you can get away with once you know how to wall jump is about as cool as the game itself. This sense of meta re-exploration with knowledge gained is what actually made Super Metroid cool, and it's a shame it's missing from most of the genre.
Axiom Verge 1 - One of the upgrades was actually new enough to get past my "come back with the high jump" instincts, so I have to recommend it to people who are getting to that point.
Bunny Must Die - Has the same "replay now that you know the wall jump" thing that Super Metroid does, but it's not the wall jump, and it's actually kind of cooler. If you can't get past the main character being a bunny girl, I can't blame you.
Hollow Knight - I also assume you've played this, but it gets past the tiring parts of the genre by giving up on being a Metroidvania and opening up 90% of the map after your third upgrade.
Metroid Fusion - Is a plot-based simulation of a Metroidvania rather than the real thing. I hated it when it came out, but it grew on me. More games in this genre should do the evolving location stuff.
The lab coat, right? The disruptor and passcode both scratched that itch for me a little bit, but it's hard to forget you have them or miss when you need them. The lab coat is so brilliantly simple that I constantly forgot its obstacle wasn't an obstacle for me anymore. Just when I was really getting used to having it I also got baited hard by that one one-way entrance, you know which one.
Yeah, the lab coat. I noticed places to use it a few times throughout the game, but I was like "well that looks like I'm supposed to come back with an item, but that can't be right, because what the fuck would make that make sense."