Metroidvanias of 2023 - The hits and the misses | Cannot be Tamed

Here's a look at all of the metroidvanias I played that came out this year. A few were great, some were just okay, and a few were misses for me. Here are some brief thoughts on all nine I played.
00:00 Intro
00:28 Elderand
01:41 Romancelvania
03:07 Vernal Edge
04:24 Curse of the Sea Rats
05:39 Afterimage
06:51 The Last Case of Benedict Fox
08:17 Blasphemous 2
10:01 Laika: Aged Through Blood
11:40 Ebenezer and the Invisible World
13:01 Final thoughts and games I'm looking forward to
#blasphemous #afterimage #elderand
The footage in this video is a combination of game trailers and my own footage. Music is from each of the games' soundtracks.
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Intro artwork, logo and banner by: @theMagdalenRose
"Cantina Blues" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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[@rominoob4025]

I wish Konami would release a Castlevania DS collection

[@HeyNavi]

Same. Just wondering how the touch screen controls would work for dawn of sorrow for the seals and breaking ice

[@MegaThunberg]

Same here, best 3 metroidvania games right after Symphony of the night in my opinion. Thank you Pam for recomending Astalon, that game was fantastic!

[@davea8487]

It'll happen. Just a matter of time

[@greatrulo]

Here's hoping! I think Order of Ecclesia(misspelled?) Is definitely the best Igavania after SotN, very underrated, especially its banger soundtrack.

[@Davey_Cakes]

It'll happen once they figure out a workaround for the DS-specific features. I'd love to buy a digital version of the collection as I was a fool and sold off Dawn and Portrait many years ago, only keeping Order. All fantastic games though. There is no bad Igavania, only ones like Harmony and Portrait which are slightly below the rest.

[@Franky_M]

Great video, appreciate your honesty about all of these.

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thanks for watching!

[@dominoscr]

Thanks for wading through the swamp for us and happy new year!

[@markhoffman1310]

I finished "Cookie Cutter" today. It's very solid. More platforming than I prefer and the secrets don't feel rewarding enough. Art style and combat are top notch. 8/10

[@bofyonkers]

Great video! I especially appreciated your candid reviews on different aspects of the games.

[@INVINCIBLE117X]

Pam I can't tell you how much these videos are appreciated.Metroidvanias are AMAZING and I'm always on the lookout for more so thank you haha :)

[@syncr0904]

I had some of these on my wish list, thanks for helping me prune it down a bit

[@TheDylanCharles]

Great video, as always, in spite of the fact that you got me to add two more games to my wishlist. The Last Faith looks fantastic and I might pick that up soon, along with a couple of others.

[@DavySuicide]

Great Video! Blasphemous 2 and Afterimage were my most beloved indies this year, enjoyed every second of these. Laika and Cookie Cutter were bought but no time so far to play these. Merry Christmas to you

[@btchiaintkidding7837]

Blasphemous2 and Afterimage both singlehandedly made 2023 an amzing year for metroidvanias. you should look up "Rusted Moss" and "Worldless" , couple other amazing meteoidvanias that are kinda underappreaciated

[@julieta12]

I’m so glad you made this video. Happy Holidays!!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Happy Holidays!

[@scoot479]

Last Faith is one of my favorites. Hope you name it one of the best for next year.

[@Qhartb]

That's exactly how I felt about Laika! It felt like it was targeted towards gamers that were already used to games with a similar control scheme. The tutorials at least presented everything, but didn't really give time for one skill to be incorporated before moving on to the next.

[@Fantazaelia]

also idk if its just me but when playing the game i had difficulty with my vision trying to catch up with everything going on in the screen, which is weird because i wouldnt say this game is cluttered with things that distract the eye, and i have 20-20 vision and never experienced this with any other game.

[@StewNWT]

Great video as always Pam!! Merry Christmas from the Northwest Territories

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Merry Christmas!

[@danielviviani]

This year I've played just one MetroidVania I found great, Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth. It's a 2021 game but I've just played recently. Pretty, cool and fast. Thank you so much for your vídeos in 2023, Pam! Already said it, but I love them, and I find you a fantastic creator. Wish you and yours wonderful Hollidays!

[@Davey_Cakes]

The developer (Team Ladybug) has a game called Blade Chimera slated for Spring 2024. It's like a more cyberpunk version of Deedlit.

[@danielviviani]

@@Davey_Cakes Will check It out Davey! Thanks mate! And have yourself a great Christmas!

[@chucheeness7817]

​@@danielvivianithey also did a short touhou MV very similar to lodoss war. It's called touhou luna nights

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Record of Lodoss War was fun, I enjoy Touhou Luna Nights even more.

[@smokeback]

was looking forward to such a review this year for both learning and inspiration as a dev

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Hope it was helpful!

[@smokeback]

very much it was actually had to go through the other one since working on a metroidvania learning what to avoid and improve on is important@@Cannotbetamed1

[@OthoDaFe]

Looking forward to watch you top games of the year! It's usually what determines what I will be playing next year lol.

[@paulocerioni6375]

For me Blasphemous 2 is miles ahead of every metroidvania released this year. I agree with some of your points, maybe the aesthethic impact of the first game was diminished in the sequence due to the animated cutscenes replacemente of pixel art cutscenes, but I think it is just because the novelty of playing Blasphemous 1 is no longer there and Blasphemous 2 continues drinking from the same fountain while "competing" with the high bar set in the first game (hopefully the same feeling won't happen with Silksong!). Most of what makes the first game unique is still there: the soundtrack is once again memorable, the Spanish religious references are plenty and the NPCs are more gruesome than ever! I think they should make the map pinpoint of objetives less frequent / obvious in the second act of the game, as it happens with Blasphemous 1, which would also improve the sense of exploration greatly!

[@samthefireball]

You missed a ton of amazing ones. In fact none of the ones you discussed were anywhere in my top of the year (except blasphemous 2) • ⁠silent paradise • ⁠goo keeper • ⁠subsurface • ⁠super Junkoid (Metroid hack) • ⁠ex vitro • ⁠xanthiom zero • ⁠MF-01 Airstrike • ⁠The Ramsey • ⁠Plague of Yamorn • ⁠Doomblade • ⁠Convergence • ⁠Bloody Hell • ⁠Menerva-324 • ⁠Side Scape - kingdom shell - cookie cutter

[@MORJDK]

Thanks for the video. I found out about and bought Elderand and Vernal Edge. Love this genre :)

[@ACE-ej4fu]

looking forward to your silksong review next year

[@oldboone]

Just picked up Afterimage...looks gorgeous!

[@williamskogen9895]

Somehow I missed Afterimage and Elderand. Thanks for pointing them out!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

You're welcome!

[@Phegmore]

Excellent list. I tried the Laika demo on PC, and yep, I struggled with the controls as well. Like you, my poor brain couldn't keep up. I might still get it anyway at some point.

[@heywhatup9657]

you honestly give the most helpful reviews. thanks so much!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

You are so welcome!

[@fredd3233]

Really cool video, I didn't know your channel at all and I'm going to explore some more videos, as I enjoy metroidvanias too :) I'd recommend you check out 9 Years of Shadow : it's a beautiful metroidvania from 2023, with a cool (if familiar) story, and it's definitely nots as long as Afterimage. One of the lesser-known gems of 2023, imo.

[@TampaTec]

Too many good titles to choose from but fortunately on Steam there's 50% to 90% off deals on Metroidvania games till Jan 4 2024. I like to see your list of best buys under $10 on steam.

[@Bl4ckH4nd]

Always had an appreciation for Metroidvania games but I could never play them for long. I gave Last Faith a go and something just clicked, really loved and started playing some other Metroidvanias I missed. I highly recommend Frontier Hunter: Erza's Wheel of Fortune, got hooked on it hard.

[@winterburden]

Thanks for this neat Metroidvania video Pam!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

You're welcome

[@nakfoor1846]

Thanks for the video, I also love metroidvanias and had never heard of most of these.

[@deadwafflez9685]

Thanks for the recommendations Pam! Some of these look interesting. Watch out the slowest speed for a drunk Pam review!

[@MrShibblet]

Ever since your last list of the best Metroidvania's, you're my "go-to" for reviews in this genre. Thank you!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

My pleasure!

[@fkirfirt9606]

You should check out Ghost Song. Great art style, fun ranged and melee combat and a good story. It is very under rated! I blew through it in three or four play sessions which is rare for me to get that invested.

[@ericwilkerson8194]

Great game with great story and mechanics. Building the character to your play style was really cool as well. I will play it again someday. Music was amazing too!

[@Denneeyboy]

I played it and didnt find it that good.

[@fkirfirt9606]

@@Denneeyboy different strokes for different folks, I guess.

[@fkirfirt9606]

@@ericwilkerson8194 a lot of people struggled with the final boss but I was able to beat him in two tries by wisely equipping abilities. I thought it was cool that this crazy, non-standard combo that most would never think of using was the key to victory.

[@Cannotbetamed1]

I played that for a bit and really didn't like it.

[@RichtersShadow]

The only ones I've played from your list are Curse of the Sea Rats and Blasphemous 2. Pretty much agree completely about both.

[@JediMB]

I think 9 Years of Shadows was the only Metroidvania I played this year. Extremely pretty, very fun, but the bosses got way too hard towards the end. I feel the need to give Laika a try. I've never really been a fan of Excite Bike, but mixing it with Metroidvania is intriguing to me.

[@keness4768]

If you played and dug the lecarde chronicle games, maybe check out chronicles of the wolf when they eventually finish it. Still a work in progress for now. Prince of p does look good though.

[@RaLk6]

9 Years of shadows is an interesting one

[@Cannotbetamed1]

It certainly pretty.

[@4everyellow988]

My god. I agree on everything and i mean EVERYTHING you said for everyone of these games. Played/tried all of them.Seems we have the exact same taste.

[@Za_Lup]

I've got most of these! Great choices!

[@Steve_Streza]

Everyone is sleeping on Yohane the Parhelion: Blaze in the Deepblue. Very competent MV with high production value. You dont have to be a Love Live fan, though it helps.

[@beyondomega4604]

Yohane + Metroid was a combination is something I never thought I'd see together but I'm so glad it's a thing!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

That is quite the title.

[@Beeyo176]

This was very helpful, thank you

[@janosjph805]

It's good to hear the praise still coming in for Prince of Persia. That's shaping up to be a day one purchase for me. I think my favorite this year was Blasphemous 2 but I can relate to your criticisms on it. It wasn't really connecting with me until I soft locked about 75% in and had to start over. For whatever reason, going around the early sections with my honed skills made it way more enjoyable and I was able to catch the story elements I missed too. Hopefully Game Kitchen continues with all the free DLC updates that made the first so easy to return to and hard to put down. Maybe we'll get some monstrous bosses down the road. As far as recommendations, I definitely second 9 Years of Shadows and I'm sort of surprised it wasn't in the video. Nothing groundbreaking but a solid experience. I'd check it out if just to familiarize yourself to Halberd Studios. Their next project, Mariachi Legends, looks to have incredible potential. It's wat I'm looking forward to most next year if you discount. Prince of Persia, although I have serious doubt it will release before 2025.

[@jurtheorc8117]

Best of wishes to Halberd studios, from my side almost purely because axes and similar weapons are so rarely wielded by main characters in video games as a main weapon. Same wishes to Cookie Cutter's devs who came out last this year, and i hope Mariachi Legends can gain a level of love and popularity to high-five Guacamelee.

[@Cannotbetamed1]

I played the demo for 9 Years of Shadows at some point. My game crashed and when I came back I found out that I didn't even have a save file, so I never touched it again.

[@jakeavilaquiroz]

Hi Pam Merry Christmas, love your Metroidvania videos 👍

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thanks, Merry Christmas!

[@JessesAuditorium]

Happy holidays pam

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Happy Holidays!

[@DrTeflon]

My thoughts are almost close to yours in regards to Laika. Its amazing, its world is fascinating, I'm just BAD at it. With that said, Brainwash Gang output since 2021 has been great. Grotto, The Longest Road on Earth, Friends vs Friends AND Laika this year. What a great team. Looking forward to your thoughts on The Last Faith

[@Cannotbetamed1]

I wasn't familiar with Brainwash Gang at all, but I've just added Grotto to my wishlist.

[@evenoddprime]

Saved, I gotta check some of these out.

[@Kryptic1046]

See I liked Ebenezer. I thought it was pretty fun and I loved its aesthetic, though it has had a couple patches since it released so the experience is probably somewhat improved. I must say Afterimage looks pretty cool, I might give that one a go.

[@lesserspottedmugwump.363]

Yeah, she’s sold me on Afterimage as well, it’s on sale on the Microsoft store. Plus astalon, never heard of it but it was mentioned in another comment. I would have put money on Silksong being out by now, it’s starting to get a bit annoying now.

[@thomashooper2451]

Ebenezer just made me want to go back and replay Ender Lilies. Ebenezer is like a worse version of that game, which begs the question of why not just replay Ender Lilies?

[@cmallory7511]

@@lesserspottedmugwump.363 Astalon is absolutely amazing. I think she oversold Afterimage, though. That game can be very tedious at times.

[@ryandann9362]

I played around 3 hours of Afterimage. It didn't click with me. The combat felt off, and not being able to use the dpad to control I didn't like. Also the control scheme felt off, it may have been a trigger button to jump or something, it's been a while. It might be a game I have to try multiple times of many years to eventually like and play. Ebenezer looks cool to me, and I actually want to play that.

[@lesserspottedmugwump.363]

I think they over did it with the size, plus the story is very Chinese. I just finished reading 'The three Body problem', it has the same vibe about it, possibly because words dont translate directly. I'm enjoying it so far though, normally I know with a metroidvania pretty quickly, I think some of the enemy designs are a bit off though, a cute frog thing is hardly the most intimidating image that comes to mind. @@cmallory7511

[@user-uo6cq1cp3u]

Wow, you absolutely nailed exactly how I feel about Blasphemous 2. The first Blasphemous is one of my all-time favorites in the genre, and while the second game improved the combat to a large degree, it just doesn’t have the same…feel. The graphics are brighter, the music is a little peppier…the feelings of utter despair and desolation elicited by the first game are much diminished. Also, the backstory for the bosses is not quite as detailed, making them less interesting. And, there’s no New Game+ or unlockable colors; a strange omission when they were offered by the first game by default. Might be coming via DLC. Not saying I didn’t enjoy it, though. Still a great game, and it’s the second game I ever platinumed.

[@KingofRogues]

Metroidvania's are my favorite 2D games these days. I think your channel has low key become THE place to get recommendations for this subgenre.

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thanks so much for saying that.

[@SNESdrunk]

Am I a simpleton for bursting out laughing when I saw Romancelvania? It looks hilarious. That seems like a great concept to apply to some actually good gameplay

[@Cannotbetamed1]

It is pretty funny and some of the monster designs are hilarious.

[@rileyneff1889]

My favorite of the year was one you missed: Teslagrad 2. It’s a puzzle-platformer, but thanks to an early game ability it has incredibly fast player movement that’s still easy to control. And it only took me about 7 hours to 100% it.

[@jamesbevan9939]

Had a possible idea for a video - they just announced the nominees for the GDC Awards, and I'd love to see you do a rundown of the finalists for each category and what games you think should win their respective awards.

[@aic8326]

I wish Konami would do a full blown action/RPG set in transylvania! Kinda like simons quest... open world, medieval, large..... like a witcher, but with the belmont family

[@Psychotoxic86]

Thank you for the video. The Last Case of Benedict Fox still has a rough technical situation on PC and stutters in the beginning of a new part of the location and “save points”. It is very bad for this kind of game.

[@eppic]

Hey Pam - I only just discovered you but i love your review style. Definitely gained a new fan!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Welcome to the channel!

[@wesleywyndam-pryce7231]

Merry Christmas!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Merry Christmas!

[@R3GARnator]

Fun and helpful vid.

[@curreisland5115]

Afterimage was my favorite metroidvania of the year.

[@zeldamaster52]

Fav of the year was definitely Blasphemous 2. Loved the first game and this was an improvement across the board for me. Next year has a lot I'm excited for, but very few have dates, so I'll hold off on those. But January gives a strong start to the year with Momodora 5 and Prince of Persia back to back, so that'll be fun.

[@ChodeEllis]

Merry Christmas applehead!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Merry Christmas!

[@senditall152]

Great suggestions, thank you miss.

[@Symphony85p]

Best one this year Is Last Faith without a doubt setting feel atmosphere everything ever with some minor flaws best one this year with blasphemous 2💎

[@rustyhardy5371]

I 100% agree with your Blasphemous 2 feelings. I couldn't quite put my finger on just what it was about it that I didn't vibe with, because I absolutely loved it, but not as much as the first one. Now I feel like I understand better why. I appreciate you, Pam. I will definitely give Afterimage a shot. Happy New Year!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Happy New Year!

[@Sandboxcode]

Another great video! Very refreshing to watch video content where the creator/author actually admits to not finishing the game. I got burned out on watching massive "best of 2023" lists where the author didnt confess this which forces me to assume they played NONE of them 🤣

[@philosophyoftrucking]

Pam is my Metroidvania leader. I love her recommendations.

[@devin8367]

Absolutely loved afterimage, so glad I backed the kickstarter

[@TheBobcat1978]

I recently picked up Cookie Cutter. wasnt sure if u had a chance to play it yet and look forward to hearing your thoughts on it.

[@bucktae]

If anyone interested in the backstory, story and ending explained of Afterimage there a video by Indie Xplorer the lore of afterimage

[@ActionJaxonH]

So many good metroidvanias on Switch OLED. Playing with Mobapad M6 HD is gaming nirvana. Prince of Persia, Metroid Dread, Metroid Fusion, Metroid Prime Remastered, Ori Blind Forest, Ori Will of the Wisps, Hollow Knight and soon Silksong...

[@CheddahSlammer]

A lot of these have fixes on the things you mentioned. I actually have most of these in my steam library but haven't gotten around to playing them yet. Its funny because just watched another review and guy said the opposite for some of these. Like he preferred Blasphemous 2 over 1, Afterimage he found too big, he really like Vernal edge and its combat, and Ebenezer he said moved to fast for an old man

[@bennorrell6411]

Elderand just randomly came out of nowhere and was super fun. 👌

[@Agent_Pyng]

Thanks for the great overview of what 2023 offered in this genre. What platform did you use to play Afterimage? I really enjoyed the game, but I played it on the Switch where it really struggled performance-wise. The fun of traversing the map quickly was constantly interrupted by the loading screen, and it would hard crash fairly often. Thankfully it auto saves in many places other than the checkpoints.

[@Cannotbetamed1]

I played on Xbox Series X.

[@TheMountainDemon]

I really wanted to love Afterimage. Strangely enough, my biggest complaint is just how massive the map is of the whole game. If I took any time off from it, I would come back and have no idea what I was doing last time. The fast travel aspect gets kinda wonky too. I loved the gameplay and all of the cool weapons you frequently get. Great video! Thanks! Oh, I know it's a little older, but did you play Islets?

[@Cannotbetamed1]

It is a very large map and there were a couple points where I had no idea where to head next. Still had a great time with it though.

[@johnnytrash2839]

I was so excited for the "ratroidvania" (Sea Rats) but it definitely didn't deliver IMHO. I hadn't heard of LAIKA, but you had me at "coyote on a motorcycle".

[@fyiicheckforspies]

Thanks for your honest reviews. Really nice to see someone be critical of a genre they enjoy so much

[@JamieBainbridge]

I enjoyed: Maptroid, a metroidvania played entirely with the map, fun concept which doesn't overstay its welcome. Lester, a new C64 game and really good, I will replay this again for sure. Play on emulator and map D-Pad Up to a jump button. Didn't enjoy: Phantom 2040 (SNES), Feed It Souls (Gameboy).

[@guygardner8308]

Great video, though it would have helped if you mentioned which consoles the games play on.

[@bootmanmstz]

I am so glad I'm not the only one who felt that way about Laika. If you're bad, I'm bad. there's just WAY too much going on

[@maynardburger]

It's difficult for devs, cuz the genre is so saturated nowadays and one of the best ways to stand out is a striking art style. So it's inevitable many will put a lot of attention into that side of things. But as with some of these games, it's also clear that art and gameplay are not completely disconnected things, and doing something like great animation can actually conflict with the feeling of control. Very hard balance to get right. Similarly, visual clutter can be an issue in terms of technical elements and detail levels and all that.

[@mccoy7083]

Spot on review! I noticed the trend of metrodivanias who focus too much on art style but forget to give to same treatment to gameplay.

[@josephcole2590]

Afterimage was my favorite for the year. I played it the same way you did and just ignored the dialog. Im hopeful for Crowsworn and Silksong this upcoming year.

[@crithon]

even though it's not the best, they all look neat. Great video

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thanks!

[@streetmagik3105]

Another one that recently released that i want to play is 9 Years of Shadows. I'm hoping it gets a physical.

[@tonychou8814]

cool video ! very not mainstream, love it

[@frozenninja4030]

Really looking forward to the Lost Crown. And of course Silk Song if that ever becomes a thing.

[@OperationPhantom]

Thanks for the round up Pam! Maybe not the greatest year for MVs but these are all real lookers at least. I should play Afterimage, have it installed... Elderand was enjoyable, felt like an old school Castlevania inspired game. Currently playing through Demon Peak, it's free on Steam now. It's... OK. It has cats in it.

[@jurtheorc8117]

There was also Cookie Cutter from just over half a week ago. Solid first game by its respective dev studio.

[@OperationPhantom]

@@jurtheorc8117 Thanks for bringing this to my attention! It seems to have some technical issues at the moment but a patch could cure that. It does look gorgeous and with a fair bit of the old ultra violence thrown in! Wish listed for now.

[@HornetSilksong1232]

i saw a metroidvania that came out a while ago called "Last Faith" i didnt see much about it after it launched but i played the demo and it was decent, have you tried it?

[@Cannotbetamed1]

As I said in the video, no.

[@greatrulo]

Heyo Pam, what would you say are your favorite metroidvanias of all time? I grew up with Castlevania but I've noticed that as much as I enjoy the artistic style music or atmosphere of new games in the genre, I just don't get used to how much platforming or length they, in my opinion, try to artificially inject. I loved Blasphemous 1 and Hollow Knight for like the first 10-15 hours but after they went on and on I just lost interest, it's weird because I understand how good they are but I also don't appreciate how long they take, Igavanias took at most 10 hours each, and felt more like a tighter package for me.

[@Cannotbetamed1]

My favourite of all time are Hollow Knight, Blasphemous, Astalon and Symphony of the Night. Blasphemous isn't that long.

[@greatrulo]

@@Cannotbetamed1 maybe I'm just bad at them, I remember at around 15 hours with Blasphemous I reached a part with lots of spike traps and just gave up. I've heard it's been patched a lot, I played it right at release so that might've increased the difficulty. Thanks for the answer btw, I do think Hollow Knight and Blasphemous are some of the best in the media, they just lose steam for me as they go on. I've gotta check Astalon though, hadn't heard of that.

[@paddyola1]

i just love you xxxxxxx merry xmas xxxx23

[@Marina-bd4le]

Just saw one called 9 Years of Shadows on sale, looks awesome. Tried it, worth it?

[@Cannotbetamed1]

I played the demo a while back and my game crashed and I lost all my progress. Never felt the need to go back.

[@SuperSecretAgentNein]

As always love your videos. You should try Moonscars when you can, currently enjoying it. Honestly, juries still out for me on if it’s actually a metroidvania or just one of those 2d Soulslikes without any Metroidvania elements (I’m not far into it) but if it IS only a 2d non Metroidvania Soulslike it’s still pretty good (so far).

[@davidnakayama8671]

Agree with you about Afterimage--that was one of the best Metroidvanias I played this year for sure. Have you tried Haiku the Robot? Short but very sweet.

[@dudeman1094]

Played after image(hard copy) for a while... Got pretty far then it glitched out and erased my save... I was pissed...

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Yeah, I Haiku was a lot of fun.

[@fhjunior6183]

Thanks for the vid

[@rogshit]

Good tip for Laika is to just slow it down here and there(though it seems a little counter intuitive)

[@meander112]

Metroid for the Metroid god! Vania for the vania throne!

[@goldenyak629]

This year I also played Last Faith and Cookie Cutter just recently. Last Faith is pretty good, Cookie Cutter is a bit too rough and frustrating for me to recommend, but it's got great character design and animation.

[@malzagod1429]

Last faith is goated

[@jurtheorc8117]

Fair enough review on Cookie Cutter! Personally i quite liked it, in part very much due to the presentation. Not just visually, but for the characters, sounds, atmosphere, world and all the potential it carries for more. I don't know how actively you may keep up with the devs on Steam forums or Twitter (if at all), but they're being pretty good in asking for feedback and criticism to get bugs and issues fixed as soon as possible. So that's quite nice to see.

[@MichaelButlerC]

Wow. first I'm seeing Laika. I'm a huge fan of the "Trials" games (physics based dirtbike puzzler requiring extremely precise movements and inertia) and this seems like a mashup of that game with guns. Might have to give it a try. as for this year, the only new MV I played was Blasphemous II and of course loved it to death. Still need to get to Metroid Dread at some point since... METROID

[@eatatdeowees1183]

If you have PC or handheld PCs, you should try Dark Light too There are also Cathedral and Shinsekai Into the Depths on the Switch Will be looking forward to your The Last Faith review

[@rayceeya8659]

Curse of the Sea Rats looks like Chip and Dales Rescue Rangers the Metroidvania. I kind of love it.

[@xavito4337]

Yeah, I keep hearing it's rough but I still wanna buy it eventually 😅

[@tesselesk8]

You must play: Fire in the Beastland, some of the best metroidvania out there, nobody seems to know about it

[@vagabundorkchaosmagick-use2898]

Happy holidays, Pam! Here's 50 upcoming metroidvanias (some might not be real metroidvanias, but close enough): kzbin.info/www/bejne/iH2pmY2ioallmNU