Summary

  • Hidden gem Metroidvanias like The Last Case of Benedict Fox deserve more hype for their unique Lovecraftian twists.
  • Engage in eerie combat and dark fantasy exploration in games like The Last Faith that offer a Gothic 2D Soulslike experience.
  • Experience stunning hand-drawn graphics and unique body horror gameplay in Metroidvanias like Afterimage for a visually striking adventure.

The Metroidvania genre is always receiving a steady influx of video games that seek to stand out from the rest while being heavily inspired by the greats. There are plenty of extremely well-liked and popular Metroidvanias that are shouted from the rooftops, like the Ori series, Dead Cells, and Hollow Knight, but most launches don't get to bask in that same glory.

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When you have hundreds upon hundreds of Metroidvania games to choose from, the choices are understandably overwhelming, and it becomes very easy to overlook some of the more hidden gems in the category. Below are the Metroidvania games that absolutely deserve more hype and attention.

10 The Last Case Of Benedict Fox: Definitive Edition

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The Last Case of Benedict Fox

Metroidvania Action-Adventure Released April 27, 2023 Developer(s) Plot Twist Publisher(s) Rogue Games, Inc. Platform(s) PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PS5 Metascore 73 Powered by Expand Collapse

Lovecraftian stories typically have a detective as their protagonist, like Alone in the Dark, The Sinking City, and Call of Cthulhu. But what if you were to take this concept and translate it into a Metroidvania-style game? That's the magic of The Last Case of Benedict Fox. It's a Lovecraft-inspired atmospheric mystery-vania, with gorgeous 3D graphics, environments, and voice acting.

The areas and colors are beautifully evocative of Lovecraft, there's a 20th-century jazz-inspired soundtrack, the Lovecraftian creature designs are spot-on and original, and you're bound to an entity that helps you in combat. Ever since its launch in 2023, the developers have continued to make improvements and add story content, which is all included in the 2024 Definitive Edition.

9 The Last Faith

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The Last Faith

Metroidvania Released November 15, 2023 Developer(s) Playstack Publisher(s) Kumi Souls Games Platform(s) PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC Powered by Expand Collapse

With still no hope of Bloodborne being out on PC, The Last Faith is probably the closest 2D Soulslike to it that you'll get. The game is a Gothic dark fantasy Metroidvania that's a combination of Catlevania, Bloodborne, and Resident Evil Village, with pixel graphic environment design and enemies just as eerie and well-executed as Blasphemous.

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Like most Metroidvania setups, you're thrown into this world and left to regain the pieces of your character's past and discover the secrets that lie within the lore. The added twist here is that you can use long-range guns in addition to traditional melee weapons for combat, and you can select from a variety of classes.

8 Ghost Song

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Ghost Song

Action Adventure Released November 3, 2022 Developer(s) Old Moon Publisher(s) Adult Swim Games Platform(s) Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S Powered by Expand Collapse

If you got into the Metroidvania genre by playing classics like Metroid, don't skip past Ghost Song, because this little indie hidden gem is the most inspired by Samus and the Metroid series. Your character is what's known as a Deadsuit, who emerges from sleep on the alien moon of Lorian, armed and ready to take on the alien threat lurking underneath the surface.

The art style and atmosphere of Lorian will draw you in immediately. The foggy purplish glow and bioluminescent underground side-scroller landscapes evoke that cosmic horror 'Color Out of Space' feeling. The enemies and alien creatures are both fascinating and disturbing, with a larger story looming about what's really taking place on Lorian.

7 Afterimage

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Afterimage

Metroidvania Released April 24, 2023 Publisher(s) Modus Games, H2 interactive, Maximum Entertainment Platform(s) PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, Android Developer Aurogon Shanghai, Netera Co., Ltd. Powered by Expand Collapse

While most Metroidvanias are dark and gloomy and dressed with a tinge of horror, Afterimage is a lighter, more stunning, and gorgeous fantasy Metroidvania that arguably has some of the best hand-drawn graphics in the genre. Every side-scrolling location in the world of Engardin is an absolute marvel and breathtaking to take in.

In Afterimage, the protagonist is also having a bout of amnesia while setting off on a journey to find her mentor, Aros, after a violent struggle in Engardin between the humans and the Goliaths ended with a catastrophic event. The game boasts an abundant variety of bosses, enemies, collectibles, and equipment, along with having multiple endings.

6 Grime

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Grime

Action RPG Released August 2, 2021 Developer(s) Clover Bite Publisher(s) Akupara Games Platform(s) PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S Metascore 81 Powered by Expand Collapse

The best way to describe Grime is Metroidvania body horror personified. You're literally a faceless and nameless vessel forged of rock that can evolve and use living weapons that are like aliens themselves, and upgrade skills from alien body parts. Then, your head is also a mini black hole vortex that can parry attacks and absorb all the rock fragments from enemies.

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From the very first cutscene, it's a very unusual and disturbing Metroidvania. The bosses and NPC designs are fittingly weird, the alien sci-fi environment is wonderfully atmospheric and once again reminiscent of a Lovecraftian landscape (especially the cult-like beings), and the absorption upgrade and checkpoint system is very unique for the genre.

5 Islets

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Islets

Metroidvania Released August 24, 2022 Developer(s) Kyle Thompson Publisher(s) Armor Games Studios Platform(s) PC, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S Metascore 82 Powered by Expand Collapse

For a game to be considered a Metroidvania, it has to have a sprawling interconnected platforming world and layout, but what if there's a game that turns the genre norm into its own mechanic? That's where you have Islets, a Metroidvania where the map is made up of a broken chain of islands in the sky that your protagonist has to reconnect.

The task sounds simple enough, but it also wouldn't be a Metroidvania without many enemies and bosses posing as obstacles along your journey.

Islets is an overall cute and whimsical take on the genre, though it can be creepy at times, and it's all impressively designed by a sole developer – Kyle Thompson.

4 Pseudoregalia

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Platform(s)

PC

Released

July 28, 2023

Developer

rittzler

Publisher

rittzler

While it looks and plays like a classic N64 or PS1 3D game, Pseudoregalia was impressively made with Unreal Engine 5. The developer strives for those nostalgic retro aesthetics while infusing them into a more modern 3D platforming Metroidvania, all set within a Gothic castle landscape called Castle Sansa.

This project started as a submission for the Metroidvania Month 19 Game Jam and has now evolved into a far more expansive game with excellent platforming mechanics, including wall-running and majestic air-dashing. You'll also find the protagonist's design to be very striking and different, as well as the choice of the enemy designs, which include some playing musical instruments.

3 F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch

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F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch

Action Metroidvania Released September 7, 2021 Platform(s) PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S Developer TiGames Publisher bilibili Metascore 81 Powered by Expand Collapse

Not only is F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch a highly underrated Metroidvania, it might be one of the most overlooked games of the 21st century, and that needs to be remedied. You have yet another brilliant 3D Metroidvania world, this one inspired by a dystopian dieselpunk aesthetic and populated with anthropomorphic animal citizens.

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It's a very gritty Ratchet & Clank-style game with your robot companion being the large mechanical fist that's attached to the shoulder of your character's suit. The 3D graphics are phenomenal, and you'd think the game was created on Unreal Engine 5, even though it still runs on UE4.

2 Nine Sols

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Nine Sols

Action Platformer Soulslike Released May 29, 2024 Developer(s) RedCandleGames Publisher(s) RedCandleGames Platform(s) PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S Powered by Expand Collapse

Developer RedCandleGames is most well-known for its Taiwan-set White Terror psychological horror game Detention, largely inspired by Silent Hill. Now, the studio has switched genres and delivered a knockout Metroidvania game that's inspired by the combat of Sekiro and comes with hand-drawn art and a cute cat protagonist that should be as iconic as Hollow Knight's.

The game has a very unique premise of combining cyberpunk aesthetics with Taoism and absolutely sticks the landing with the world design of New Kunlun. Your protagonist, Yi, is inspired by the Chinese mythological figure, Hou Yi, here turned into a fictional Solarian species and hunting down the Nine Sols as depicted in the tale.

1 Tales Of Kenzera: Zau

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Tales of Kenzera: Zau

Platformer Released April 23, 2024 Developer(s) Surgent Studios Publisher(s) Electronic Arts Platform(s) PC, PS5, Switch, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S Metascore 79 Powered by Expand Collapse

When you want to find games that are based on grief and dealing with loss, the Metroidvania genre is probably the last place you'd look. That's what's so significant about Tales of Kenzera: Zau. It's a story told from the heart, rooted in African culture, and created from the personal experience of actor Abubakar Salim's grief over the passing of his father.

Abubakar Salim is an actor-turned-video game developer and founder of Surgent Studios, who you may know as the voice of Bayek from AC Origins, Alyn of Hull from House of the Dragon, and Father from HBO's Raised by Wolves. Salim is the game's creative director and voice actor of the narrator and titular protagonist, who are going through a journey of loss in an emotional Bantu-inspired Metroidvania setting.

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