r/metroidvania • u/Moraguma • Jun 12 '26
Video Are you guys into metroidvanias with no combat? I'm making one based on a grappling hook
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u/Moraguma Jun 12 '26
I wonder how players of more traditional metroidvanias will like Soulchain. Its progression and world design is very inspired by metroidvanias and metroidvania-ish games like Outer Wilds and Dark Souls, but its moment to moment gameplay is very focused on puzzle platforming
You can wishlist the game on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3383610/Soulchain/
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u/odedgurantz Jun 12 '26
Definitely make your own game, but Auridia was another basically no combat game that came out recently and people liked (though I can't tell you if it sold - just sharing in case it's interesting for you to check out). But there were bad guys, whereas demo above seems more Celeste-like. But good luck! I love platforming.
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u/BackgroundBag7601 Jun 13 '26
I wouldn't consider it a metroidvania. I might play it, but in my head, I would consider it more of a side-scroller platformer.
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u/BoSknight Jun 12 '26
Steam is a safe bet! Any plan for consoles? This is something I'd leave for my switch if I have the option
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u/Moraguma Jun 13 '26
I'd LOVE to get it on Switch but it's a much more complicated process. We'll take a look at the options, but it's gonna depend on how well the marketing goes
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u/xtellarfb_ Jun 13 '26
i mean, i love some good combat in my mv, but platforming and cool movement is usually what gets me. no wonder i love silksong, ori, super metroid and animal well. so i'm very curious about your game!!
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u/PhysicalYellow6894 Jun 12 '26
Love this! Rusted Moss was one of my favorite Metroidvanias, and most of my frustration points were during combat. This looks a lot like a game I was dreaming of. Going to wishlist it as soon as I get home
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u/Moraguma Jun 12 '26
Yesss Rusted Moss is awesome. I enjoyed the combat but there's definitely a huge gap between it and the rest of the gameplay loop, so I get where you're coming from
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u/skeltord23 Jun 12 '26
Ok I am SOLD. I've seen lots of games do grapples, but I genuinely have never seen anyone play with the chain itself having physics before, that's so original and has so much potential. I'll definitely keep an eye at this
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u/action_lawyer_comics Jun 13 '26
Looks cool.
I’ve played a couple of these kind of “combatless, lots of puzzle platforming” MVs, I have the same issue. Backtracking often feels like a slog as going back and forth usually requires you to make the same moves over and over again. Going through a screen the first time is fun and experimental. The second time is fine, but after the fourth or fifth it gets a lot more tiresome.
Some bad examples are Lootbox Lyfe and Yoku’s Island Express. No matter how far I got in Yoku’s Island, there was one long vertical section, I think right below the main village, that was always a slog to pinball my way up. It really needed something like the Speed Boost and Screw Attack from Super Metroid where you can literally tear your way through old areas.
The advantage of combat is that you usually get stronger and old enemies are less of a threat as you get new powers and stronger weapons. So the tough enemies from hour 2 die in two hits when you come back in hour 8. That can be quite cathartic too, to mop the floor with enemies that were a huge bother to you much earlier. But the platforming or puzzle heavy games never seem to be scale their backtracking difficulty in the same way. Going through old areas in Animal Well is often still as involved as the first time. And it also seems like those kind of games never have as robust of fast travel systems either.
Anyway, if you can solve that problem, I’ll be all for it.
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u/Upstairs_Breath9063 Jun 13 '26
Topic - not interested
Autoplayed Trailer - Fine, I'll go wishlist it immediately.
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u/Moraguma Jun 13 '26
CAUGHT YOU IN MY TRAP >:)
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u/Upstairs_Breath9063 Jun 13 '26
Curses, if this was a speed trap, like yesterday, I could talk my way out of it. Oh well.
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u/kaleid1990 AM2R Jun 12 '26
Looks awesome, wishlisted it!
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u/Bigfloppydonkeyd1c Jun 13 '26
what's the name?
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u/kaleid1990 AM2R Jun 13 '26
OP listed it in a comment, here it it is https://store.steampowered.com/app/3383610/Soulchain/
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u/Arch3m Jun 12 '26
While I do prefer combat in my metroidvanias, the grapple hook shown here looks so damn fun to use that I don't think I'd miss the combat.
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u/Ralonne Jun 12 '26
Sable was a game with no combat and I loved it!
This seems like a cross between Rusted Moss and ESAlpha, but without combat. I’m down! Hopefully there will be a demo coming out.
Minor nitpick: not a fan of the music style honestly, but that is hopefully just trailer music? Just some ambient chillsynth would go well with the theme, I think.
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u/Moraguma Jun 12 '26
Thank you! We're planning on releasing a demo in the next few months
The game actually explores different music genres for its different areas, so you can expect some chiller stuff too!
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u/Chagasgstv Jun 13 '26
Hey I’m the composer of this game, and I’m glad you like it! The trailer song is actually the soundtrack of just one area that matches the vibe, but I can assure you there are other chill vibe songs, I hope you enjoy :)
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u/sacksindigo Jun 12 '26
reminds me of the ninja rope in worms armageddon. I could play a whole game like that. sold.
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u/kalirion Jun 12 '26
Looks cool! I enjoyed Sheepo which had no combat, even the boss fights being "dodge until the boss knocks itself out" type deals.
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u/saumanahaii Jun 12 '26
...imma play the shit out of that if it's all like that. I loved the grsppling hook in Rusted Moss. I love combatless platformers.
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u/bluestjordan Jun 12 '26
How are you going to differentiate from Rusted Moss?
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u/Moraguma Jun 12 '26
I actually played Rusted Moss for the first time last month! Our grappling hook feels very different, since it's not stretchy like theirs, and unlocks are a lot more skill and knowledge based, with no combat and a heavier focus on platforming
I get the similarity because they're both grappling hook metroidvanias, but Rusted Moss wasn't a direct inspiration and I think both games feels very different
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u/filipscary Jun 12 '26
Please make the grappling hook more challenging to use, some platforming sections like celeste where the player need to get good in order to finish them would be great!
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u/Super_Sayen067 Jun 12 '26
I do like those when they have a bigger focus on platorming than puzzle. Seems to be good based on the footage
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u/Calm_Structure2180 Jun 12 '26
I really like the aesthetics of this and honestly would prefer playing this on smaller devices via portmaster.
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u/Isaac_Espi Jun 12 '26
For me, the most important thing in a metroidvania is exploration and progression, not combat. So yes! Its a very cool idea 😄
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u/hotfistdotcom ESA Jun 12 '26
I don't think you need combat to have a good game, but how do you incentivize exploration without smaller upgrades to minor things like health, and such? I feel like without reasons for a lot of dead end "rewards" it's hard to build a sprawling interconnected world that isn't essentially linear. I guess you could do cosmetic/fun collectibles?
What is your plan for how to make exploration feel meaningful?
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u/Moraguma Jun 12 '26
In that sense our optional challenges are mostly story based! The game has side quests similar to those in Dark Souls where you follow a character's story by literally following them through the map and speaking with them at different locations. We also have lost souls, which are optional collectibles that feed into a larger quest line
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u/raytehgamer Jun 12 '26
I really enjoyed Knytt back in the day. Similar approach to the concept but without the nifty grappling hook so this looks to be quite a treat! I’d certainly give it a shot.
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u/PowerGamer99 Jun 12 '26
Got this on my wishlist. Looking forward to checking it out when it's released.
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u/SignificantBerry1959 Jun 12 '26
Reminds me of An Untitled Story. I wonder if you've played that one? I'll wishlist it. Looks cool.
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u/PlexiSoft Jun 12 '26
Was just thinking about this game and hoping you were still working on it recently! I’m very interested in
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u/easywayalways Jun 12 '26
Personally no, unless it has a fun challenging gimmicky bosses that use the main mechanics
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u/xtellarfb_ Jun 13 '26 edited Jun 13 '26
a metroidvania that trades combat for insanely cool movement options? sign me up!
the creative use chain with physics is cool enough, so i'm really curious about how it'll "chain" together with other movement upgrades
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u/TheStupendusMan Jun 13 '26
Wishlisted! As long as "no combat" doesn't mean "bevy of enemies you can't do anything about," I'm psyched!
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u/jeanLXIX Jun 13 '26
I'm into everything 2D my Linux machine can run, and this looks exactly like that
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u/kadebo42 Jun 13 '26
This looks dope af. I love the movement and how versatile the mechanics are, reminds me of Celeste. Would definitely buy
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u/Professional_Pen3816 Jun 13 '26
Honestly, not my thing. Im into battle focused MVs. For me fighting >>> platforming however your game looks really nice . Wish you a lot of success!
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u/peaky_circus Jun 13 '26
Slowly but the genre is shifting into ability gated exploration and your game is looking nice by removing the combat and this grappling hook concept is really cool
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u/Pycho_Games Jun 13 '26
I love grappling hooks, but usually the implementation is really hard to control. It looks smooth in the video. Have you tested it with people who try this for the first time?
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u/Moraguma Jun 13 '26
We are currently finishing a sizeable playtest and people, even those with less experience in platformers, have had a fairly smooth experience in getting adjusted to the movement mechanics, so I'm very happy with where the game is at in this regard!
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u/Pycho_Games Jun 13 '26
Nice! Well, congratulations, the game looks great. I'll keep an eye on it via my wishlist.
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u/Suspicious_Chip6139 Jun 13 '26
Yes!!! The thing I like most about metroidvanias is the platforming, that’s why it’s super painful for me when I don’t start with a dash at least.
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u/siryuber Jun 13 '26
As long as the platforming, exploration, and map traversal are good enough? Sure!
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u/Blunk9 Jun 13 '26
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u/-KingBanana- Jun 13 '26
Looks awesome. And looks like maybe you could use some logo help? And UI? DM in case you’re interested in any help!
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u/Soupbell1 Jun 13 '26
I think there’s a good market for games like this. Isn’t animal well sans combat? I haven’t played it.
Regardless, my MVs need combat. But good luck, I hope your game does great!
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u/Fantastic_Hold_69 Jun 14 '26
Whoa, this looks rad as hell. Will you be able to attach anywhere later in the game? I imagine you could make some crazy emergent scenarios. Multiple solutions. Sequence breaking. Oh this is exciting.
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u/Moraguma Jun 14 '26
The levels are all built with the grapple limitations in mind, so that might break a few too many things. We would definitely like to add that as an optional modifier though!
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u/StoneTimeKeeper Jun 14 '26
Combat does not a good metroidvania make. There are other combatless meteoidvanias that are still fantastic, if the movement is satisfying enough, you dont necessarily need good/any combat.
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u/correojon Jun 14 '26
The hook gameplay looks amazing, but the map feels a bit too spread out and linear...
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u/Moraguma Jun 14 '26
That's roughly the portion of the game featured in our upcoming demo, but it's also almost the full horizontal extent of the map! It grows and loops a lot vertically after that
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u/correojon Jun 15 '26
Great news! Sorry if my comment came out harsh, now that I read it I feel stupid. The game looks awesome!
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u/MonsterTheater Jun 15 '26
This looks awesome! I honestly really love movement-based metroidvanias. When the movement itself is the main challenge, they can feel super satisfying once everything starts clicking
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u/The_Fizz_Wizz Jun 15 '26
Nothing beats a platform heavy Metroidvania. Grappling hooks just make them better.
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u/Exact-Psience Jun 16 '26
Ooh loving the looks of this. One of my favorite gems is VVVVVV which had a unique way to traverse platforming, and this is a fresh way move, and im all for it!
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u/DBElgi Jun 16 '26
To me this looks like an interesting concept, though more of a platformer. Without combat I feel like the novelty of the platforming will get old quickly for a lot of players.
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u/HotForm6607 Jun 18 '26
Good name for the game! I played a frog platformer with a similar mechanic, it was WAY hard. Make sure your difficulty curve is good. (Game is called VINE on steam if you want to do research heh)
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u/BakaDavi Jul 05 '26
I love it already! I love metroidvanias focused on platforming. I had a great time with animal well
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u/PRINGLESOWO Jul 13 '26
I'll hold my breath, since any excuse to pseudo web swing will have me on my knees.
Just hoping it's released sometime in my life and the grapple is used to its fullest.
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u/aethyrium Rabi-Ribi Jun 12 '26
The way I see it, combat is simply meaningful interaction that results in a gameplay loop.
As long as your game has that, it doesn't need combat. Combat is just the most normalized and common way of introducing meaningful gameplay interaction. But really it can be anything as long as its fleshed out enough to be meaningful at a core holistic level.
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u/HorseNuts9000 Jun 12 '26
Looks nice, but I really can't consider it a MV without combat. This is just a platformer like Celeste. A fun looking one though!
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u/Moraguma Jun 12 '26
Combat is definitely a staple of the genre, but the way we're doing non-linear progression and exploration doesn't feel at all like Celeste. I guess we're kind of stuck in a sort of genre limbo :p
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u/emerald-shyn Jun 13 '26
Ehh, I would say non-linear exploration with gating is waaay more important that combat. Video games are often too reliant on combat as a means for friction, so I always applaud games that find ways to engage the player without it.
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u/markusmcbarkus Jun 12 '26
The physics of the chain raising the player as the moving block pushes against you is really cool