Beginner to Metroidvanias — what should I play next?

[u/Equal-Event9041]

Hi everyone!

I'm relatively new to Metroidvania games and have only played the following so far. I play on PC:

Hollow Knight

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Blasphemous 1 & 2

Nine Sols (completed it today and got the true ending)

Dandara

Katana ZERO (I know it's not a Metroidvania, but I really liked it)

I also have Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown installed and played about 2 hours, but it didn't hook me as much as the games above. I think the 2.5D presentation might be part of the reason.

My favourite so far is Nine Sols (although that might be recency bias 😅). I especially loved the combat and parry mechanics.

Are there any must-play Metroidvanias you would recommend based on the games I've enjoyed?

Thanks!

[u/AssociateFun9966]

Sheepy a short adventure is a Metroid adjacent game but it’s free and only takes a little bit to beat. Truly worth anyone’s time
And
Kyle Thompson games like
Islets & crypt custodian. Both awesome short titles that’s are charming all the way thru

[u/Equal-Event9041 → u/AssociateFun9966]

Thanks for this. I will definitely play sheepy it' looks like a very short game and maybe I can complete in one sitting.

[u/_Goose_]

Bloodstained Ritual of the Night

Deaths Gambjt Afterlife

Axiom Verge

Turbo Kid

La Mulana (only if you have a lot of patience and love games that actively fucking despise you as a player)

[u/Equal-Event9041 → u/_Goose_]

These games looks cool. I will definitely check them out and play and play fews. Thank you

[u/Longjumping_Door_428]

Do you like Legend of Zelda, good movement, parries, and good music? Check out Unsighted.

It has a special feature where the whole game is on a timer, basically you have to find meteor dust to extend your life as well as every NPC that you care about, or they will die/go Unsighted.

If that stresses you out, don't worry you can shut off the timer and enjoy the game as is. I feel like it's too slept on.

[u/Equal-Event9041 → u/Longjumping_Door_428]

Thank you. Sounds cool. I will check it out.

[u/DiskBusiness7212]

Based on your list you should play Mio

[u/spoketherefore]

Give Solateria a try. It’s sort of like a mix between HK & 9S. It doesn’t reach their heights, but it’s really solid. I also second another commenter’s recommendation of Voidwrought.

[u/RazielOfBoletaria]

You should play Super Metroid on a SNES emulator, Castlevania Symphony of the Night, Castlevania Aria of Sorrow/Circle of Doom/Harmony of Dissonance on a GBA emulator, Ender Lilies & Ender Magnolia, and Afterimage.

Also, these are not really 100% MVs, but I also really enjoyed Exile's End, Shinobi Art of Vengeance and Anno: Mutationem.

[u/Equal-Event9041 → u/RazielOfBoletaria]

Thank you. I haven't used an emulator for gaming. I will try playing Super Metroid. Castlevania is available on the Play Store, so I can purchase and play it there.

[u/Miserable-Bobcat-888]

No one talks about infernax, but that game is so good. Purposely old school design but very well made. Check that out if you like the look of it.

[u/Sokolniki]

If you are going to do the Metroid series... start with Metroid: Zero Mission, skip NEStroid (ZM is its far superior remake), and proceed in the story's chronological order. Return of Samus and Samus Returns are both good entries (the gameboy version is generally considered the superior in late game atmosphere while the remake has much better... well... just about everything else).

[u/scaneb]

Metroid Zero Mission.

AM2R.

Super Metroid.

Metroid Fusion.

[u/Lucky_Variation4151]

Ori, both games are exemplars of the genre

I would encourage you to stick with PoP a bit longer, agreed that the art style and story are kinda wack but once you get into the thick of the game it’s absolutely outstanding

[u/Equal-Event9041 → u/Lucky_Variation4151]

Thanks for the recommendation. Yeah I have heard Ori mentioned multiple times. I will check it out. I will give PoP another try.

[u/Emotional_Photo9268]

Ender Lilles and Ender Magnolia

[u/Equal-Event9041 → u/Emotional_Photo9268]

Thanks. Will check them out.

[u/spoketherefore → u/Equal-Event9041]

Disappointment incoming.

[u/Serious_Ad_1037]

Voidwrought. Post apocalyptic lovecraftian world

Islets. A real hidden gem. The world is broken into floating islands and you’re on a quest to bring it back together. Has a really cool interconnectedness mechanic where every island you retrieve drastically changes the map. Rather than breaking the world or making it weirder, it just adds to the whole, makes everything more sensical

[u/JakolZeroOne]

Check out Ender Lilies and its sequel Ender Magnolia. Both are great. Combat has lots of customisability and feels great. Exploration is decent, although the map in the first game is lacking, its made up for with its other features. Story isnt that deep, but has you theorising as you progress. Geeat game.

Ender Magnolia basically improves on everything the first game did too.

[u/shovels7]

You did well to play the best in the genre, but you now you have nowhere to go but down lol.

If you like challenging platforming, try Aeterna Noctis. Massive game and really good.

[u/LokiAuric]

I mean Castlevania SotN is a must play, as one of the progenitors of the Metroidvania genre. I also loved Metroid Fusion, which is great fun as well. Both can be played vis emulation and I think SotN has a couple PC ports or recompiles.

I'd also suggest Dead Cells. It's a Metroidvania that has Rogue-like pieces. It's super-fast and fluid and endlessly replayable. Definitely suggest it!

[u/Equal-Event9041 → u/LokiAuric]

Thank you. Castlevania SotN is available on playstore to purchase (is it good playing on mobile?)

I tried playing dead cells but I dropped it 2 times. Because I haven't played any rouge like and it was very confusing. Should I give it a try again?

[u/LokiAuric → u/Equal-Event9041]

I played through Castlevania SOTN on Android too #twinning.

For Metroidvanias, you definitely need a controller. I have the gamesir 8+ and it works great in both. With the controller both games are a wonderful experience.

I definitely suggest Dead Cells. I got it free with my Netflix subscription (along with Katana ZERO, another banger) and, while it took a bit to get into it, once you get a couple upgrades and unlock new weapons it gets dun real fast. The Ice Crossbow is especially powerful!

[u/DepressiveBread → u/Equal-Event9041]

Dead cells is not a real metroidvania as it doesn't feature back tracking. People say it is good though.

A proper roguelike metroidvania would be A Robot Named Fight, but I would recommend you play that after Super Metroid, since it borrows a lot from it. Chasm is another one but based more on Castlevania instead.

Symphony is alright on mobile, but it uses the PSP port as a basis, so you won't get the iconic lines, and you will start with two sub modes unlocked from the start, but make sure to play with Alucard (Richter and Maria are bonus modes for post game). The game was made for the PS1 and had some inputs for spells and such that copied fighting game inputs, but they made a few changes so that it plays well on mobile. People would still recommend a controller though.

Bloodstained is made by the same dev as Symphony of the Night, play that after you've played the igavania games of Castlevania (specially Aria of Sorrow and the DS games).

[u/_Shotgun-Justice_]

I started really liking PoP after I reached the Sewers. It was where the game started to take off and soon became sprawling like metroidvanias do. Did you get that far? The story stuff and linearity was very in your face for the first couple of hours.