Summary
The Metroidvania genre is one of the most popular in gaming history. Two of the gaming world’s biggest franchises,MetroidandCastlevania, have such long legacies that their style transformed itself into a full genre within the gaming industry, which has remained hugely popular to this day among indie developers. The blend betweenMetroid/Castlevaniamakes for some great games.
While it can be difficult to get into the Metroidvania style, there are a few modern games that are great for new players attempting to try it out. Building fantastical worlds and introducing in a gentler fashion some of the brutal aspects of this genre, these games will allow players to fall in love with the idea of playing more difficult Metroidvania games latersuch asHollow Knight.
8Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
As a descendant of Dracula, you must end the vampire bloodline. Can you rid the world of this unspeakable terror? Uncover the mystery of Castlevania and challenge an adventure as legendary as its name. Over 140 different enemies, bosses, and ghastly creatures. Awesome magical spells - transform into a bat, a wolf, or etheral mist. Hidden weapons, secrets, and characters…the largest Castlevania ever!
While there are easier Metroidvania games, it is hard to ignore the idea of beginning a player’s new journey in the genre with one of the games responsible for its creation.CastlevaniaandMetroidare the two franchises whose style inspired all future Metroidvania games, andSymphony of the Nightis the very bestCastlevaniagame ever to exist, havinginspired plenty of games more recently.
There are a lot of reasons why this is a good jumping-on point, but besides all of that, the difficulty isn’t actually as bad as it initially seems. Metroidvania games almost all come with some challenges, butCastlevaniagenerally makes it easy to over-level and get less challenge out of the game if players so wish.
7Chasm
Chasm
Welcome to Chasm, a metroidvania, pixel graphics action-adventure game in which you play a new recruit undertaking your first mission for the Guildean Kingdom. Thrilled to prove your worth as a knight, you track strange rumors that a mine vital to the Kingdom has been shut down. But what you discover in the mining town is worse than you imagined: The townspeople have disappeared, kidnapped by supernatural creatures emerging from the depths.Honor-bound to solve the mystery and restore peace to the Kingdom, you embark upon an epic adventure, with deadly battles against cunning monsters, exploration of ancient catacombs and castles, and powerful new equipment hidden at every turn. Though the overall story is the same for all players, your hero’s journey will be unique: each of the rooms has been hand-designed, and behind the scenes Chasm stitches these rooms together into a one-of-a-kind world map that will be your own.
One of the more recent great entries within the Metroidvania genre,Chasmwas released in 2018 and is available on a variety of platforms. One of the best things aboutChasm, which was heavily inspired byCastlevania, is that the entire world map is procedurally generated, as opposed to just the contents of each individual dungeon.
The story ofChasminvolves a young boy attempting to prove himself a worthy knight, and as such, there are several challenging boss fights throughoutChasm. These are good for aspiring Metroidvania players though, since most games in the genre have similar boss fights that rely on learning the attack patterns, andChasm’sbosses are certainly less challenging than some similar game boss fights.
One of the more comedic, light-hearted entries in the Metroidvania style,Guacameleeis not a pure Metroidvania game, it acts as more of a hybrid between a Metroidvania and a brawler game. Drawing inspiration from Mexican culture, focusing on Juan, who is killed and returned from the Land of the Dead bearing a mask that transforms him into a powerful Luchador.
There are many features inGuacameleethat are familiar to the Metroidvania style, especially the non-linear gameplay and gathering coins to buy more abilities. The best thing for beginners aboutGuacameleeis that players don’t have to play it alone, a second player can drop into their game to assist, making any challenge presented by this Metroidvania game much easier to handle.
5Axiom Verge
The Metroidvania genre has been driven in recent years by the indie development scene, andAxiom Vergeis a great example of anindie-developed and highly underrated Metroidvania. With an intriguing story about a scientist who awakens on an alien world after a lab explosion, theMetroid-inspired art and narrative makeAxiom Vergeone of the most fascinating games released in recent times.
With over sixty different power-ups to gain and plenty of levels,Axiom Vergeis a perfect beginner game in the Metroidvania style. Players are able to play at their own pace and gain plenty of these abilities, making the game much easier than it would be if players attempted to rush it.
4Owlboy
Owlboy
Owlboy is a story-driven platform adventure game, where you may fly and explore a brand-new world in the clouds! Pick up your friends, and bring them with you as you explore the open skies. Overcome obstacles and greater enemies, in one of the most detailed adventures of this era.Being a mute, Otus struggles living up to the expectations of owl-hood. Things spiral from bad to worse with the sudden appearance of sky pirates. What follows is a journey through monster infested ruins, with unexpected encounters, well-kept secrets, and burdens no one should have to bear.A love letter to pixel art for a new audience, this adventure 10 years in the making, Owlboy, is a story-driven action adventure, with a unique mix of flight and platforming. Players can carry anything and must recruit Otus’ friends as gunners to fight for them. Each of these characters will have unique abilities and stories.
This is one of the games that least represents the more in-depth style of Metroidvania games, but nevertheless remains a great choice for players to give a go because of the way it introduces so many elements of Metroidvania games to players who may not know much about them yet.
Owlboyis an easy game to get the hang of, players get to solve a variety of puzzles and engage in combat while using a variety of abilities, including Owlboy’s flight. The game involved a long development process of nine years in attempts to get the flight and other abilities right, but it came out as a sweet and wonderful game that is great for beginners to the Metroidvania style, and the indie developers behind it havea surprising next game on the way.
3Timespinner
Another game that was greatly inspired byCastlevania: Symphony of the Night, this game allows players to take control of a time messenger as they explore a castle, fighting enemies and finding upgrades to allow previously inaccessible areas to be reached.
The great thing aboutTimespinner, besides helping players get familiar with almost all the controls they could expect from most Metroidvania games. But what makesTimespinnera truly great intro game is the capability the player has to stop time at will, allowing them to constantly get their bearings and take, quite literally, their own time with the game.
A 2009 release that set itself in 2.5D,Shadow Complexis heavily inspired by theMetroidfranchise, taking place in an underground cavern where a couple find themselves after a spelunking trip goes awry. In the style of Metroidvanias, there is plenty to be done in re-traversing the same areas with new abilities, collecting those new helpful items, and more.
Shadow Complexis a stand-alone game apart from some of the infamous franchises that helped create the Metroidvania style, but it is still an ingenious one, having been nominated for many Game of the Year awards upon release. While there are bonus challenge levels available, the majority of the game itself is safe for beginners to try out, not providing too strenuous a challenge, and it hasjust recently been remastered for the PS5.
Often regarded as one of the best games, not just in the Metroidvania genre, to be released in the past ten years,Ori and the Blind Forestis an incredible game. Without touchingCastlevaniaorMetroid, players can get an incredible narrative, plenty of new abilities and areas to revisit, and an artistic style that is completely mesmerizing, building abeautiful world with surprising darknesslurking within.
Ori and the Blind Forestis already responsible for helping find the Metroidvania genre plenty of new fans, this incredible game holds some challenges but is well worth trying, and it never becomes hard to the point of real frustration. It also has a much more challenging sequel for those looking to test themselves after they finish.
