The Genre Defined
Metroidvania — a portmanteau of Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night — describes games built around interconnected world exploration, movement ability acquisition, and the satisfaction of returning to previously inaccessible areas with new tools.
It's one of gaming's most consistently excellent genres. The best entries are masterclasses in pacing, environmental storytelling, and the design of discovery. Here are the 10 you need to play.
🥇 1. Hollow Knight
Developer: Team Cherry | Price: $14.99 | Platforms: PC, Switch, PS4, Xbox | Metacritic: 87
The standard by which every Metroidvania is now measured. Hallownest is a world of extraordinary scope and melancholy — hand-drawn, atmospheric, and populated with NPCs whose minimal dialogue implies civilizations. The combat is precise. The boss fights are legendary. The optional content adds another 20+ hours. Free DLC included.
If you play only one game on this list, play Hollow Knight.
Steam Rating: Overwhelmingly Positive (200,000+ reviews)
Community Reception: One of the few games sustaining an Overwhelmingly Positive Steam rating years after launch. Players consistently praise the boss design, world-building depth, and the sheer value of 40+ hours at $15. Critical commentary focuses on the steep learning curve — but the community largely frames that as a feature, not a flaw.
🥈 2. Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights
Developer: Live Wire | Price: $24.99 | Platforms: PC, Switch, PS4/5, Xbox | Metacritic: 79
A dark, lyrical Metroidvania that sits closest to Hollow Knight in tone on this list. Lily, a young priestess who awakens in a cursed kingdom, purifies the spirits of knights corrupted by a deadly rain — and each purified knight fights alongside her, lending their unique abilities to her arsenal. The mechanic ties story and gameplay together with unusual coherence.
Combat is weighty and deliberate, with each collected spirit providing a distinct skill set. Boss encounters are a consistent highlight, and the environmental storytelling — delivered through item descriptions and sparse dialogue — rewards thorough exploration. One of the genre's best-kept secrets.
Steam Rating: Very Positive (94%)
Community Reception: "The best dark Metroidvania after Hollow Knight" is a sentiment that recurs consistently in community discussions. The atmosphere, spirit collection mechanic, and boss design receive sustained praise. Value — 30+ hours at under $25 — is another frequently cited strength.
🥉 3. Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Developer: Moon Studios | Price: $29.99 | Platforms: PC, Xbox (Game Pass) | Metacritic: 93
The most visually stunning Metroidvania ever made. Ori 2 expands every mechanic of the original into something more finely tuned — movement feels like flight, the platforming is joyous, and the emotional resonance of the story is genuine. Combat is the only area where it trails Hollow Knight.
Steam Rating: Overwhelmingly Positive
Community Reception: Visual quality and the Gareth Coker soundtrack come up in nearly every positive review, often described as the best-looking 2D game players have ever seen. The improved combat over the original is a consistent point of praise. Some players note it doesn't hit the same emotional notes as Blind Forest — but most consider Will of the Wisps the superior game overall.
4. Metroid Dread
Developer: MercurySteam / Nintendo | Price: $49.99 | Platform: Nintendo Switch | Metacritic: 89
The series creator returns with what many consider its best 2D entry since Super Metroid. EMMI sequences are tense, movement is fluid, and Samus feels powerful in a way that respects rather than trivializes the threats she faces. Required playing if you own a Switch.
Community Reception: Strong consensus among both Metroid series fans and wider Metroidvania audiences. The EMMI chase sequences generated significant community discussion — some players consider them the tensest moments in the series, others find them repetitive — but the broader game design receives near-universal praise. One of the Switch's most acclaimed exclusives.
5. Dead Cells
Developer: Motion Twin | Price: $24.99 | Platforms: PC, Switch, PS4, Xbox | Metacritic: 89
A roguelike-Metroidvania hybrid that leans harder into the roguelike side. Each run is procedurally generated, weapon builds vary dramatically, and the game's momentum-based combat is immediately satisfying. The Return to Castlevania DLC is essential if you have any nostalgic attachment to the classic series.
Steam Rating: Overwhelmingly Positive (100,000+ reviews)
Community Reception: The community's loyalty runs deep, built on years of substantial free updates from Motion Twin and Evil Empire. Fast combat rhythm and build diversity are the two most cited strengths. The Return to Castlevania DLC is widely regarded as a standalone masterpiece within the package, praised for the quality of its sprite work and music adaptations.
6. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Developer: ArtPlay / Koji Igarashi | Price: $19.99 | Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox, Switch | Metacritic: 86
The "Metroidvania" genre name comes partly from Symphony of the Night. Its creator, Koji Igarashi, made Bloodstained after years away — and delivered a game that feels like a direct spiritual heir. The Shard system is a refined evolution of Symphony's familiar/relic mechanics: shards drop randomly from enemies and grant abilities that create genuine build variety. The gothic castle of Miriam is enormous and dense with secrets.
This is the most polished execution of the classic Igavania formula. If you grew up with Symphony of the Night and want that exact feeling replicated with modern production, Bloodstained is the answer.
Steam Rating: Very Positive
Community Reception: Symphony of the Night fans describe Bloodstained as the closest thing to a true sequel the genre has seen. The shard collection loop's addictiveness and the castle's scale are consistent praise points. A small contingent initially had reservations about the visual style compared to 2D pixel art predecessors, but the depth of the content and Igarashi's mastery of the form won most over. Kickstarter backers broadly feel the game delivered on its promises.
7. Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight
Developer: rdein | Price: $9.99 | Platforms: PC | Metacritic: 84
Four hours. Metacritic 84. Dark Souls tone in pixel art form. Momodora is one of the most efficiently designed games in the genre — every hour is purposeful. A single developer built this: a parry-focused combat system, a compact but complete world, and a melancholy atmosphere that lingers.
At any sale price, this is a mandatory pick.
Steam Rating: Very Positive
Community Reception: The short runtime generates mixed reactions from players expecting a longer experience, but the overwhelming view is that those four hours are more densely designed than most games three times the length. Genre veterans consistently call Momodora an overlooked essential, and it earns routine recommendations in "what should I play next after Hollow Knight" discussions.
8. Axiom Verge 2
Developer: Thomas Happ Games | Price: $19.99 | Platforms: PC, Switch, PS4 | Metacritic: 77
A one-man studio delivering one of the most interesting Metroidvanias in years. Axiom Verge 2 takes risks with its world structure and mechanics that bigger studios wouldn't attempt — drone hacking, dual-world traversal, and a more exploration-focused design that deliberately reduces combat compared to its predecessor.
The results aren't always perfect, but they're always interesting. That Thomas Happ conceived and executed a world of this scale alone is remarkable regardless of the outcome.
Steam Rating: Very Positive
Community Reception: Fans of the first game are split on the reduced combat emphasis — those who prefer exploration over action tend to rate it highly, while players seeking the combat density of Axiom Verge 1 are more mixed. Across both camps, the ambition and creativity of a single developer building this scope draws consistent admiration. The unique world structure is cited as something no major studio would have greenlit.
9. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Developer: Ubisoft Montpellier | Price: $39.99 | Platforms: PC, Switch, PS4/5, Xbox | Metacritic: 87
The Prince of Persia series returns as a Metroidvania — and the result is one of the genre's best entries of the decade. Critically, this comes from Ubisoft Montpellier, the team behind Rayman Origins and Legends, not Ubisoft's larger production pipeline.
Time-manipulation abilities form the backbone of both combat and exploration. Sargon can anchor his current position to the world as a warp point, rewind time on individual objects, and project a spectral double. Mount Qaf is a dense, generously designed world that rewards thorough exploration. The game also ships with one of the most comprehensive accessibility option suites in the genre.
Steam Rating: Very Positive
Community Reception: The Metroidvania community's reception has been exceptional — a game that entered with low expectations (due to Ubisoft branding) and exited with near-unanimous praise. Combat precision, the creative use of time mechanics in puzzle design, and the density of the world are the most cited strengths. It regularly appears in 2024 "best Metroidvania of the year" lists across genre communities.
10. Shantae: Half-Genie Hero
Developer: WayForward | Price: $19.99 | Platforms: PC, Switch, PS4, Xbox | Metacritic: 79
The Metroidvania genre leans heavily toward the dark and melancholy. Shantae is the exception — brash, colorful, and relentlessly energetic. Half-Genie Hero is the series' first HD entry and its visual leap is substantial: WayForward's sprite work here is among the most expressive in any 2D game.
Shantae's transformation system drives exploration: the half-genie protagonist learns animal forms that unlock new traversal options, with each transformation opening new paths through earlier areas. Multiple DLC campaigns add playable characters with distinct mechanics. If you're looking for a palate cleanser between heavier genre entries, this is the pick.
Steam Rating: Very Positive
Community Reception: The Shantae series is one of the genre's best-kept secrets — many Metroidvania enthusiasts haven't encountered it. Those who have consistently describe the character writing, the distinctively catchy soundtrack, and the transformation mechanics as standout qualities. Half-Genie Hero is the most common series entry point recommended in community discussions, praised for its visual quality relative to earlier entries and the polish of its core loop.
Quick Reference
| Rank | Game | Price | Metacritic | Steam Rating | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hollow Knight | $14.99 | 87 | Overwhelmingly Positive | Everyone |
| 2 | Silksong | $19.99 | 92 | Very Positive | HK fans |
| 3 | Ori 2 | $29.99 | 93 | Overwhelmingly Positive | Visual/story focus |
| 4 | Metroid Dread | $49.99 | 89 | — | Switch owners |
| 5 | Dead Cells | $24.99 | 89 | Overwhelmingly Positive | Roguelike fans |
| 6 | Bloodstained | $19.99 | 86 | Very Positive | Castlevania fans |
| 7 | Momodora | $9.99 | 84 | Very Positive | Short, dense experiences |
| 8 | Axiom Verge 2 | $19.99 | 77 | Very Positive | Exploration-focused players |
| 9 | Prince of Persia: TLC | $39.99 | 87 | Very Positive | Time-manipulation action fans |
| 10 | Shantae: HGH | $19.99 | 79 | Very Positive | Players wanting lighter tone |