I'm considering trying to make a metroidvania-style game but I'm a bit worried that 2D side-scrollers have become the "military FPS" of the indie scene, a genre so overcrowded and same-y that few will show interest regardless of how good the game actually is.

Any thoughts?

BTW, I'm new here so let me know if this is the wrong topic.

The scene still definitely needs a well-made metroid-vania game.

Be aware however that different takes on the genre have been made.

For example, La Mulana really rocks when it comes to a slower pace and a sense of awe and mystery, so attempting to go down that route might be very difficult.

Chasm is also coming out sooner or later, and they have their own take on the genre.

Be sure to study your competition, and that your concept has something new to bring to the table: different pacing or focus.

Metroidvania lovers love their metroidvanias. Once they've beat them all, they need more games, but it can't be just a copy with more levels...

but I'm a bit worried that 2D side-scrollers have become the "military FPS" of the indie scene, a genre so overcrowded and same-y that few will show interest regardless of how good the game actually is.

You worry too much. Design a game that you would like to play.

You worry too much. Design a game that you would like to play.

and hasn't been done yet.

You could make a top-down metroidvania. You can still capture the feelings of exploration and gaining new abilities without the platforming. But I completely agree with Orymus3, there's still plenty of space to be explored in side-scrolling shooter/platformer metroidvania type games. Just maybe don't make one about a female bounty hunter with super missiles, and screw attacks.

I definitely feel side-scrollers are overdone. However, 'overdone' doesn't mean, 'avoid it', it just means you need to stand out more from the crowd (which is true for any game, regardless of genre), and you need to make it more polished and more high-quality than the masses of sub-par games out there.

That said, I don't think metroidvanias are overdone. Especially not metroidvania RPGs (action-RPGs or turn-based RPGs).

The genre itself isn't the problem. It's just that, much like FPSes, the average delivered game is vanilla and clichéd.

Thanks for the advice. I think I may go with a top-down Legend of Zelda style.

I see that you're debating on a Legend of Zelda style, but in my opinion, that too is "overdone". If you look at any genre, there are dozens if not hundreds if not thousands in every genre, which pretty much makes every genre "overdone". (Examples: 3D Survivals, 2D Sidescrollers, retro stryle RPGs)

However, you can still make your game stick out in any genre as long as you do it well.

I would look at games that failed in the genre to see what they potentially did wrong and then compare them to those who did well and look for key things that those guys did right. But overall, don't make a clone of another military FPS 2D sidescroller. Make it it's own entity, it's own original game.

I think that genre in this sense isn't as important as interesting abilities, a world worth exploring, etc., when it comes to standing out of a crowded market.

I have to admit to groaning a little when I hear a new 2d sidescroller metroidvania announced, but it's not really because of the genre. ("Hey man, do you have permanent ability upgrades and a game world partitioned by ability gates?" "Yup." "Aww daaang man, I'm no longer interested." That'd be silly.) It's more that I'm expecting the same-ol'-same-ol', the wall a little higher than my jump, the double jump upgrade that gets me over it, etc.

But if you're letting players do stuff they've never done in a place they've never been, then it's less important what perspective it uses and how the world is structured.