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[KàIRóS]

I'm looking for new Metroidvanias with a focus on combat to play, I haven't played much in the genre since around the pandemic so bonus points if you recommend a relatively new one (2020-2024)

I guess I should recommend one of my own so I highly recommend TEVI, this one came out by the end of last year and it went largely unnoticed, it's by the same dev that made Rabi Ribi and I absolutely adored the combat, story is meh, soundtrack is ok, exploration is above average, but the combat gameplay my god it's so effing good, aerial combat, long range combat, combos, special button inputs, a bunch of RPG mechanics, even the hitstop when attacking or getting attacked feels great, the game has everything you can think of to make the combat satisfying and the bosses are also some of the best I've seen in the genre using bullet hell mechanics to keep you on your toes.

I highly, HIGHLY recommended it if you enjoy combat in 2D games, even fighters or beat em ups, it's that good.

 

[Punished Miku]

Metroid Dread: The best Metroidvania ever made. Combat is phenomenal with fantastically designed bosses that resemble an action game at times more than you'd expect from a Metroidvania. All enemies are designed to let you focus on timed counters to exploit weaknesses.

Ato: Just beat it this year and it's phenomenal. Combat is very simple, but it's deceptive. Every fight in the game feels significant, even the low level enemies. Bosses are among the best designed bosses I've played this year. You have to really memorize the patterns and think through the best way to attack. A few of them are creative puzzles in themselves. Game has already been as low as $10 this year and is 100% worth it if you can handle the NES-era visuals.

Worldless: Focus is not combat, but it's definitely an original Metroidvania in terms of exploration and combat. Fights can be a bit rare, but every fight is significant. It stops and enters a turn based / real time hybrid for fights focused on timed blocks and intelligent choices against elemental weaknesses, rapidly in real time. It's very challenging. You are auto-saved outside every fight because they're brutal. I'm near the end of the game and there's one fight I've lost 30x to currently. Game is going to be divisive for it's combat, and it's incredibly cryptic and minimalist UI, but it's brilliant.

Prince of Persia: Lost Crown: Should be one of your top choices along with Dread. Combat is way above average for the genre. Lots of options for mobility or parries.

Cookie Cutter: I can't recommend this one yet since I haven't started it. I just loved the art style reminiscent of old MTV 90s shows. Seems promising so I picked it up a while back.

Laika: Aged Through Blood: Also bought this but haven't tried it yet. Metroidvania meets Excitebike was the pitch that sold me. Looks great, but I haven't played it yet.

 

[Guilty_AI]

How about a 3D metroidvania:

 

[Bloobs]

 

[amigastar]

Guacamelee! Has deeper combat with finishers and combos.

 

[Soodanim]

Guacamelee 1/2 have fun combat systems

 

[The Cockatrice]

Both Blasphemous games.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

Ori 2 is a top tier metroidvania. It took everything from the first game and many other big metroidvanias and melded them together, incredible game.

 

[GHG]

Hollow knight:

Salt and Sanctuary:

Vigil:

And one I'm yet to play but it's had a glowing reception, Nine Sols:

 

[Arsic]

Prince of Persia Lost Crown.

Also can try dead cells if you don’t mind rogue lites.

 

[LectureMaster]

Metroid Dread

Hollow Knight

Prince of Persia: Lost Crown

Blasphemous 2

Ori 1 and 2

FIST : Forged In Shadow Torch

 

[Giallo Corsa]

F.I.S.T forged in shadow torch :
Finished it today and...don't know how more.people aren't talking about it, GFX are really nice, music is good, controls are absolutely sublime, combat can reach fighting game levels of complexity if you're into that kind of thing and the difficulty is spot-on.

Got it for a tenner a month ago on PSN, took me 20 hours to finish, 9/10 on Steam, 80% on metacritic

 

[GHG]

Fucking hell, forgot about touhou luna nights:

This game legitimately has some of the best combat mechanics I've experienced in a metroidvania:

 

[GigaBowser]

best one is metroid Im sorry my friends

 

[Dacvak]

Metroid Dread: The best metroidvania ever made. Combat is phenomal with fantastically designed bosses that resemble an action game at times more than you'd expect from a Metroidvania. All enemies are designed to let you focus on timed counters to exploit weaknesses.

Got it in one. Pack it up, people,

 

[drotahorror]

Pretty decent combat, nothing crazy but fun enough. Especially with the huge revamp patch. I beat it twice which is rare for me.

 

[NeverYouMind]

Only one I could stand from this time period is Wonder Labyrinth. It is more of an Igvania though.

 

[Punished Miku]

Got it in one. Pack it up, people,

Don't sleep on Ato though if you like combat. It's just damn good. No one talks about it for some reason.

 

[Yoshi97]

Metroid Dread: The best Metroidvania ever made. Combat is phenomenal with fantastically designed bosses that resemble an action game at times more than you'd expect from a Metroidvania. All enemies are designed to let you focus on timed counters to exploit weaknesses.

Dread is truly amazing. It's really odd how many people didn't seem to vibe with the game simply because 'It doesn't innovate enough and plays too much like previous metroid games". Already starting to see that with Prime 4 as well.

 

[KXVXII9X]

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. Seriously just get it. It has the most satisfying combat out of any Metroidvania I have played with a bunch of freedom for how you want to take on enemies and explore. It also has fun boss battles and a good presentation.

 

[Holammer]

All the best games have already been mentioned, so I'll dig deep and recommend Cave Story. The original is from 2004 and the current Cave Story+ you find on current systems is from 2011, so even the remaster is old.
The game is a real indie classic and one of the few "required reading" games IMO.

---

Bloody hell is a free metroidvania/bullet hell game with an overhead perspective. Made by Dutch students and it deserves the 98% user average score on Steam.

 

[Katatonic]

For me, Guacamelee still holds the crown for best combat in a metroidvania.

 

[IAmRei]

Metroidvania?

Look no other :
Metroid and Castlevania.

 

[Merkades]

Tevi is a good one. I am looking forward to

No clue if it will be good, but I am interested in it. I also grabbed a few others recently, though I have not got around to them. Afterimage, Itorah, maybe Astlibra, though perhaps that is just a side scroller? Heroine Anthem Zero 2, though again maybe a side scroller? I buy more than I play... Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth was a short fun title.

 

[intbal]

 

[Gojiira]

Dread is truly amazing. It's really odd how many people didn't seem to vibe with the game simply because 'It doesn't innovate enough and plays too much like previous metroid games". Already starting to see that with Prime 4 as well.

Well thats what happens when it takes decades for a sequel thats barely different and just a iteration….

 

[March Climber]

We need more experimental multiplayer Metroidvanias. This was a fun game:

 

[NanaMiku]

Fucking hell, forgot about touhou luna nights:

This game legitimately has some of the best combat mechanics I've experienced in a metroidvania:

Anything by Team Ladybug is good. They also make the Lodoss game.
Shin Megami Tensei: Synchronicity Prologue is a free game that was made by them too

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

The Strider reboot or whatever was very fun. It's been a while so unsure how it holds up but I really enjoyed the combat back then.

 

[Chuck Berry]

Not one recommendation for the Strider remake you dumb fucks

Edit: Nevermind

 

[El Muerto]

 

[Jibran#one]

For combat
Dread is amazing.
Ori 1 and 2 are top tier too but for combat only I think dread is much better

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

Not one recommendation for the Strider remake you dumb fucks

Edit: Nevermind

 

[tusharngf]

Salt and santuary : PEAK of the dark souls like combat.

 

[Fess]

Metroid Dread
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Hollow Knight

Can’t go wrong with any of them. All 10/10 games.

 

[april6e]

If you don't mind roguelites....Astral Ascent

 

[abstract alien]

One of the best things about Guacamelee is that a lot of the moves also double as necessary traversal mechanics that are blended together in a really fun way. Most are actually needed to progress through the main game, and there are lots of side tasks that will push it to the limit.

 

[TexMex]

Guac 2

 

[Astral Dog]

my first idea was Ori and the Will of the Wisps and Metroid Dread but they been mentioned

I guess Bloodstained, it has some cool bosses, Metroid Prime is close as well but the only game with good combat is the third Prime

other games with fun combat, Metroidvania or not:

Soul series
Astral Chain
Kirby and the forgotten land
DOOM
Batman Arkham series

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Metroid Dread is mostly one-on-one combat. It's the best Metroid for combat, but far from a top contender for this thread.

Guacamelee easily wipes the floor with most games mentioned here when it comes to combat complexity. The variety of moves is amazing and the game is never shy to test your mastery of it throughout the adventure, even outside of the special challenges. Some rooms are incredible, with enemy hordes AND environmental hazards all at once. And it's very, very manageable, unlike some other combat-focused games. I'm not very good at action games, but Guacamelee is one where I managed to grasp it all pretty well.

Ori 2 overdoes lighting effects during combat to a point that I found it really confusing. I was often unsure of where Ori even was on the screen at times, and I got so many hits because of that.

 

[GymWolf]

Fist forged in shadow forge, unmissable for people who want metroidvanias with good combat.

That one, or valdis if you like 2d graphic.

 

[GymWolf]

Metroid Dread is mostly one-on-one combat. It's the best Metroid for combat, but far from a top contender for this thread.

Guacamelee easily wipes the floor with most games mentioned here when it comes to combat complexity. The variety of moves is amazing and the game is never shy to test your mastery of it throughout the adventure, even outside of the special challenges. Some rooms are incredible, with enemy hordes AND environmental hazards all at once. And it's very, very manageable, unlike some other combat-focused games. I'm not very good at action games, but Guacamelee is one where I managed to grasp it all pretty well.

Ori 2 overdoes lighting effects during combat to a point that I found it really confusing. I was often unsure of where Ori even was on the screen at times, and I got so many hits because of that.

Dude you need to try fist.

(Maybe buy some lube first)

 

[Lucifers Beard]

I like the looks of Deaths Gambit. It isn't one that I've played but I heard it's a decent time with good combat.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Ender Lillies also deserves a shout.

I'm also keeping an eye on this upcoming metroidvania from WayForward based on an old Atari IP.

 

[R3EUIL]

Honestly, none. They're all simple (compared to other genres). I could even cheat and put Dark Souls and GoW (2018 and Ragnarök) as examples, but they're not Metroidvanias, they just have some elements of that genre. But of the ones I played, this was the one I enjoyed the most (even more than Symphony of the Nighty):

 

[Bloobs]

Metroid Dread is mostly one-on-one combat. It's the best Metroid for combat, but far from a top contender for this thread.

Guacamelee easily wipes the floor with most games mentioned here when it comes to combat complexity. The variety of moves is amazing and the game is never shy to test your mastery of it throughout the adventure, even outside of the special challenges. Some rooms are incredible, with enemy hordes AND environmental hazards all at once. And it's very, very manageable, unlike some other combat-focused games. I'm not very good at action games, but Guacamelee is one where I managed to grasp it all pretty well.

Ori 2 overdoes lighting effects during combat to a point that I found it really confusing. I was often unsure of where Ori even was on the screen at times, and I got so many hits because of that.

Yeah, playing Ori on SD and cant see shit sometimes lol.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

How about a 3D metroidvania:

This is more a Souls with magic. Cute game and more difficult than it seems.


I'm surprised Tevi is mentioned but not Rabi Ribi, the previous game, which is a good ultra-otaku Metroidvania and VERY difficult. For those who love challenging combats, that's their game. Even on easy it's fucking difficult.

Blasphemous 1 and 2 are at the top: combat, fantastic bosses, worldbuilding and the best VAs in the genre.


I liked the demo of this one that is clearly inspired by Blasphemous.

 

[Guilty_AI]

This is more a Souls with magic. Cute game and more difficult than it seems.

This is how people talked about it but there are no builds, with the character having fixed abilities and upgrades, game is on the shorter side, has a lot of long distance combat elements and not really that hard. It has more in common with metroidvania games than souls ones.

 

[simpatico]

The Last Faith. A Bloodborne-Vania

Amazing boss battles. No clue how it's not more popular.

 

[BennyBlanco]

I got this in a bundle or something and wound up playing the whole thing. Real under the radar gem.