Top Ten Soulsvanias (Souls-Like Metroidvanias)

[@benangotti3281]

I liked Afterimage better than Hollowknight. Bring the downvotes...

[@MetroidvaniaGuru]

I’ll pin it 👌

[@YEAH-YEAH-YEAH-YEAH-YEAH]

Innnnnnfinitely better its more a kin to sotn imo and for the better of it

[@benangotti3281]

@@YEAH-YEAH-YEAH-YEAH-YEAH Yeah I loved Hollow Knight, but it was far tougher to pick up, and I never beat the additional bosses or Radiance due to difficulty. Plus your nail doesn't add much weapon diversity. Afterimage hit that sweet spot for me between difficulty and accessablility for a more casual player like myself. And the SOTN throwback easter eggs were icing on the cake.

[@YEAH-YEAH-YEAH-YEAH-YEAH]

@@benangotti3281 yeah not just sotn references there were a ton of name references in the skill tree like “Rondo” “Aria” “Harmony” and even “symphony” itself. And as for hollow knight its not the difficulty for me its the biomes and general theme it just about BUGS which is sooooo restrictive and boring to me. I always preferred either dark fantasy like blasphemous (which is also difficult but l still finished both parts a dozen of time so its not even about skill issues or so), the last faith (one of my favorite modern MVs if u didn’t play l strongly recommend it cuz u liked afterimage),castlevania, deaths gambit, ender lilies and high fantasy like lodos war, aggelos, PoP the last crown, bloodstained rotn hell even sci-fi like the first axiom verge, mummy demastered or ghost song which r more like metroid then castlevania.

[@benangotti3281]

@@YEAH-YEAH-YEAH-YEAH-YEAH Oh man! So many good titles I need to check out! I loved Castlevania Order of Eccesia, as well as DOS and POR. Bloodstained was great but I actually enjoyed Afterimage more. And Axiom Verge 1 was my favorite near Super Metroid clone. Was not feeling the second nearly as much. Still looking forward to POP the last crown, as well as the others listed. Thanks for the recommendations! Still looking forward to Silksong as well, whenever that drops!

[@ΑριάδνηΤζουνάκου]

Vigil: The Longest Night is my favorite Metroidvania and one of my favorite games of all time. What has happened to the game is a tragedy, but I am grateful you give it some of the recognition it deserves.

[@THaB4DGuY]

what happened to it? i have it but only played a few hours cus i hardly play switch but i been thinkin about finally finishin it

[@322ss]

@@THaB4DGuY well devs put some local political crap as a hidden message in the game, and publisher being obedient to political views of China, pulled the game from stores - or something along those lines. Google "Vigil the Longest Night Was Removed from Steam. Epic, and Nintendo EStores!" I remember reading this to see why it was removed.

[@THaB4DGuY]

@potatopower2144 NO WAY! WHY!? my switch version i bought better still work!

[@blabla-fw9ix]

@@THaB4DGuY It will work you just wont be able to purchase it if you didn't as of yet .

[@THaB4DGuY]

@@blabla-fw9ix yea ive been playing it, i think im almost done. trying to find that slashy scythe in the bounty trailer vid

[@shaunmartinell5825]

It’s such a shame Vigil: The Longest Night doesn’t exist. Because it is the surprise hidden gem 💎 of the year. 🇨🇳

[@d00mnoodle24]

I'm so glad i picked it up before it got delisted. Honestly an underrated gem

[@surestrange]

It is an awesome game and glad I own it but it came out like three years ago

[@xanxenon1934]

Only the pirated version remains. Unfortunately, legal access is difficult to obtain. :(

[@Eltron92]

Of the year? That game came out like 5 years ago

[@FredMaverik]

Vigil is just like any other soulsvania omg

[@o0XxShimmyxX0o]

Man your channel is criminally underappreaciated! As a longtime fan of the metroidvania genre myself, you definitely know what you are talking about. I've been following you for a while, probably the best metroidvania oriented content on youtube, 2k subs is baffling to me, although it's a super niche genre thats for sure. Sub to this guy goddammit!

[@MetroidvaniaGuru]

Thanks! I’m just gonna keep grinding till I get big 😆

[@HurricaneSparky]

A very unknown Soulslike/Metroidvania that I loved was Dark Devotion. It's an unsung game, and it stopped getting development back in 2020, but I really enjoyed its gritty dungeon crawling. I enjoyed its style, I and spent forever trying to get its main promotional artwork in its original form (spent 2 years off and on, and went so far as to find the artist and his portfolio' before it randomly appeared online). I don't know if I could say it's a fully good experience; it definitely has a clunky feeling to it, but I liked its premise and themes.

[@jayefe17]

This is my favorite top ten gaming list. So many wishlisted games on this list. Those that aren't on my wishlist have been beat at least once. Great list. You trully are a guru

[@MetroidvaniaGuru]

I appreciate you! You have great taste 👍

[@DMaster8686]

Vigil is living proof why emulation is actually healthy if not indispensable for the gaming world. You can play it through emulation but you can't if you legit want to purchase it.

[@FredMaverik]

.....That's not emulation.

[@DMaster8686]

@@FredMaverik It is when there is literal no legal way to purchase the game.

[@TheFifthHorseman_]

Vigil: The Longest Night is back on Steam now. Might be worth covering :)

[@davidtippy7976]

This is a pretty important video. I haven't seen anyone talk about the Vigil situation on KZbin yet, but this is just the beginning. The Unity debacle a couple months ago already had the potential to wipe out several of the games on this list, and wretched avarice will continue to threaten the arts as long as money is God. If you want your children to have a chance to love the same things that you do, don't rely on corporations to make it happen. Who knows how many of these titles will be available 5-10 years from now.

[@MetroidvaniaGuru]

Just trying to spread awareness. It really is ridiculous.

[@FeelinKindaGrey]

Currently playing The Last Faith, and enjoying the hell out of it.

[@mattgreim5778]

I just finished The Last faith and Blasphemous 2, currently playing Ender LIllies. This was exactly the video I needed right now! Just bought Afterimage!! Thanks!

[@MetroidvaniaGuru]

Glad I could help!

[@venelinstoyanov2300]

Great bits about his "favorite souls-like mechanic" (in relation to Silksong) and Vigil. Also, I've been putting aside Death's Gambit for so long until I heard Matt friggin' Mercer's voice in this video :)

[@rileyneff1889]

I went into Afterimage completely blind, and thought the ending was right around the corner 5 or 6 separate times. I was less than halfway through the first time.

[@Jopovania]

Wait, what happened to Vigil? Why is it no longer on Steam? Such a shame... Awesome video as always, Mr. Guru!

[@elijahfoltz3755]

It got delisted by its (now former) publisher Neon Doctrine after they found that Glass Heart Studio incorporated elements of Taiwanese history into an update for the game called Asomrof (Formosa backwards; an old name for Taiwan), which violates some bullshit Chinese regulations. Thankfully Glass Heart are pursuing legal action over this, but only time will tell if they'll ever get the rights back to republish Vigil.

[@Jopovania]

Well this is bullshit, hope they can fix it soon because I wanted to play that game. Thanks for the explanation!

[@eternity9099]

Death’s Gambit and Salt and Sanctuary are just so good. Between the two games I’ve probably done 20+ play through’s.

[@MarquisDeSang]

Death gambit is well made, but it does not have a lot of content so they set the difficulty instead of adding content.

[@titusgray4598]

You skipped the one I felt sure you would include - hell you even included it in the intro - Aeterna Noctis. Absolutely the most Souls out of all the Soulsvanias.

[@michakoodziej5741]

That looks like a list of games I will love! If I love Blasphemous, which game on this list should bey next to play ?

[@colombiasupremo3104]

What is your opinion on Guacamelee series?

[@MetroidvaniaGuru]

They’re fantastic! *Nervously checks to see if the chicken Illuminati are around*

[@thomashooper2451]

GRIME and Salt and Sanctuary are the kings of the "Soulsvania" space, but Ender Lilies and Blasphemous (1 and 2) are absolute gems in their own right.

[@JTWarnerJT]

I'm still waiting for my physical copy of The Last Faith for backing it on Kickstarter. Good thing is hopefully whatever they release in the mean time will be on cart.

[@DoctorWasabi96]

Bro I never have heard of number 1, that looks amazing. Thanks for letting me know about it bro

[@LuciferHunter-kt7pm]

I bought Vigil and Deaths Gambit on my switch a couple years ago. Haven’t played either of them yet. I hope Vigil is still redownloadable

[@elijahfoltz3755]

Thanks to the Chinese government's raging hate boner for Taiwan, it very much isn't. Anywhere. However, Glass Heart Studio are in the middle of suing their ex-publisher Neon Doctrine, so hopefully they can get the game back in the near future.

[@MetroidvaniaGuru]

If you already purchased Vigil, you should be able to redownload 👍

[@LuciferHunter-kt7pm]

It did. Thank god

[@richardjamesgallardojr.7584]

You should come up with a t-shirt with a symbol for the metroidvania genre. It should be a pixelated Simon Belmont cracking his whip with a pixelated Metroid stuck on his head.

[@bucktae]

What your next top 10 metrovania list ? I wonder if could make one for the top 10 of 2023.

[@manab787]

Haven’t played any soulvanias yet, so bookmarking this list!

[@zergolicious666]

sweet video going to check out some of these games hopefully get them on sale to play on my steamdeck

[@willnorthrup]

Thanks for this list! Found 2 games that I've never heard of that I'd like to try 🎉

[@flickering_wick]

"I really hope [Silksong] focuses on my favorite Souls-like mechanic... where the game is actually released." 😂 SAVAGE

[@alesjanosik1545]

I am glad Salt and Sanctuary made it to number 2! I have so many runs on it! And thanks for letting me know about 2 games I haven't heard about yet!

[@JayEm1325]

Happy about tue live for Salt & Sanctuary. Its such an awesme game.

[@TimoNaaro]

Awsome vigil joke. So glad I still have it in steam libra.

[@shadowmaksim]

I'm hesitant to use the term "Soulsvania" but I mostly get what you mean. At this point, I just don't care anymore about any and all "SoulsBorne" comparisons. Good thing too since I would have passed on a bunch of games I ended up really liking, like "Ender Lilies". 1) "Momodora IV" - Mentioned in a prior video, I played this recently and liked it. Very interested in "V". 2) "Ender Lilies" - As just mentioned, I really liked it. Even managed to accidentally get a friend to also play it. 3) "Afterimage" - This is currently in my backlog. I'm hoping to get to it sooner than later. 4) "Blasphemous" - I'm not a big fan of the game, nearly hated it initially, but I did end up enjoying it well enough. 5) "Hollow Knight" - I keep going back and forth on if I should get it. I have a very bad case of anti-hype regarding it. 6) "Last Faith" - I remember seeing trailers for this and I certainly am interested in trying it whenever I get the chance. 7) "Vigil" - This is one I want to play but it's not available on any system I play on. Not to mention the whole delisted thing. 8) "Grime" - This is the first I'm hearing about this game and I'm not sure if I'm intrigued or not. 9) "Salt & Sanctuary" - I did not like this one. 10) "Death Gambit" - There was a point where I was wondering if I should get this but ended up passing on it. So I've played five of the listed games, will be six eventually, and knew about all but one of them. That's honestly much higher than I thought it'd be.

[@d00mnoodle24]

I 100% get you on hollow knight. The game can be as good as it wants it doesn't take away that people just can't shut the fk up about it. I love metroidvania's, and whenever i get excited about a new one there's always these fucking fanboys ''mUh HoLlOw KnIgHt ClOnE". They're elitist and complete douchebags, harrasing indie developers for even remotely resembling hk. It's so damn tiring. I hope ss flops so they can all cry about it and finally stfu about that game. Also i very much recommend grime and deaths gambit. Both great games. Also a shame you didn't like blasphemous, it's one of my absolute favorite games of all time. The LORE is mind-blowing!

[@shadowmaksim]

@@d00mnoodle24 As much as I agree that the "Hollow Knight" community can be very obnoxious, I don't think I'd go as far as wanting "Silk Song" to fail just to spite them. I'm an avid gamer, I don't want any game to inherently fail, even the ones I dislike. Well, unless it was built upon malice or exploitation anyway. Basically, hate the people, not the game.

[@hasanalisarpdag]

Great list again!

[@tyrusminus]

Bit late to the party, but I love your channel! Keep it up!

[@tonyzerbes8300]

I was today years old when I found the connection between Gollum and Salt and Sanctuary. That’s gotta be the same character designer

[@florianabry9932]

What happened with vigil?

[@d00mnoodle24]

It's from taiwanese developers and a chinese publisher. Apparantly there was some 'anti CCP' messaging which didn't sit well with the publisher so it got delisted. Censorship strikes again. A shame too since it was really a great game

[@qwegol1]

i luckily have the physical copy of deaths gambit, apparently it was limited release.

[@MetroidvaniaGuru]

Same! I kept mine sealed cuz I’m the worst kinda geek lol

[@adamluther5836]

Weirdly, I've never played any Dark Souls game; closest I've gotten was Elden Ring, but I've absolutely loved the entire Soulsvania genre and try to play just about every one of them I can. Shame about all the issues with Vigil, I played it on launch for days, even when it was a broken mess that erased save files, and still absolutely loved the experience.

[@darrelladams4886]

I enjoyed deaths gambit afterlife for the most part. But I always had this fear that I would lose my save file to the corruption bug it had. It happened before but luckily I still finished one play through. Not sure if the corruption problem still exists. Currently working through blasphemous 2 and it’s challenging but so satisfying once those challenges are overcome. I suspect I won’t like hollow knight. I’ve thought about after image but worry I’ll burn out before finishing. Salt and sanctuary might be fun. Salt and sacrifice might be ok too but not sure If it’s been changed enough to be a good game. I know it’s had patch support but also that it had its frustrations for people

[@aspekt7631]

I knew you would put Death's Gambit at number 1 as it truly is.

[@Robodob0]

I love Hollow Knight and Ender Lilies, as well as the more roguelike Dead Cells. This list just became a part of my christmas shopping list. Thanks!

[@draktandragon1939]

Great list. I have to play grime and afterimage. I know you are a metroidvania guy, but knowing you also like soulslikes I highly recommend lies of p.

[@d00mnoodle24]

Lies of p is in some ways better than fromsoft's games. Or at least it can stand shoulder to shoulder with it. It is fucking hard as shit though

[@pilgrimspromise1132]

What do you mean death's gambit is number one? I don't know anything about it but immediately searched to see if you'd done a video on it but you hadn't

[@MetroidvaniaGuru]

I plan on doing it soon 😊

[@surestrange]

Never played dark souls but played and loved every game on this list except for Grime. I hate parrying and never do it and sounds like it’s a must in that one

[@aruretheincomprehensible20]

Your definition of Grime is spot-on, although I would describe it as "grotesquely beautiful". It's art is the greatest example of "awful taste but great execution" in at least metroidvanias, if not videogames as a whole, and that visual style sucked me right into the world in a way that most games have not. A game I am shocked didn't make it onto this list is Unworthy, a phenomenal soulslike metroidvania from the lead designer of the upcoming Crowsworn. Its atmosphere is so depressing and hopeless it makes Ender Lilies look like a Saturday morning cartoon, its combat has all the common soulslike genre staples like corpse running, a stamina meter, and a high difficulty, and it has extremely important metroidvania staples in its ability-based progression and the presence of a world map. What separates Unworthy from other games on this list is the exact opposite reason as to why Hollow Knight is so low: it leans really hard into the soulslike elements. Unworthy's most interesting feature is its lack of a jump button, which forces you to commit to most encounters when in most other soulslikes you could get away from certain encounters by jumping over and/or away from them. Unworthy then constructed its world around using combat-based progression items over movement-based ones, allowing the metroidvania elements to shine. In particular, there was one mid-game item that blew my mind when I figured out where to use it to progress, and no other metroidvania has come close to that feeling.

[@dmoody4047]

Thanks for putting me on afterimage, I’ve been enjoying it. Only 5 hrs or so in and it is indeed huge. Trying rabi ribi again too, and I’m gonna go try the deaths gambit rework next

[@soratheorangejuicemascot5809]

What if we apply Monster Hunter element in a metroidvania? Weapon sheathing, sharpening, item consumption that stops you from moving for 20 seconds, stamina getting shorter, etc. Don't you think it sounds cool?

[@MetroidvaniaGuru]

I’d totally try it

[@michakoodziej5741]

Huge respect for including the Blasphemous ❤ but somehow i dont like the Hallow Knight very much

[@ivoo87]

what did china to vigil the longest night?? o.o

[@lucaslease4571]

Outstanding list! Death’s Gambit is definitely the best! I anticipate The Last Faith either taking the #1 or 2 place as soon as all of the patches and DLC’s are in place.

[@MetroidvaniaGuru]

I can’t wait till it’s all patched up. That’s what happened to Blasphemous. It got fully updated and was just amazing.

[@natecoet3291]

Ender Lilly is Amazing and the sequel looks to be amazing, this is one of the best game ever made.

[@ivoo87]

the last faith, thumps UP ^^

[@MrZombs123]

Ive been wanting to play deaths gambit… im on an xbox series x btw. But all the reviews say there are save issues with the game deleting files randomly.. so i feel like it’s a waste of money if thats the case. Anyone know if this has been fixed??? 🤔

[@guardiantepi1759]

Still have to finish Afterimage but man it is definitely a great game!

[@JonathanPriceArt]

Loved every game on this list, except Death's Gambit actually. I felt some type of way after my attempt at an advanced boss led to my 50th or so death and Death actually laughed at me. Then the game glitched and crashed on my Switch and I refused to ever play it again or say anything nice about it...even though it was a pretty good game. I was pretty certain Salt and Sanctuary would be at the top. Glad I managed to play Vigil all the way through to completion, it was pretty great once the devs ironed out all the bugs.

[@MetroidvaniaGuru]

Some of those bosses can get ridiculous, for real.

[@pc4135]

Deaths gambit was so enjoyable for me. Wish Grime performed better snd looked better on switch because id get it.

[@PChampoo]

absolutely incredible list , only thing i slightly disagree with is the last faith being ABOVE Hollowknight , Blasphemous and Ender Lilies. but in the context of Soulsvania you might be correct. but in regards of greatness the last faith doesn't even make the top 10 MV list. also no Moonscars? i know it's short , but it's def and amazing soulsvania , i'd rank it my 7th or 8th Soulsvania

[@senditall152]

I feel like the second one is also referring to "Made in Abyss" love that anime even though it brought me very close to crying. (More then one time)

[@Repeatuntilend]

i watched all of your videos in a few days. you do a realy great job! thank you!

[@MetroidvaniaGuru]

Wow, thank you!

[@RavenHinamori]

Idk, Hollow Knight's status as THE soulsborne vania just intimidates me. I love afterimage and ender lilies, but ender lilies was probably about the ceiling of combat difficulty that I'm willing to put up with and actual Fromsoft games I don't go near because I don't play games to be abused. Been on such a tear through metroidvanias this year, but Hollow knight I'm just scared to start even though it gets recommended all the time to me.

[@MetroidvaniaGuru]

If you’ve beaten Ender Lilies, I’d say you can handle Hollow Knight. HK is a lot bigger than EL, but EL’s combat is more punishing (enemies hit WAY harder). There’s no corpse running in EL though. EL doesn’t punish you at all. HK makes you go fetch your money every time you die. Obnoxious, but not a huge deal.

[@smokiss7]

great list dude and thanks for this vid. im new to this genre (metroidvania) i found your channel like 2 moths ago and realize i miss so many great games (metroidvania,s) plus explaining in fun way loved it xd

[@zachshock]

Are there any that don't use pixel art?

[@MetroidvaniaGuru]

There’s some upcoming ones like Mandragora. Looks sweet.

[@respicio2990]

Character classes in The Last faith arent pointless anymore, received a pc patch yesterday and it is looking good.

[@MetroidvaniaGuru]

Nice! The Last Faith is gonna be really good after all the patches. I can’t wait.

[@JFBount1]

I love that you knew that we knew that you knew that 1 and 2 were 1 and 2 xD. It really couldn't be anything else! Also the Vigil segment was chef's kiss XD

[@JTWarnerJT]

I see people post about there being too many metroidvanias and I'm like bring that shit on. The more the marrier. Can't get enough of them.

[@Ventus_S]

I pretty much played everything on the list good list but very strange ranking placement cuz the 6-10 are def way better games than 1-5 games you mentioned.

[@MetroidvaniaGuru]

For the ranking, I was more focused on how well the games fit the Soulsvania mold, not on their overall greatness. That’d be a much different list.

[@LuciferHunter-kt7pm]

I won’t have Dex builds slandered!!

[@MetroidvaniaGuru]

I thought it STANK in here 😆

[@japox3388]

I think Aeterna Noctis is also in top soulsvania games 😀👍

[@flyingdutchman8093]

Deaths gambit afterlife, was sooooooo good. I got it in on a whim and it was one of the biggest surprises I’ve ever had in gaming. I think I might like blasphemous a little more but it’s very close.

[@stevemccarthy8255]

I really love you videos, I just wish you had actual gameplay.

[@Demokaze]

I just wanted to be done with Death's Gambit near mid to late game so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who likes dark fantasy metroidvanias. I also didn't like GRIME and Blasphemous as much as I liked Ender Lilies, Hollow Knight and Vigil. The Last Faith needs some updates and changes before I decide if I like just as much.

[@HenshinFanatic]

Don't get what the CCP joke is for number death, mind elucidating for a slowbro?

[@MetroidvaniaGuru]

Check the Vigil wiki for details, but basically they added DLC that has some Taiwanese history that the CCP didn’t like, so it got delisted.

[@Glitchedsoulsborne]

Great list. I love afterimage and ender lilies. They are two of my favorite games!! But I hate vigil... it's too easy... like it sucks. I was bored as a souls vet. I have beat most of the 2d and 3d souls Likes. And most of the souls games. Go play Grime , salt and sanctuary or ender lilies because the chalange is not in vigil. Hollow knight Is amazing but not souls like....afterimage isn't exactly a souls like either but it is an amazing game!!!!

[@MarquisDeSang]

Souls like are just difficult games without any checkpoints and saves where you loose everything each time you die.

[@halowillneverbegoodagain1868]

Christ; Silksong better not ruin HKs sublime and crisp combat with a fucking stamina bar!

[@MetroidvaniaGuru]

Agreed

[@THaB4DGuY]

idk i have deaths gambit on xbox and playstation but ill play it for a while then not want to play it anymore plus it dnever saves my controller layout or options settings, so everytime i play i have to remap my controls and change my settings plus the controller configuration screen is broken, when you go to change 1 button, it changes the button under it, ppl complain to the devs in the xbox reviews section and twitter and theyre not fixing it and its been out years plus the achievement ill never even try to get, beat the game at level 1 in 1 sitting under 4 hours probably without dying and the fact i know i cant 100% a game doesnt make me want to play more and i 100%ed salty sanctuary and ender lilies on xbox and playstation, games that just look, sound and feel better to play in general in everyway plus a lot of ppl saying their saves get deleted same problem with aeterna noctis, a game i also own but didnt finish, have too many games to focus on just 1 or 2 games that might end up deleting my save file lol

[@communicationvast9949]

last Faith and Hollow knight are my first metroidvanias and they have made me a massive fanboy of the genre. Now playing Blasphemous and its just nowhere near the same level. It kinda sucks tbh.....

[@patriksvensson2360]

Vigil got hammered by the CCP? What? Why?

[@elijahfoltz3755]

Vigil's Asomrof update includes elements of Taiwanese history (hence the name: it's Formosa backwards, an old name for Taiwan), something the CCP hates because they're a bunch of overly-sensitive pricks. Basically, bullshit censorship

[@Juppi13]

The Last Faith Moonscars

[@THaB4DGuY]

afterimage is quantity over quality it wanted to be the longest with most biomes but most are boring to look at and feel exactly the same only the haunted village and some pink mushroom forest were interesting and unique looking to me and the mushroom forest looks like an ender lillies zone ender lillies and salty sanctuary were shorter but the zones were more unique took me 40 hours to beat afterimage and dont think i got many achievements i 100%ed ender lilies and salty sanctuary on xbox and playstation and would rather play those over again before i go back to afterimage wasnt bad, just wasnt that good either.

[@danditzel7271]

Old man nitpick: Souls games aren't 2D platformers, so these should not be called souls-like, they are Zelda2-like

[@israelsidharta]

Salt. 😎

[@cadearcher2258]

No way there are 5 soulsvanias better than Hollow Knight

[@MetroidvaniaGuru]

I’m not saying those games are better than HK, just better fits for the Soulsvania genre 😊

[@ELV13S]

you sell ender lilies as a depressing soulslike metroidvania, i sell ender lilies as a jojo's meets hollow knight metroidvania. we are not the same XD

[@becketwild8969]

I love blasphemous, it's my all time favorite and i so glad you put it on the list.

[@azuarc]

10 Ick 9 Yay 8 Yay 7 Ick 6 Yay 5-1 Haven't played because I don't enjoy soulslikes.

[@Ohmagawdjr]

I didn't like Death's Gambit at all. It's probably my least favorite metroidvania. The movement and combat were very fluid and responsive, and that's all the good I have to say about it. The level design was bad. The bosses were too easy, and then suddenly they had massive difficulty spike in the last quarter of the game. There were too many items. The talent trees were confusing and most talents were either useless or situational.

[@322ss]

Good games. But could you drop those stupid worn out meme-sounds - your videos would be way more easier to watch that way.

[@johanandersson8646]

I disagree. You do you, Guru.

[@mixedmattaphors]

​@@johanandersson8646I don't have an opinion, firmly, but I stump for the side that says not everything is necessarily a good idea, lol. It's free Money!

[@johanandersson8646]

@@mixedmattaphors And I usually side with the side that doesn't choose mainstream comfort

[@322ss]

@@johanandersson8646 that was my opinion, you have yours but don't enforce it on me.

[@johanandersson8646]

@322ss I didn't enforce upon you. I just wanted to voice another opinion. Not for you, but for the Guru so he can see people have different views.

[@BruceLee-kf7rl]

Ausitm

[@mental_insanity]

Why did ya put blasphemous there? Combat is not that good, exploration suck and also there are almost NO movement options? Also, how in the bloody hell is Hollow knight a souls like? It has almost no similarities in gameplay - fast pased combat with no stamina bar. Contextual storytelling and dark atmosphere would be a stupid thing to say because dark souls and demon souls didnt invent those. How can ya be a metroidvania guru with such a big lack of knowledge on ganre itself?

[@MetroidvaniaGuru]

HK is a souls-like, but I agree it’s not a very strong example, thus why it didn’t rank very highly on the list. You have your opinion on Blasphemous; I just don’t agree with it. I like its combat’s simplicity and believe its exploration was great. Its path to the its true ending is the BEST in MV history.

[@mental_insanity]

@@MetroidvaniaGuru about blasphemous, yeah ok every opinion is valid and different people enjoy different things, but HOW is Hollow knight is a souls like? Gameplay isnt similar by a bit: no stamina bar, which is kinda the defining thing that makes a souls like combat what it is, bosses with patters are not only a souls like thing, they were in other games that came out earlier and why they should not count towards a souls like, the difficulty is kinda dumb to define by a genre, because if that was the case something like demon souls or dark souls would be ghosts and goblins-like, the save system (benches), as you probably know, was not made by dark souls, hollow knight does not have a very deep character creation and building system (only charms which dont change the gameplay that much), only a single weapons, contextual story telling exsisted in games before dark souls, dark atmosphere also existed and was not invented by dark souls, the only thing that comes to mind is really the geo dropping on death, but its also implemented differently. So does 1 singular god damn mechanic make a game - souls-like? (Also i think that souls like as a genre is kinda stupid, like calling platformers mario-likes or something) (sorry for being a lil bit aggressive in the comment im feelin pretty bad)

[@MetroidvaniaGuru]

@@mental_insanity No worries. I hope you feel better soon. Here’s why I think it’s considered a “Souls-like..” Be mindful that the things I list are characteristics that Dark Souls and HK share. I’m not saying Dark Souls invented anything: 1.) Bench/Bonfire system - Specifically, how using one respawns enemies. 2.) Corpse Running - To get your geo. 3.) Narrative Structure - Heavily relies on environmental storytelling and lore found in item descriptions. 4.) Side Quests/NPCs - NPCs move around the world with or without player intervention. 5.) Souls-Like Tropes - Fallen and cursed Kingdom, macabre atmosphere, increased difficulty compared to average MVs and platformers, interconnected world, endings representing maintaining the status quo or forging a new path. The ONE aspect HK is missing is a stamina bar, but even using your logic, because stamina bars aren’t exclusive to Dark Souls and Dark Souls didn’t invent the Stamina Bar, it shouldn’t be that big of a deal. I believe Souls-likes SHOULD have stamina bars, thus why HK didn’t make it higher on my list, but having that stamina bar isn’t necessary, especially if you view the genre on a spectrum.

[@mental_insanity]

@@MetroidvaniaGuru I still thing it shouldnt be considered a souls-like, because it lacks one of the main things that the souls games had - deep character building and very big amount of weapons that change your gameplay and as i said stamina, which you yourself said it should have. Also, glueing atmosphere to genre in video games is not the best idea? Its like seeing gore in a video game and saying "Oh yeah thats a shooter". About npcs, i am not sure its enough to make a game a souls-like? Also, environmental storytelling doesnt really define a genre? If we talk about the gameplay, its just 2 mechanics that are similar and atmosphere - is it enough to add a genre? If yes, does the steel soul turn Hollow knight into roguelike because it has permadeath? I dont think so.

[@MetroidvaniaGuru]

@@mental_insanity I believe there are 2 issues with your argument: 1.) You’re very pedantic and aren’t considering a possible spectrum. 2.) You’re deconstructing the genre and focusing on its parts rather than its whole. I believe there is a spectrum or degree at which something can be Souls-like, and that no one characteristic belongs to Dark Souls; A souls-like comprises many attributes, thus why I brought up tropes. You can see this in my list. The Souls-likes with multiple weapons and builds and stamina ultimately rank higher because they are more souls-like than the others.

[@nifftbatuff676]

Cannot be a true soulvanias if there is no procedural generation and deck building too. Lollo 😂😂😂

[@MetroidvaniaGuru]

😆

[@MonkDave666]

Just found this channel, love the idea of covering just Metroidvanias but man you absolutely have to drop that duck quack, it's making me want to not watch the videos. I've seen it used all the time in other channels and it makes them unwatchable. Please stop using it. K thanx!

[@alien_rising9895]

SOULSVANIA? Thats so dumb sounding.

[@MetroidvaniaGuru]

Don’t look at me. I didn’t name the genre 😆

[@d00mnoodle24]

Momodora too anime, also grossly overly sexualizes women like most anime does... Ender lilies wow an anime game that doesn't overly sexualize. In all honesty this game is great, the combat and bosses are amazing and so are visuals. But the music is dogshit and level design is bland Afterimage, yet to play but super excited but also a bit scared because of how long it supposedly is Blasphemous i don't care what anyone says it is THE best soulsvania imo and the second best metroidvania after the ori games Last faith, yet to play but SUPER excited!!! Vigil longest night, this one is so overlooked. It has some jank but it's still a great game apart from the poor translations Grime, amazing game but jesus fucking christ it's by far THE hardest game i've ever played Salt and sanctuary haven't played and most likely never will. It looks super clunky and tbh also plain ugly Death's gambit afterlife i love the visuals, story, voice acting, music, combat and bosses but the level design is so bland. Had this game had level design like blasphemous or grime it'd be one of my absolute favorites

[@csl9495]

Grime is my favorite after hollow knight