The Best Metroidvania Adventures to Explore
The Metroidvania sub-genre throws together elements found in Metroid and Castlevania. Game designs consist of expansive interconnected maps explored non-linearly and unearthing artifacts used for combat or unlocking new paths. These games highlight the intricacy of level design and progressive gameplay mechanics, showing how much power the player holds in weaving their adventure.
The interconnectedness of environment and abilities gives rise to a unique form of storytelling—where narratives unfold organically through the player’s exploration. Where mazes involve more than knowing which way to go, the best Metroidvania games require a strategic dance between unlocking abilities, backtracking through familiar territory, and unveiling hidden secrets.
1. Hollow Knight
In Hollow Knight, the player controls an insectoid, silent protagonist called “the Knight,” who explores the underground fallen kingdom known as Hallownest. This game consists of several large, interconnected areas with unique themes and bosses. Navigation evolves throughout the game upon the player acquiring new items like the Monarch Wings for a double jump or dashing with the Mothwing Cloak.
This fantastic game immerses players in a visually stunning world of intricate gameplay, curious characters, and formidable enemies. It has a sequel brewing, Hollow Knight: Silksong, hopefully launching in late 2024, but no confirmed date as of yet.
2. Ori and the Will of the Wisps
This game takes place immediately after the events of its predecessor, Ori and the Blind Forest, and creates a fresh experience, emphasizing new combat mechanics and exploration. Playing as Ori, a white guardian spirit, players must jump, climb, glide, and swim across platforms to solve intricate puzzles.
Ori’s attacks and stats get enhanced with shards purchased or found throughout the map. As players progress, they uncover the rich lore of the game world, deepening their connection to the endearing characters and narrative.
3. SteamWorld Dig 2
SteamWorld Dig 2, a sequel to the acclaimed original, immerses players in an underground adventure brimming with mining challenges and exploration.
Players play as Dorothy, a spirited steam-driven robot, as they delve into the depths below El Machino, searching for Rusty, the protagonist from SteamWorld Dig. The gameplay involves exploring a vast mine and coming up against enemy creatures while finding various resources.
As the player progresses, Dorothy gains abilities and weapons like pressure bombs or a hook shot. Hidden in the mines for players to unearth lies a mystery to discover and a narrative inspiring hope and resilience.
4. Axiom Verge
Axiom Verge, an indie masterpiece, immerses players in a retro-inspired dimension of exploration and action. Players control Trace, a scientist who, after suffering a crippling injury, wakes up in an ancient and high-tech world. The gameplay revolves around intricate platforming similar to Metroid, with diverse weaponry and intense combat.
As players progress, they unravel the secrets of the enigmatic world by solving environmental puzzles and facing an array of unique enemies requiring strategy to defeat. The game seamlessly blends retro aesthetics with modern Metroidvania inspiration, creating a captivating gaming adventure.
5. Dust: An Elysian Tail
Players embody Dust in the vibrant world of Falana, populated by anthropomorphic animals. They embark on a quest armed with the sentient sword, the Blade of Ahrah, and its guardian companion, Fidget. Without memories of his past, Dust follows Fidget’s guidance to aid the world against the forces led by General Gaius.
This action-adventure game, with Metroidvania-style exploration, demands players to access new areas with found power-ups and combat foes with seamless swordplay and magical attacks.
6. Guacamelee! 1 & 2
Guacamelee! 1 and 2 work as extensions of each other, playing similarly but for great experiences. Guacamelee! 2 features Metroidvania platforming, playing as Juan Aguacate, a luchador throwing punches, kicks, and wrestling grapples.
Throughout the game, Juan regains powers, like the Rooster Uppercut, practical in both combat and movement. The Guacamelee! universe captivates players with its vibrant visuals, dynamic combat, and storyline transcending timelines.
7. Cave Story
The indie game Cave Story, created in 2004, features 2D platform mechanics reminiscent of Metroid and Castlevania, revolving around Quote, a robot who wakes up suffering amnesia on a cavernous floating island. Players assume the role of Quote, adventuring to reclaim his backstory and escape the caves.
Players encounter the Mimiga in these caves, a sentient rabbit-like race affected by a red flower that induces violent behavior. The game unfolds with a rich narrative and compelling characters, creating an alluring gaming experience.
8. Gato Roboto
Gato Roboto thrusts players into an eccentric distant future, where Gary and his cat Kiki, piloting a spaceship, crash land on an alien planet due to Kiki’s playful misstep upon the ship’s keyboard. Gary sends Kiki on a quest to find a mech suit, explore the planet, and devise an escape plan.
Players play as Kiki, sneaking through aqueducts, heating, and ventilation systems and using the mech suit to shoot enemies and maneuver through hazardous environments. Kiki can find numerous upgrades, including movement abilities and cassette tapes that unlock color palette swaps for the game's charismatic 1-bit graphics.
9. Blasphemous 2
Blasphemous 2 explores a fallen dark fantasy kingdom recently recovering from a curse called “The Miracle.” Playing as the Penitent One, players encounter an angelic woman named Anunciada, who instructs the silent knight to prevent the rebirth of the curse.
The game features deadly traps, challenging platform sequences, and a variety of weapons with unique abilities and skill trees to combat enemies with. Players can customize abilities, collect rosary beads for granting passive bonuses, and find statues that give buffs when positioned in specific combinations.
10. Iconoclasts
In Iconoclasts, players play as Robin, a naive and helpful mechanic, living in a world where the sinister religious authority, the One Concern, ruled by a being known as “Mother,” has taken over the government. In this world, only licensed mechanics can handle the “Ivory” power source that drives its machines.
Throughout the game, characters Mina, Royal, and Elro join Robin’s party, assisting in boss fights. Players navigate the challenging map, solving puzzles and engaging with the forces of the One Concern in combat to shape the planet's fate.
11. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Bloodstained unfolds in 18th-century England amid the Industrial Revolution, where the Alchemy Guild, fearing a loss of influence, researched demon summoning and created Shardbinders, humans fused with demonic crystals.
As the protagonist, Miriam, spared from a demonic sacrifice, awakens with shard-infused powers, players navigate a labyrinthine world filled with monsters and bosses. Her diverse weaponry, including short swords and guns, offers strategic combat options, while shards collected from defeated foes grant unique abilities.
Bloodstained embraces the essence of Metroidvania through exploration, combat, and uncovering the mysteries within this atmospheric adventure.
12. The Messenger
The Messenger, a side-scrolling action-platformer, draws inspiration from the Ninja Gaiden series, unfolding in a ninja village under threat from evil demons, with the Western Hero’s scroll appointing our protagonist as a messenger on a journey east.
The game begins with a linear structure that transitions into a Metroidvania format, allowing flexible exploration across two eras with distinct 8-bit past and 16-bit future presentations. The player can travel back and forth between eras to find key items and unravel the legendary narrative at stake.
13. Valdis Story: Abyssal City
Valdis Story: Abyssal City empowers players with characters with unique abilities, playing as one of four protagonists, Reina, Wyatt, Gilda, and Vladyn, sent on a sea voyage in search of a Knight in the Dark Army. According to legend, long ago, the Goddess Valdis birthed two daughters, one of Light (Alagath) and one of Darkness (Myrgato).
One day, Myrgato attacked her sister in the city of Sitheil, and the subsequent battle sunk the holy city into which players delve. Players unlock new skills by collecting items and leveling up through RPG elements, transforming the dynamic combat experience as they explore the submerged mysteries of Sitheil.
14. Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight
Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight immerses players in the journey of Kaho, a priestess armed with a leaf for melee and a bow for ranged attacks, battling a curse corrupting the land. Navigating diverse areas within Karst City, a city within the eastern Kingdom of Karst, Kaho confronts obstacles, collects items, and engages monsters, culminating in epic boss fights.
Kaho’s combat prowess grows upon discovering new items and spells. This prequel to Momodora I expands the game’s lore as Kaho thwarts the curse’s source–the queen–and makes a sacrificial stand to save the land.
15. Salt and Sanctuary
Salt and Sanctuary, merging Metroidvania and Soulslike elements, delivers a visually stunning 2D gothic fantasy experience reminiscent of Bloodborne. The game boasts 600 usable items and diverse weapon categories with unique movesets, offering strategic combat depths.
Players delve into immersive stat development, incorporating RPG features like origins, classes, and a robust skill tree with countless combinations. The bewitching narrative unfolds as players, survivors of a marauder attack at sea, find themselves shipwrecked on a mysterious island, facing a twisting landscape and eldritch nightmares.
16. Sundered
Sundered challenges players to explore a hand-drawn world and confront hordes of terrifying enemies in Metroidvania and Roguelike fused fashion.
Players play as Eshe, who gains power from the Shining Trapezohedron, unraveling a tale of war, failed rituals, and eldritch transformations. Players use earned “Shards” to permanently upgrade Eshe through a skill tree or choose to sacrifice humanity for abilities, such as transforming into a gargoyle.
As Eshe confronts randomized monsters and corrupted Valkyrie war machines, she collects Elder Shards, and the choices with these Shards lead to multiple surprising game endings.
17. Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom
In Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom, players play Jin, who discovers his Uncle Nabu’s chaos-inducing magic wreaking havoc across the kingdom, turning everyone into animals. Jin embarks on a quest to reverse the animal transformations, traversing interconnected areas in the cursed kingdom.
Throughout the game, Jin gains five animal forms that swap at the player's command: a pig, snake, frog, lion, and dragon. This game offers dynamic gameplay, requiring strategic thinking in puzzles and battles.
18. Timespinner
In Timespinner, a 90s-inspired action-platformer featuring Time Messenger Lunais, players control Lunais and explore a castle on a quest for revenge against the empire that killed her family. Players benefit from a loyal familiar that will follow Lunais into battle.
This game features time manipulation magic fueled by sand obtained from fallen enemies. Players must leverage Lunais’s unique abilities to unravel the secrets hidden within the fabric of time and ultimately confront the Emperor.
19. Environmental Station Alpha
Environmental Station Alpha presents an exciting action-adventure platformer experience with a nostalgic retro aesthetic and a strong focus on exploration. Piloting a robot, players embark on a mission to understand the mysteries surrounding an abandoned bio-dome space station.
The game’s intricate design unfolds as players navigate through a sprawling side-scrolling maze, encountering inaccessible areas that require acquiring new abilities—such as a classic grappling hook and double jump.
20. Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
Born from the creative collaboration of animator Michel Gagné’s “Insanely Twisted Shadow Puppets” series and Joe Olson and a small development team, this game invites players to navigate distinct weird environments, engaging in battles with peculiar creatures.
Players control a spaceship, confront tangled puzzles, and enhance their ship with alien technology as they valiantly strive through the Shadow Planet. This game provides a fun, kinetic experience where the narrative unfolds as the player moves toward the center of the mysterious planet and discovers monstrosities and technologies deep within.
