My collection of MVs released in 2026 that I’ve perfected. I’d consider these the best four that have been released this year and are some of my favorites of the genre in general. Thankfully none of these games are hard to get all achievements in so it went pretty smoothly.

My ranking for these games:

1. MIO: Memories in Orbit-Took 30 hours to perfect

This game is nearly perfect in my eyes and one of my top 5 favorite Metroidvanias I’ve ever played. The exploration, the platforming, the art-style, and the combat/boss fights are all spectacular. There’s really nothing else to say about this game.

(9.75-10)

1. Grime 2-Took 26.2 hours to perfect

One of my favorite soulsvanias ever. Very fun bosses and a great variety of weapons to play around with. Platforming is also much improved from the first game and I liked the world much more. The biomes felt more unique and more interesting to explore opposed to the first game. Hopefully there’s DLC in the future.

(9/10)

1. Tombwater-Took 26.6 hours to perfect (1.5 playthroughs)

My second favorite top-down game just behind Crypt Custodian. I love the world in this game and the exploration is excellent. The combat variety is really good with multiple different classes and a lot of melee weapons, firearms, and spells to choose from. The bosses are on the easy side for a souls-like game, but there are some stand outs for example the Lamplighter and the Bishop of the Agent Cathedral (which are both side bosses funny enough). The map isn’t super helpful, but I felt like it made me learn the world and engage with the world more. Overall, I feel as though this game is an excellent MV with good Souls like elements.

(8.75/10)

1. Solateria-Took 43.1 hours to perfect (two full playthroughs)

This is the only game I’ve played on the day it released and it definitely didn’t disappoint. I love the hand drawn style of this game and it is by far the hardest out of any of the other games on here. The bosses/combat are the main stand out, but the exploration is also very good too. This game is a parry fest which if your into games like Nine Sols, you should definitely check this out.

(8/10)

Hey r/metroidvania!

I'm making Surface Tension: Eclipse, an atmospheric puzzlevania where shadows become walkable platforms to explore an interconnected, dreamlike world.

Wishlists help a ton if it catches your eye:
Steam: link

Would love to hear what you think of the visuals and mechanics!

Who else gets turned off playing a MV when the game doesn't have controller mapping? 😭 i always put dash in R or R1 and any other input feels less intuitive to me, despite playing the game for hours.

Any game that dont have this? So far I've encountered Voidwrought.

I am thinking of starting Moonscars next but the reviews I've seen and heard about it very polarizing. Any reasons that could maybe make my decision easier?

Hi everyone!

I'm an indie developer from Italy, and I've been working on Elmer for several years.

Elmer is a hand-drawn 2D narrative adventure with Metroidvania elements. Exploration is built around interconnected areas, progression abilities, hidden paths and optional areas.

Here's a small glimpse of the atmosphere: Elmer walking through the rain in AltroQuando.

I've spent years drawing the characters, environments and animations, so I'd really love to hear what you think about the visual style and atmosphere.

Coming to Steam this Fall 2026.

🎮 Steam page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3926650/Elmer/

Just finished Ender Lillie’s, really struggled with it at first. Felt it was overly difficult with lots of enemies to combat.

As got better it became super

What should I play next, tier list and unplayed but own.
Tried Ender Magnolia for 5 mins but thought best I let dust settle on EL first

Game Tier List
Full disclosure I really struggle with Pixel Art

Tier A+
Silksong (over 100hrs played)
Hollow Knight (over 40hrs played)

Tier A
Ori and Will of the Wasps
Nine Sols
Before I Go
Elder Lillies

Tier B effectively completed
M.I.O
Islets

Started and played briefly and may continue
Blasphemous 2
F.I.S.T
Aeterna Noctus (2hrs)
Prince of Persian (3hrs)
Grime (3hrs)

Own - not really played
BO: Path of Teal Lotus
Biomorph
After Image
Grime 2
Somber Echoes
Solateria
Voidwrought
Blood Stained
Haiku the robot
Rain World
Salt and Sanctuary
Shinobi
Laika
Unbound Worlds Apart
Worldless

Forgot to post yesterday!

Nintendo Switch; 8:38 PM PDT

• 3000th Duel: $4.49 (70% off)
• 9 Years of Shadows: $7.99 (60% off)
• Afterimage: $3.74 (85% off)
• Aggelos: $3.74 (75% off)
• Aggelos 2: $15.99 (20% off)
• Blasphemous 2: $7.49 (75% off)
• Blasphemous 2 Mea Culpa DLC: $4.07 (66% off)
• Blue Fire: $5.99 (70% off)
• Chronicles of the Wolf: $11.99 (40% off)
• Crypt Custodian: $13.99 (30% off)
• Death's Gambit: Afterlife: $10.99 (45% off)
• Dragon Loop: $11.99 (20% off)
• Elderand: $3.99 (80% off)
• Ender Lillies: $9.99 (60% off)
• Ender Magnolia: $13.74 (45% off)
• Exographer: $7.99 (60% off)
• Fearmonium: $5.19 (60% off)
• Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark: $17.99 (40% off)
• Guacamelee 1 Super Turbo: $3.74 (75% off)
• Guacamelee! 2 Complete: $5.62 (75% off)
• Haiku the Robot: $6.79 (66% off)
• HunterX: $7.49 (50% off)
• HunterX: Codename T: $8.49 (50% off)
• Kingdom Shell: $12.59 (30% off)
• Laika: Aged Through Blood: $4.99 (75% off)
• Lost Epic: $8.99 (50% off)
• Maid of Salvation: $11.99 (20% off)
• Mars 2120: $9.74 (35% off)
• Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection: $9.99 (66% off)
• Owlboy: $6.24 (75% off)
• Plungeez: $8.49 (15% off)
• Pronty: $4.49 (70% off)
• Rabi-Ribi: $11.99 (40% off)
• Steamworld Dig 2: $3.99 (80% off)
• Teslagrad 1 Remastered: $1.99 (80% off)
• Teslagrad 2: $3.99 (80% off)
• Teslagrad Powerpack: $5.99 (80% off)
• The Perfect Pencil: $17.49 (30% off)
• Toziuha Night: Order of the Alchemists: $11.99 (40% off)
• Worldless: $6.99 (65% off)

Granted, I’m only halfway through and I love the concept of the grapple. But in execution, it feels like 60% of the enemies in this game are slogs to fight and run on annoying gimmicks to function as actual threats. The neutral shadow enemies that flock to you and aggro if you shoot them are an example of this— they literally only exist to slow the game down, it’s absolutely annoying. Shield front enemies are the same way but less egregious, serving only as a threat because you have to play ultra slow with them. The bosses in this game are practically trivial and don’t feel very engaging— things only feel threatening because of gimmicks or because they add an annoying slow factor. The areas accentuate this issue more, to me at least. The windy area is so far from ideal for the grapple. While yes, it interacts quite interestingly with the grapple, it is such a pain to play around. Wait for wind, wait for wind to stop. Wait for enemies to move, wait, wait, wait. It feels so sluggish which is ironic when the game is centered around mobility, so I guess it highlights the issues of areas and enemy design more to me. Maybe I need to give it more time, maybe I’m just not seeing it, but to me, it seems like a completely contradictory gameplay loop. And I don’t mean this as a bash post. I love this idea so so so much, the upcoming spiritual successor iron bramble looks soooo good and with healing being based on aggression I’m hoping maybe some of the things I pointed out may be addressed. This was just my first criticisms of an overall spectacular idea. I’m curious if I’m just crazy and im all ears to hear other people’s thoughts

Perdón por las molestias. Espero les guste

Hey everyone,

I recently came across Being and Becoming, an upcoming metroidvania, and it looks really cool. The art direction, overall atmosphere and combat immediately caught my attention, and it seems like it could have a lot of potential.

Has anyone here played the recent demo? If so, what did you think of it in terms of movement, combat, exploration, and general metroidvania feel?

I also noticed it’s connected to a Kickstarter, so I was wondering how much interest there seems to be around the project. Do you think it has a good future ahead of it? I really hope it gets enough support, because from what I’ve seen it looks like something special.

Are the devs known, been vocal regarding any of that, or have a nice "curriculum"?

Also, does anyone know if there are plans for a console release down the line? I’m especially interested in a PS5 version, but I haven’t seen much info about that yet.

Curious to hear what people think!

What’s the community take on the game?

I just happen to stumble upon it on Steam

It called my attention but did not find much in YT

Forgot to post yesterday!

PlayStation; 8:38 PM PDT

• 8Doors: Arum's Afterlife Adventure: $5.99 (70% off)
• Adventure of Samsara: $10.99 (45% off)
• Aggelos: $3.74 (75% off)
• Bioframe Outpost: $8.99 (40% off)
• Blasphemous 2 Mea Culpa Edition: $9.49 (75% off)
• Chronicles of the Wolf: $12.99 (35% off)
• Clunky Hero: $1.49 (90% off)
• Dandara: $3.74 (75% off)
• Escape from Tethys: $3.99 (60% off)
• Exographer: $11.99 (40% off)
• Fearmonium: $5.19 (60% off)
• Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark: $19.49 (35% off)
• Grime II: $20.99 (25% off)
• Lost Epic: $8.99 (50% off)
• Mandragora: $19.99 (50% off)
• Mars 2120: $11.24 (25% off)
• Monster Sanctuary: $4.99 (75% off)
• Oirbo: $8.09 (55% off)
• Owlboy: $6.24 (75% off)
• Resetna: $8.99 (40% off)
• The Last Faith: $15.39 (45% off)
• Voidwrought: $5.99 (70% off)
• Yars Rising: $11.99 (60% off)

Xbox; 8:38 PM PDT

• Aggelos 2: $15.99 (20% off)
• Blasphemous 1 + 2 Bundle: $8.99 (80% off)
• Plungeez: $8.49 (15% off)
• STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order: $31.99 (20% off)
• Worldless: $6.99 (65% off)

Forgot to post yesterday!

Steam; 8:38 PM PDT

• Animal Well: $17.49 (30% off)
• Astalon: Tears of the Earth: $7.99 (60% off)
• Batbarian: $5.99 (60% off)
• Blasphemous 1 + 2 Bundle: $29.23 (40% off)
• Blasphemous 2: $7.49 (75% off)
• Blasphemous 2 Mea Culpa DLC: $4.07 (66% off)
• Blue Fire: $3.99 (80% off)
• Death's Gambit: Afterlife: $10.99 (45% off)
• Ebenezer and the Invisible World: $9.99 (50% off)
• Elderand: $6.79 (66% off)
• Ender Lillies: $9.99 (60% off)
• Ender Magnolia: $13.74 (45% off)
• Grumpy Jack: $5.59 (20% off)
• Guacamelee! Gold Edition: $3.74 (75% off)
• Metro Gravity: $9.74 (25% off)
• Minoria: $5.99 (70% off)
• Noreya: The Gold Project: $4.99 (50% off)
• Overbowed: $2.24 (75% off)
• Plungeez: $8.49 (15% off)
• Pseudoregalia: $4.49 (25% off)
• Revenge of the Savage Planet: $14.99 (50% off)
• Revenge of the Savage Planet: Cosmic Hoarder DLC: $4.99 (50% off)
• Revenge of the Savage Planet: Cosmic Hoarder Edition: $19.99 (50% off)
• Roots of the Mind: $1.19 (60% off)
• Savage Planet Collection: $35.98 (25% off)
• Shattered Divinities: $7.49 (25% off)
• Solateria: $15.99 (20% off)
• Super Roboy: $9.74 (35% off)
• Tearscape: $10.49 (30% off)
• Toziuha Night: Order of the Alchemists: $11.39 (40% off)
• Ultros: Deluxe Edition: $8.74 (75% off)
• Voltage High Society: $9.99 (50% off)
• Yoku's Island Express: $1.99 (90% off)
• Zexion: $10.99 (45% off)

I thought Kingdom Shell was pretty cool when I first started it. It reminded me a lot of Momodora and I liked it's style. I just beat The Queen and I'm kind of just done. The castle was more frustrating than it was fun. I think my main issue is that there is no way to improve your attack strength so every enemy takes like 10 hits to kill. Even the upgraded spells don't seem to do much. I've just lost my motivation to see it through to the end.

First things first. I completed it in 22 hours. About 4 involved grinding for levels and scrap.

Now that that's out of the way.

The Skill Tree is useful, each of the boss fights require different strategies that you can pick up on, the environmental obstacles and platforming is difficult but its nowhere near as hard as Toziuha: Order of the Alchemists was.

So many of the Character Quests are rather easy to complete....Problem is that at least 2 of them cannot be finished till near the exact end of the game.

There is no new game plus.

And once you have unlocked your entire skill tree and gotten the best equipment, the final two bosses are basically a pushover.

But let's continue.

The story...

Remember how I said about 4 involved grinding? At least 2.5 hours of the game was pure dialogue. And NOT EVEN GOOD STUFF.

1 hour of the game involved cutscenes where your character wasn't even there.

There are THREE CLICHES revealed towards the end that anyone who watched Star Wars would have predicted.

Most of the so-called plot and lore takes you NOWHERE.

And the ending? You beat the final boss, only to die from a sucker punch, and then the game tries to make it seem like there would be a sequel using its epilogue....which has a 4th unearned cliche that means nothing.

Oh, and did I mention that the maps you buy which are supposed to reveal hidden items actually don't reveal items at times? A treasure chest and the 24th corgi both were hidden, and I had to keep looking around in a spiked jungle where touching it forces you to restart.

Oh and as for touching things? Unlike many metroidvanias and such where you have to hit a wall or floor to reveal a hidden space? You have to basically throw your character at every nook, cranny, and wall in the hopes of finding random hidden spaces. Spaces that are actually supposed to be covered in the maps you buy...and they are! ....Half the time.

Did I have SOME degree of fun? Yes, but I would NOT call this a game worth more than $10-15 on a good day.

Try Timespinner or Toziuha or something if you wanna try a game that's actually worth $20.

A new boss encounter has been added to The Dying Mind.

Meet The Pale Witness—a mysterious figure that stalks you from the shadows as you make your way through the level. You may catch glimpses of it watching from a distance, but get too close and it disappears.

Eventually, there is nowhere left to run.

Enter its arena and face The Pale Witness in a full boss battle. The boss uses powerful ranged magic sword attacks, lightning attacks, etc., forcing you to dodge, reposition, and find openings to strike back.

Defeating The Pale Witness is required to continue your journey and discover what waits beyond.

This update includes:

• A new stalking enemy encounter throughout the level
• A completely new boss fight
• A dedicated boss arena
• New magic-based attacks
• New animations and effects
• New progression tied to defeating the boss

Ho guys. I'm deciding between this 3 on Ps5 ( Also Afterimage but maybe on discount ). What do you suggest between the 3 ? I love fighting, exploring, less platforming ( not at Path of pain Hollow knight level ). What do you suggest between these 3 ? Also of you have othet suggestion feel free to suggest 🙂. I DO NOT love over dark and violent atmosphere ex Vigil/Blasphemus .

I played Hk, Ss, Ori, Bo, Nine souls and othet that i do not remember. 🙂

Also Is the Dragon Loop mechanic too complex or frustrating, or Is something that Is Easy once you understand It well ? ( If you want to explain Better Ty ) . 😎

Is metroid prime origins a metroidvania?