This Game Can’t Be Replicated 

I think Metroid Dread came pretty close for me. Samus moves so quickly and the toolkit you unlock only makes maneuvering her better. Plus the parry/counter thing is kind of like the sword slice-you can quickly 1 hit enemies with good timing, and on the enemy side the timing for their parryable attacks is tuned well for you to blaze through a level.

I find that Katana Zero does an excellent job with speed, precision, and capturing that flow that when you get it, you feel like a God Gamer.

Actually here's another contender: The Messenger. Speed, precision, flow. I think one of the important parts of making flow is that enemies are obstacles, but the game actually manages to make you want to go and kill them. in Zero most enemies are 1 shot with the sword and often just in your path, so you slash right through them and run/dash/jump along. In Gravity Circuit they do much of the same thing but they take a few more hits, however now they become projectiles so you can chain kills into each other giving you the same feeling of pace as Zero does. In The Messenger your grapple pulls you to enemies, *turning them into your dash* for the game. Also your sword 1 shots most things here too. Though admittedly The Messenger leans a bit more on its precision than speed, comparing it to Zero. I still feel like it does the flow though

Copen in Gunvolt 2 is exactly what one could be looking for Flying through the stage, slicing through enemies with your gun or ex weapons (ice blade in particular) It's very much the flow contrasting with gunvolts more deliberate gameplay

I highly recommend giving Cyber Shadow a look if you haven't already. The difficulty is quite high (but fair) and the dash isn't unlocked until part way through the game, but chaining dash strikes through enemies is one of the most satisfying feelings.

I did 3 playthroughs of Gravity Circuit in the 3 days after it came out. It's a blast start to finish and definitely captures that feeling, even going beyond it and making it more fun in my opinion. 🐾

Heck yeah! I had a blast playing this game! The mega man/zero formula of gameplay will always be one of my favorites, and I’m glad to see more games channel that.

I instantly recognized that green slashing shape in the thumbnail. The Zero series' flow is so exceptionally snappy and precise that the X games feel downright clunky if you pick one up right after playing a Zero title. I'd say that Copen's gameplay style from Gunvolt 2 and Luminous Avenger iX 1 is the closest Inti came to recapturing the flow of the Zero series in my eyes.

Gravity Circuit is a masterpiece, no doubt about it. It really blew me away. Not only is the movement satisfying, the whole game is brimming with a certain charm and personality that is hard to recreate.

Gunvolt 3's main character IS a sword user, btw. I feel like a lot of people skipped Gunvolt 3 despite it being one of the best 2D character actions games ever in terms of feel.

You should try Luminous avenger ix its an spin off of azure striker with a better focus on the "flow": you have a limited number of dashes but every time you bounce to a wall, roof or florr with it reloads, it include enemies and when you bounce to an enemy makes a target lok on so every shot goes to him and that makes the gameplay so fast and smooth Ps : sorry for bad English

Movement that flows well combined with speed that makes you feel like an absolute gamer, is ART. when listening to the video i also had certain racing games in mind, or wintersports games - when you get to board downhill with speed, through a nice snowscape with all sorts of obstacles, shortcuts and secret passages to discover, it's such a nice feeling.

Was not expecting to get brain blasted on a random work night when you mentioned Gunvolt man. I played a free demo of it on my 2ds years ago when I was still in school and that brought back some sweet memories! Great vid as always tho dude

Seeing Gravity Circuit really makes me want to give making a Mega Man Zero-inspired game idea that I've had rattling around in my brain for a while a try

This is such a fun topic! It's less anything scientific and more about the vibe of games. I'm sure we all have those games that have one or two aspects that we just adore and wish to see more of in other games. We can find some of them in some place, but it's rare to find something that REALLY captures the same feeling. And when you do, it's almost sort of magical. Two different games from different times, somehow providing such similar feelings. It's almost like a tether between the past and present, and it can make the child in all of us smile.

Gunvolt 3 has a sword user as the main protagonist and as far as the demo showed me, it works extremely well.

tried gravity circuit because of this video, enjoying it very much so far. I have one circuit left and coming back to this video just makes me wanna keep playing. thank you

Gravity Circuit was the first game I've played where it felt like the game was teaching me how to speedrun in real time. The level designs just scream "Hit this guy, so you can throw him at that guy, so you can make that jump clean, so you can slide under this stage hazard, etc etc" its an astoundingly good game.

Donkey Kong Country Returns and Tropical Freeze have a really good sense of flow, but they do it because of the momentum you can build up rather than instant turning and stuff as you have a more weighty feel.

Love the appreciation for the mmz series. Also love that gravity circuit seems to have used the z-knuckle, chain rod and recoil rod as part of its game play. Definitely gotta give it a try now

Like everyone else recommended, I'd love for you to review the Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX spinoff, or try Copen's campaign in Gunvolt 2 (the lead character of the spinoff). The speed and precision in both of those games are actually much higher than any Mega Man Zero game, as the gimmick of that is dashing into enemies to lock onto them before shooting homing shots. This means you need to be precise to airdash either forward or even diagonally into enemies which you can easily zip past if you time it wrong. They also have different level gimmicks that accommodate his abilities.

love to see the respect for Zero. definitely one of the tightest games of all time

The Megaman Zero/ ZX Advent games are so frikken good, thank you for the video!

The secondary character they added to the gunvolt series Copen feels a lot like a continuation/evolution of the Zero gameplay

One game that taught me speed, precision and flow has got to be Dead Cells. The game not only punishes you for not being precise and decisive with every of your actions. It rewards you when you actually do. Clear a floor fast enough, you can access a treasury room that gives you better weapons and tools. You're also rewarded when you tear through a certain amount of enemies without taking a single hit. To add to that, you are given a speed buff if you kill 8 enemies in a row. There are multiple mechanics that gives you that feeling of the "flow" such as dodge rolling, dive cancelling (which requires moderate timing and precision), shield dashing (exclusive to the Assault Shield). You want to go defensive and tactical? Fine by me. The game provides you all the tools for that stuff. But it *encourages* you to become a speed demon, tearing through every obstacles in your way just like the hot headed war-mongering soul you are (lore inteded joke)

I would definitely recommend trying Pizza Tower if you haven't already. It's not quite the same as the MMZ series, but I would say it has all three of those pillars you're talking about. It even has a grab/throw mechanic and the ability to just plow through enemies, if you know what you're doing

Inti Creates have done such a good job with the entire Megaman Zero series. I wish they had been able to make more (copium for a futile official ZX 3). Seeing the combo tech refined throughout the Zero series feels great and is very rewarding to learn and master. . Even after playing other action platformers, the MMZ-ZX series is what i always get back to, especially Zero 3 and ZX. . Gunvolt was great and i think they tried to get back "melee" from Zero by introducing Kirin in GV3, and i think it works well if you unlock XX mode.

If my pfp is no indication I love MM, and Zero and ZX are some of my favorite for the very flow that you mention in this vid, i'll have to check out this game after your vids on it, just seeing the trailers alone I thought it looked cool, but this analysis has me sold

You reminded me just how much I freaking love Megaman X. How many "Top 10" gaming lists have I mentioned without saying this series? It's tragic!

I loved the games and always pretended to be Zero as a kid!

On the topic of Flow this video essay is a great example of that. You nailed the pacing excellently.

may i also mention the luminous avenger games in the gunvolt franchise it may be closer to what you’re looking for

6:31 the wavedash asmr

Thank you so glad to see people talking about this game

all that gameplay praise and on top of it all the game looks so good

it is my solemn duty to upvote every YT video praising Gravity Circuit ; this game is amazing

Great video! Thanks for making it.

my god I knew I forgot about something from 2023!! My GOTY games are HI-FI RUSH and Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, Knuckle Sandwich coming in November will be too, but this game, that movement oh my, this is a definietly one of the best games this year too, I need to buy it as fast as I can! Thanks man for this awesome video, I strongly reccomend you playing these three games that I mentioned if you didn't, keep going with this awesome content!

Interesting how I was able to guess Flow being the third aspect.

I didn't know this game. Thank you!

The content is great! I need more monster hunter too though all of your videos on the series are 10/10

Pizza Tower & Neon White both have an immaculate "flow" feeling.

Reminds me how sometimes in rocket league you can feel like you're some telepathic and time-foretelling god because you ended up at the right place at the right itme.

house of dead ninjas nailed the speed and maneuverability while effortlessly cutting through enemies thing a long time ago.

Gravity Circuit character looks hell-of-a-lot like Shredder from the Ninja Turtles xD

Great video, I love Megaman Zero

Just got my physical copy of this for switch the other day. Excited to play it when I find the time, because there's just too many games these days.

I assume someone already pointed it out but, luminous avenger is also up there, it's the spin off from gunvolt that has that melee aspect you wanted

Megaman Zero was my favorite series when I was a kid, and you described it perfectly. That feeling is why I got into Smash bros Melee and Rivals of Aether too, they’re the only fighting games to capture that flow

4:42 You know what else Inti Creates made aside for the ZX games and Gunvolt? They also made Mega Man Zero games

How this game plays gives me a mischief makers vibe

Funny enough I was gonna say "Have you played Gunvolt" and then I saw gunvolt lol. It is made by the same people so that's why it's so close. Inticreate is a great studio.

Sanabi is a very recent game that I instantly thought of when you put up those three qualities. I've heard it described as Katana Zero with a grappling hook, but I haven't played KZ yet so I can't vouch for it. Sanabi has insanely fun and smooth gameplay that takes a while to click, but once you get why/how to swing in the right direction and speed at a given moment, you fly through enemies with that "pro gamer" feel. The main attack is somewhat of a slash where you grapple onto an enemy and ride it for a second before dashing away from it, so it might capture that feel that Gunvolt lacked. And that's not even talking about the story. Like, wow, the story is insane. For fear of spoiling any of it, I won't say a word about it except that it's exceptionally crafted and completely explained in a normal playthrough (as opposed to games like Hollow Knight, which make you dig through lore and/or watch video essays to understand it). Overall an amazing game that is relatively unknown (I mean it came out mid-November so I'm not surprised).

Mmz is just sooo smooth. Its the gold standard for contoll in my opinion

When you've mastered the dashes, sprints, bullet jumps, and aim glides in Warframe, the flow is there too

Watching this video the whole time I was thinking "has this guy played the Mega Man X games yet I have a feeling not, he would probably love X4" then he said the zero games were 20 years old and I have been playing mega man x style games for 30 years and realized I am fucking old.

What got MMZ series for me was not only the flow, but the game had a good story to back-it up too.the side characters had personality, and you could approach the game with different playstyles..

You sold me!

I think you really hit the whole speed thing. Basically as soon as I got used to the controls I will practically play through the stage with the sprint button practically glued down as I bounce from enemy to enemy smashing everything in a wild flow state. It’s become a great game to relax to and I can put something on to keep my higher functioning brain parts thinking and enjoying a podcast while my lizard brain and body just blast through the stage trying to get everything and be faster than before. My only complaint is that at the end of the game I gotta either start a new game or new game plus to experience the intro stage and the Ark again and I hope that there’s an update to fix that. Once I beat the whole game I want to be able to play everything again and just grind away at all of the stages to get faster times and to re fight Nega and the Circuit Boss Rush. Both are thrilling boss battles and it’s a real shame that I gotta go through all of this work to fight them again.

Ori did it perfectly for me and I have a very good feeling I'm also going to achieve flow in Silksong

That flow term that you described as made-up... Well, there is an academic paper by P. Cairns and E. Brown that describe the terms "immersion" "flow" and "presence" and what feeling it leaves to the player... So, I can safely say that what you described as flow is pretty close to what they said 😁 If you want you can check it out, it's called "A grounded investigation on game immersion" and it's pretty short, so you can have a look if you want

Great vid. Thanks man ...

sweet, so its like a love child between megaman, mischief makers and teeworlds

I DO BELIEVE Hollow Knight reaches a certain point where the upgrades really make you feel the "flow" effect, with all those talismans at that state you almost feel like the real threat of the game ends being yourself (which is not a coincidence as this is embedded in the story and design)

Damn I feel old 20years

Have you played 30xx? It also came out this year and gave me that feel.

Haven’t tried Gravity Circuit yet, but I’ve heard a lot of good about it. I’ll add it to my wishlist if it’s not on there yet. When talking about speed, flow, and precision though, the first game that always comes to my mind is Bleed 2 (totally not biased). I rarely find anyone who knows about it, and I think more people should. The speedrun potential is huge.

I saw this game advertised in like... January, and immediately I wish listed it. When it dropped, I bought it that same day. One of the best gaming decisions I've made this year.

Hey there, massive zero and hollowknight fan here with an odd suggestion for you. The first attack on titan game checks all these boxes for me albeit a 3d game. Also Mario Wonder was a pleasant surprise this year and the special world offered some awesome 2d challenge goodness.

the final boss in this game has such a ridiculous difficulty spike, i thought i was missing something when i played it

i noticed something about Gravity Circuit in your video... a lot of the things in it are visually similar to the older Megaman games as well. One of the gunships resembles the ones you fight in the opening level of X, the grapple resemble the Chain Rod from Zero 2, the main character's appearance looks like it could be one of the Robot Masters from the original Megaman games.... honestly i could go on. Its clear they drew a lot of inspiration from the Megaman series in terms of design and layout.

Loved the video ans the editing, any chance we get to know what tool you used?

Gravity Circuit's weapon mechanics seem like a more polished version of the ones throughout the Zero series. The Chain Rod was clunky in execution compared to GC's hook, and the grab attack is like a reworked Z Chip from Zero 4.

Strider 2's speed is so much fun! Double tap forward, mash that slash button, and dash towards the game's ending within a half hour. It's just a satisfying snack!

@mhswoocer What do you think about Dead Cells, Katana Zero and Oblivion Override when it comes to speed, precision and flow?

When you seaid the speed and precision combine to make the 3rd element, I instinctively said "Flow". Im glad to have gotten it right, as a while ago, I really got into Sonic Heroes. The game can be a bit glitchy here and there, but when i started getting the hang of the game's unique design, I felt that unique sense of flow, as the game isnt as focused on momentum as the classics or on pure speed like the boost games. There was satisfaction in overcoming each obstacle using the right character at the right time, and as I started playing Mega Man Zero more and more, I began to feel the same way despite it being a totally different game.

Ok I know we're getting old but did you have to hit us with the "which also came out 20 years ago" lmao

if you haven't played it yet, I'd highly recommend giving "cogen sword of rewind" a try. it's a one hit and you'll you die kind of game, but like the title implies, you are able to rewind time to about 3 seconds into the past.

I think there's a better word intead "flow" : "Rhythm" I say this because, the games you showed have this 3 things, but te "Rhythm" is diferent. Some are more slow, others have more pauses, the combination betwen all ingredients seems more like a rhythm

I like gravity circuit a lot, the only issue for me is how they break flow by giving bosses Invincibility for combo-ing

Narita Boy is pretty awesome, the speed ain’t there for comparison.. but it’s definitely fun swinging a sword around, and riding a floppy disk surfboard, and other really fun stuff to see. The mechanics are fun too

1:44 "Hollow Knight too" - My Brain "hollow night 2, silksong GIMMI GIMMI!"

I can't believe you didn't talk about the bosses. They're so good 😭 Because invincibility frames are really low, you will always do damage to the boss with your attacks. So the fight is almost always going at your pace. Chain dasher turns everything you said here up to 11. I haven't thought about it, but it's probably an all-time best video game ability for me. Being able to dash into enemies to begin your combos or even finishing them off with the dash is so satisfying. Then you can throw them and double jump.

There's a game that I know of that you might want to check out. I believe it's called 'Starbuster' - which replicates much of Megaman Zero's combat and mixes in Sonic Advance's speed and level design too.

I'd say you're missing an ingredients in "options" and "complexity". maybe you could call it "depth". in MMZ, at any given time, and for any situation, you have a plethora of options and approaches. why gunvolt falls short is that there isn't much depth. you shoot things to lock on, and you use electricity to do real damage. this also slows down the gameplay as you need to stop to keep the locks, lock more, and get a ton of points. in MMZ, you had 4 very different weapons that worked in very different ways except in Z4, you also had elemental chips, different elves you could use, and different options with each weapon. it also has a high skill cieling. the game can be completed by a complete novice by leveling up the OP cyber elves and sacrificing your rank for power, and you can basically become a god. or you can use minimal abilities and rip through bosses and challenges once you've mastered it. there's a huge range of skills that the game works for. the game can reallly be as difficult or easy as you want it to be.

Being able to code it is the true challenge, no matter what.

So glad that people still remember that this game exists

Can't believe this video mentions Gunvolt yet no Gunvolt 2 where Copen's gameplay has all that is described, swords included even

No one mentions Dead Cells? Actually one of the fastest game Ive played, the randomness of the environment also means u will always have to adapt. Its a superior mmz for me

Haven’t seen anyone mention it yet, but personally 30XX was a really good game for me to get my Megaman kicks off to. Platforming roguelike with a ton of callbacks to classic Megaman, all the way down to the loading slide before you enter a boss room (just because they could) anyway great video man, love seeing roguelike enjoyers discuss the niches that made us all fall in love.

I just like when game is dynamic and gameplay is tight, and I've been playing the Demo of Gravity Circuit and felt that Zero vibe just like you've mentionned. Also honorable mention (imo) to Dead Cells and Oblivion Override where you can achieve the same feeling (depending on your build, since they're both Roguelites) Also I recommend you to keep an eye for "Berserk Boy" as this game has a chance to bring this type of gameplay again ^^ On a side note, Inti Creates also did the Megaman Zero. I don't think you've mentioned it, only for the sequels.

Gravity Circuit is phenomenal.

I am glad that I am not the only one who sees Hollow Knight being inspired by Megaman Zero. Btw, try Moonrider.

I look at Gravity Circuit, & just see Final Ninja: Zero on those old flash game pages.

There is a game that does come close to MMZ, and that game is Starbuster, its just a demo but I recommend it

Thanks for the vid

This video reminded me how much I loved mmz2 and still consider it to have the best map designs of the series.

As much as this is a love letter to the Zero X series, I also see something familiar in the melee mechanics... and that's Melee. Directional jump attacks, grabs and throws that scratch the itch Super Smash's adventure modes never did.

I think that Katana Zero has what you are looking for 😉

I think Dead Cells is pretty close to MMZ as well, especially with the speed buff you get when you defeat enemies quickly