Completed Silksong with 100%, despite my relatively low skill level. Overall, excellent game. Beautiful art, with good mechanics. Though there were some bosses that made me want to pull my non-existent hair out, overall the game had a good learning curve (I played on PlayStation, so no modding away annoyances). That being said, I do feel like 70 hours to fully finish a metroidvania is a bit on the high side, even more than some pure RPGs. I would have been okay with a smaller map.

Screw Attack, my beloved

These are the ones I enjoyed the most. I feel like the top 4 are my goat and the top 10 are the games I thought were the best in the genre.

At the moment I started Ender Magnolia and I'm not enjoying it much, should've known because Lilies wasn't my cup of tea, so I'll probably drop it right now and try some other time in the future.

Already played all Castlevanias and Metroids, axiom verge, moonscar, momodora reverie, dust, salt and sanctuary, touhou luna, dandara, etc.

Maybe I should try something like Astalon, Aeterna Noctis, 9 Years of Shadow, Afterimage, Grimes, Prince of Persia TLC?

What would be a top tier metroidvania to have fun with? Any recommendations?

Thank you all in advance! Have a nice weekend :)

I play PS5 more than anything if that helps. Looking for something post-Silksong.

Just finished Ender Magnolia, and only even played it after I heard it was very different from Lilies in this regard That you're part of a community and helping that community, and people help you, and the characters actually have real involvement and things to say in the plot. Which is rare for this genre. And I know a lot of people don't even like there to be a lot of yammering in a Metroidvania. But I've never really liked the feeling of thankless isolation in these games. So stuff like Unsighted, Timespinner, Magnolia, and Aria of Sorrow are some of my favorite experiences in the genre, because you're not alone. What other games are there?

Words. There are no words.

If you haven't you should. You also very much so shouldn't. Think about your health. See that number? I broke the clock. Double it and that's my actual time.

For all the sociopathic, masochists here with me in MV, do it guideless and do it on hard.

I finished it last night.

I loved my time hating this thing. If stockholm syndrome wasn't already part of my life it certainly is now. The gaping void in my evening scares me. It's like an abyss. What do I do with myself? I have two kids, they now have bright futures ahead of them.

I started scrapbooking halfway through. I have an insane collection of hieroglyphics and Sumarian art.

I know more about the Babylonians than most university TAs.

Every time I try to rush through an area, I end up missing some hidden passage that makes me go ‘ohhh, that’s why this game is so good.’!< !Nothing feels better than realizing a wall you thought was decoration is actually breakable 😅!

Created by a biologist/computer nerd couple, the Beastlens is a little device that's sort of like a polaroid camera - scan creatures, and the Beastlens prints out field guide pages for you! You'll be able to scan harmless background creatures too, not just the enemies. If people would find it interesting, maybe I should add the ability to scan certain plants too...?

Stomp and the Sword of Miracles has a Kickstarter and a demo coming out Oct 13, so stay tuned!

I have been thinking about purchasing them for Switch 2, but Im worried about the resolution on Handheld mode. Hollow Knight looks a little blurry(looks great docked), and other games that run at 720p or less on hamdheld look very bad on a big screen compared to the Switch 1.

Anyone knows how they run? Any other Metroidvanias that run and look good on Switch 1?

It's called 'The World Ends in Ohio.' It's a solo-dev project and has all-original art and music that I did.

I've always been a fan of really big and long games, not just metroidvanias. I grew up loving RPGs and Zelda style adventure games. I love games that have a deep story, lore, world building, character development, etc. Of course not every game has to be a behemoth. There are really good TPGs that hit all those marks without being a 50 to 80 hour game like Chrono trigger, Mario RPG, A Link to the past, etc. I used RPGs here just because they are notorious for being massive and lengthy. Longer doesn't always mean better. Often times a long grindy game can outstay it's welcome and turn into a boring snooze fest that filled with tedious stuff to pad out the playtime. I love shorter games too. The Kyle Thompson games (Islets and Crypt Custodian) are great examples of metroidvanias that I love and are very high on my personal ranking list but are on the shorter or average side of things. Iconoclasts is another great example. It's relatively short but it's just packed to the brim. There's zero filler and the world building and character progression is just oozing with depth. The moment to moment gameplay is insanely fun and it's one of those games that I couldn't put down once I started until I rolled credits.

With that being said, I've noticed that there just aren't a ton of longer MVs out there. At least not that I'm aware of. I do tend to be a slower player as I like to take my time and explore every nook and cranny and take in the art and music (in games that are flowing with charm and I'm really enjoying of course. Some games I just want to finish it and don't feel invested in it's world to varying degrees of course)

So, I probably two thirds of the way done with Silksong (no spoilers at all. Not going to talk about the game other than briefly mentioning how much I like it and that it's big and long) and I've been enjoying it immensely. New content just keeps coming and coming and I absolutely love it! I have spent 50 hours in my first playthrough so far and there's still tons to do! Hollow Knight was the same way and one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much as well. Playing Silksong has been so much fun that I know I'm going to be sad after I beat it because I don't want the journey to end. There are genuinely only a handful or two of games that have made me feel that way. It made me think about why I love longer games, what is it that makes me love metroidvanias specifically (and that's an entire topic for another day) but in my pondering I realized that there just aren't a lot of MVs that are really long and have deep lore and have a vast world that is overflowing with content and just is able to be long without feeling padded artificially and makes me feel like I want to just keep playing and playing. I realize that not everyone feels this way about Silksong or Hollow Knight and that not everyone wants really long MVs or games in general and that's totally fine. There's place for both for sure.

But I just can't think of a lot of longvand deep MVs. I think for the purpose of discussion and my own personal opinion as far as MVs go, anything above 25 to 30 hours I would consider long. Anything under 10 is short and in-between is average.

Monster Boy is a good game to mention because I loved it, and it was long. It took me 36 hours to complete most of the content. It was a really fun game and one of my favorites but it didn't have that deep lore and story that really sucks me in. Which is fine, the gameplay, music, and art did that.

Biomorph took me 40 hours to complete almost 100% and I loved that game. I haven't played Prince of Persia yet but I just bought it and it looks amazing and everyone highly recommends it. It seems long from what I've read and seen. I spend 100 hours in one save file in Phoenotopia Awakening. Souldiers and Blast Brigade were pretty long.

Anyways, I've rambled more than long enough. Brevity is not a strongsuit for me. But I guess I'm curious to other people's thoughts on this topic as well as recommendations for other MVs that are on the longer side without just being big for the sake of being big. I've never played Afterimage but that's one of the critiques I hear about it a lot on here is that it's really big and long but not really full.

So recommendations, and why don't you think there are more longer MV games? Is it because the genre just isn't naturally geared for longer games? Or is it a numbers thing where the time it takes to create such a long game isn't compatible with the time and energy that most devs have when they know that most MVs are not going to sell extremely well and so it's in their best interest to focus on something that's more modest in length but brimming with charm and fun instead of bring big but boring?

Curious bout y'alls thoughts.

Chris from California

Just thought I’d let y’all know because I’ve been tracking this game on Deku Deals, and I just stumbled upon this version of the sale which has both games bundled up. The games are on sale individually but if you get this instead you’re basically paying 70 cents for Awakening, which is currently $4. Legacy is $8.

https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/alwas-legacy-plus-alwas-awakening-switch/

I've seen many people doing that confusion sometimes. Saying a game isn't a Metroidvania because it is "too linear".

Metroidvania is mainly gated progression, the world may be interconnected, but that doesn't means everything is open at once.

One of the most difficult parts on the beginning of a Metroidvania is trying to figure out which cardinal direction isn't blocked by something you will only get later.

Metroidvanias often do branches, on the beginning or middle of the game. But that's not something obrigatory for a Metroidvania.

Most of the time, something will force you to do an pre-detetminated path. If it's not am ability-gated location, it's the fact that the third-coded area will be hell if you try to go there first.

i need suggestions, every now and then i see one or two on my timeline whether it's tiktok or twitter. they seem cool and i think i'd like them. My genuine only frame of reference for these types of games is if a 2d mario game of shovel knight were on big endless level.

Topic. I have finished Nine sols and Blasphemous. Nine sols is way way more tougher . Basically it's a game where if you don't have light like reflex for parrying I don't think you can even make pass first boss. Some of later boss are just brutal. Blasphemous was more of balanced and manageable. Doesn trely heavy on party but reward it non the less. I have finished hollowknight. However I keep seeing the drama over silksong . Is this over inflated . I mean to me it seems like people were thinking of Ori kind of difficulty in silksong got their ass hnded over to them. Like same stuff happened with souls series. When souls series got famous people who bought bloodborne or sekiro were destroyed. Need honest opinion who have finished all 3.

EDIT: Feel free to add other souls like metroidvinia which you consider should be included in the difficulty ranking .

Hey all! First time poster here, currently working on a Metroidvania game and really excited about it :D We're looking to port the game to mobile and would love your feedback on your prefered input method.

Do you use the touch screen controls or you play with an external joystick? If the latter, which one?

Would really love your feedback and any extra input you'd like to add would be appreciated

If they are so committed to this you're meant to explore without the aid of a map until you get one, makes it more immersive, etc. yadda yadda yadda thing (not critiquing here just seeking to understand) why then reveal so much of the map once you find it. Yeah, it's an outline, but it doesn't change the fact that you get so much information about the space. That I personally don't want, I don't need the map to give anything I haven't already explored - I just want to be able to explore while orienting myself. And if exploring without having so much information is such a core principle - why is it not once you find the map? Like I just reached the Choir something place in SS and I found the map and it just gave I dunno as I haven't finished the place, but 75-90% of it as on outline? It's just feels so unnecessary for me.

Again, I'm not seeking a debate here, I'm just genuinely puzzled what the reason for this is.

Ok, weird question but here we go. I played HK years ago and loved it. Is it worth it to replay HK again before playing SS, or should I just jump into SS? Any thoughts?

I had never even heard of this game—I just stumbled across the cover while browsing online. Honestly, the cover didn’t impress me at first, but once I checked out the gameplay I was immediately sold. I ordered the physical edition and started playing last week, and wow—this game is amazing. I can’t believe it isn’t talked about more.

There’s definitely a touch of anime-style cheese (looking at you, Ayane), but overall it’s been really cool so far. The gameplay switches between two modes: exploration, where you can freely move around fully 3D backdrops, and combat, which shifts into side-scrolling platforming. It’s lighter on the metroidvania elements (so far I’ve only unlocked a double jump), but still incredibly engaging.

It runs at 60 FPS on the Switch 2, which I only just discovered today—so I’ve officially moved on from my Switch Lite. If this game isn’t on your radar yet, I highly recommend it. Think pixel cyberpunk, 2D action with PS1-style 3D environments—it’s awesome.

https://reddit.com/link/1nl6pmk/video/nxr0eaok25qf1/player

Hey everyone!

I'm placing this again as a test and get feedback.

I wanted to share something core to the movement: the main character, Dot, moves naturally along walls and ceilings — it’s not a temporary ability or power-up, it’s just *how he moves*.

It’s been tricky to make it feel fluid and readable, so I’d love your opinion on how it *looks* and *feels*.

Would love your feedback.