For a brief period, stream chats for any game reveal event were flooded with one of two comments: “announce the Elden Ring DLC” or “where’s Hollow Knight: Silksong?” Now that Shadow of the Erdtree is out and subsequently wrecked the lot of us, only cries for Silksong remain.
And I get it – Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight is one of the most ambitious and beloved games of its type. I’d go so far as to say it rivals classics like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for engrossing, labyrinthine map designs, intriguing lore, and fun traversal. Hollow Knight also boasts a slick, hand-drawn art style that makes every inch of its lengthy adventure memorable and distinct. But – and I hate to say it – who needs Silksong right now when we have so many other great Metroidvania games to play?
I get that it was announced five years ago, and I’m being a little facetious here as I want Silksong just as much as anyone, but we Metroidvania fans aren’t exactly suffering a drought. In fact, I’d argue we’re in a Metroidvania renaissance and heading toward a Golden Age. Three games in particular foisted this realization upon me: Animal Well, Nine Sols, and Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus.
While Animal Well resembles cryptic puzzle games like Fez more than your classic Metroidvanias, the core elements remain. Rather than whipping demons and throwing axes, the challenge stems from solving puzzles as you hunt for colorful eggs in a surreal labyrinth. Animal Well smartly ties its tricky traversal to unique unlockable items like a yo-yo, a bubble wand, and a hamster wheel to ride in, swapping combat for creative brain teasers.
Our very own Lauren Bergin gave it an 8/10 in our Animal Well review, calling it “a bizarre yet brilliant neon-bathed adventure, characterized by tricky puzzles, intense platforming, and a host of cute animals – almost all of which are out to kill you.”
And she was being tough on it. It currently sits at an 89% average critic score on OpenCritic, and the Steam user reviews have it at Overwhelmingly Positive – not at all dissimilar to the raves that Hollow Knight enjoyed back in 2017.
Nine Sols, on the other hand, flew under the radar for most. Taiwanese developer Red Candle Games temporarily pulled its last game, Devotion, from storefronts after it received backlash over a joke comparing Chinese president Xi Jinping to Winnie the Pooh. This reportedly led to the revocation of its publisher’s Chinese business license. All of this may in part have limited Nine Sols’ potential reach.
I would’ve missed it myself if I hadn’t met Team Cherry’s Ari Gibson at Kyoto’s BitSummit. I told him about my idea for this article – that we don’t need Silksong anytime soon with so many other great Metroidvanias – and he agreed for one reason in particular: Nine Sols, an amazing game he couldn’t stop gushing about. And no, he wouldn’t give me a Silksong release date.
Gibson’s praise spurred me to pick up Nine Sols, and it didn’t take me long to appreciate why it’s so beloved by critics and fans alike. Red Candle Games’ Metroidvania also delivers slick, demanding, parry-based combat similar to Sekiro – an impressive feat in a genre that typically sticks to simple attacks supported by a handful of secondary skills.
While my Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus review was decidedly more mixed, it’s clear from the game’s Steam user reviews that it’s a very well-liked Hollow Knight alternative. I wrote extensively on how the traversal mechanics are nothing unique – dashes and glides and wall clings – yet its charming cast and beautiful world inspired by Japanese myth make it well worth checking out.
The first NPC you meet greets you with an “ew”, and he later calls you an “obedient dull puppy” after completing a tutorial quest on his behalf. By the end of the short and sweet adventure, you’ll grow to see him as tragically endearing. This extends to a dozen other witty or bittersweet characters you meet, showing that Metroidvanias don’t have to be narrative-light games focused on platforming challenges and exploration – they have ample room to grow into adventures with story-rich narratives.
And that’s just three of the best Metroidvanias I played this year. I could’ve gone on about Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown’s exciting revival of the franchise, the vivid, sprawling world of Afterimage, the unparalleled pixel art of Blasphemous 2, and so on. Yeah, it’s been a long wait for Silksong, and we’re all going to have to wait a little longer, but there are more than enough amazing Metroidvania games to keep us busy in the meantime.