It hurts to see where Nine Sols landed, but if it's not for you it's not for you. I can totally feel that. Solid vid. Always love hearing your take on MVs.
It's hard to find good coverage and reviews of games for an audience that doesn't want to play tedious or frustrating games, so it's real nice to find videos like this.
Great vid Pam. Love when you cover the Metroidvania genre. Glad I watched the vid to the end, because you mentioning and your praise of The Last Faith just sold me on the game.
Hey Pam! So thank you very much for the high praises of Animal Well. I really connected with what you said about 9 Sols and agreed with everything about Prince of Persia so I took the plunge based on your review on this Animal Well. I’m over 20 hours and bought it after Christmas 😂 I’m living in this game!!!!
Of these, I only played Animal Well and I just picked up Prince of Persia yesterday. So that's a good start for me. Nice to know about these other solid titles found within.
Great video! There are a few games on here that I hadn't heard about at all and am now looking forward to trying out (especially BioGun). It's a shame the Nine Sols combat didn't gel with you, I personally found it very satisfying and loved that game. That and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown were definitely my favorite Metroidvanias of the year.
I don't even play metroidvanias but always appreciate staying in the loop / learning about corners of gaming I don't personally partake in. Great vid as always - sounds like it was a good year for fans of the genre.
Hi, Pam! I found your channel last year so I was able to catch all your vids this year making this kind of a nice "pam season finale" of sorts lol. Thanks for the vids and happy new year! Hope metroidvania fans continue to eat good in 2025! 🙏
Just wanted to comment and say thank you for making this list! I just bought Prince of Persia and I am having a blast already. This really is the kind of game I needed right now.
Minishoot Adventures is my favorite on this list. I love genre mashups! The gameplay reminded me slightly of Star Of Providence(previously named Monolith)
I really don't usually like metroidvanias but I started playing F.I.S.T. a few weeks ago not knowing what kind of game it was going to be and I'm enjoying it a lot.
@aaronmarko good to know. I'm terrible as well. which is one reason I don't care for absurdly difficult games that waste my time. I like when people are honest about how hard a game is. I don't have that much time to invest so I want to play games that are fun and don't cause me as much frustration.
I finished FIST this year too. Though not a masterpiece like the new Prince of Persia, I found it to be quite enjoyable overall. It's definitely a combat-oriented game. The fighting feels nice but combos were pretty much useless.
I'm playing a non linear 2d game called afterimage right now and i'm having a great time. Everything is hand drawn and the game is very atmospheric. I've been drawn to these kind of games lately, or indie titles overall. There is so much love and hard work put into those kind of titles that you almost never find in games from big studios
Found your channel through this video, nice list! The quality and variety of Metroidvanias this year was really something special. Even some of the less polished ones often had something unique to offer. Here’s hoping that momentum carries into next year.
I think I agree with almost all your opinions here, we're MV twins :P Nine Sols has been amazing to watch let's plays on youtube, but I suck at parrying, so it's definitely not for me, as a player anyway. P.S. Your doggo is so lovable!
Love this MetroidVania games because I love MetroidVania games. You cover some obscure games (at least for me) that I’ve never heard of and because of you I will definitely try some of them. Thank you for this video.
I really like Pampas & Selene, Animal Well and Minishoot Adventures this year, that was my top 3 of Metroidvanias. Minishoot was the surprise of my 2024 (I couldn't play Prince of Persia or Nine Sols, they will be left for next year). Happy holidays to you and have a great end of the year Pam! 😄
Love the bangs Pam. It's nice to see you got through a lot of games for 2024 and even for the metroidvania games you ended up liking the vast majority of them which is still a victory unto itself. I myself, haven't had a lot of time to dedicate to gaming this year because of the hectic nature of my job but I've been spending a lot of time trying to complete and permanently retire the 23 games that I've always wanted to play for the sega cd. I'm currently trying to complete and permanently retire my 4th game for the system which is Vay. I'm slowly managing to get through them - hopefully gaming in 2025 is just as productive as what it was in 2024.
Prince of Persia was incredible. One of the best games I played this year for sure. Hoping for more but it's not looking good with the team that made the game getting disbanded.
It's a shame Ubisoft is so dumb, because the game was great and the team was really passionate about it. I'm sure they could have made an excellent sequel if they were given the chance.
Very good year for metroidvania, appreciate the tier list. One game that is not on many people's radar is Exographer, a puzzle oriented metroidvania like animal well.
Hope you all had a happy Christmas [or whatever it is you celebrate]. I've only played the Prince of Persia demo and most of Animal Well [I went a bit further beyond the end credits, but got either distracted or too unwell to play games, which kinda defines 2024 for me].
Prince of Persia will be the game I start the new year with, happy to hear it is awesome! Also great channel, as a sidescroller lover it was a nice recommendation from youtube.
Gestalt: Steam & Cinder is a game I've really been interested in. I was actually just thinking about it last night. I also really love how it emphasizes the use of ranged and melee weapons, not dissimilar to Devil May Cry. Actually the DMC series is part of why I gained such an adamant appreciation for mixing together weapons like swords and guns.
I didn’t play many new Metroidvanias this year, but my picks are Minishoot Adventures and Momodora: Moonlit Farewell. I did buy Crypt Custodian but only made it about an hour in so I can’t say much about it yet.
What's Moonlit Farewell like? I loved the other four Momodoras, but I just couldn't get into Minoria, because it felt like it was too easy to get ripped apart by trash mobs.
@ It’s a straightforward Metroidvania, but still offers some of the aesthetic charm and atmosphere of Reverie Under the Moonlight. Moody, melancholic soundtrack. Gameplay seemed a bit tighter with a more agile moveset. Took me a bit longer to beat, too. I haven’t played Momodora 1-3 so I can’t compare with those.
Great video, finally find someone that feels the way I do about several of these games! Totally agree with you on Bo..the "pogoing" ugh, I just couldn't get it. I didn't care for Nine sols either, initially, but I picked it up again recently and have been enjoying it this time. LOVED mini shoot (played it through twice - I wish there were more games like that but I haven't found any). I just got Crypt Custodian and looking especially forward to it based on your feedback.
Really enjoying Nine Sols right now, so it's fascinating to hear your opinion. I've been enjoying the dialogue, but I suppose it is rather heavy compared to most metroidvanias, isn't it.
It is an oldie but they released the remasters of the Soul Reaver games this year. You get 1 and 2 with a single purchase. Still holds up really well after all these years.
Two games that are off radar that I’ve been recommending are “Rebel Transmute” and “Rusted Moss”. Rebel transmute plays like NES Metroid and it doesn’t hand hold you with how your upgrades might synergize. It also seems to encourage sequence breaking with brute force solutions-letting the player go anywhere so long as they have the skill. Rusted Moss has a really unique movement style (tethers + gunplay) that give it an exotic feel if your looking to try something different. I don’t think they’re for everyone though. Totally agree with prince of Persia. One of the all time best for the genre. DLC just came out, and it’s pretty cheap. I really like crypt custodian too (100%). Animal well was great but I don’t feel like hunting down all the eggs right now. Kenzara was great for the story, but did feel like “baby’s first Metroidvania”. I’m playing Bo right now and liking it so far.
I'm not one for overly difficult combat in games AT ALL, but Nine Sols is probably my game of the year this year - the story, exploration, and platforming are all absolutely amazing. It has excellent difficulty settings that let you dial in the difficulty on the fly to suit your playstyle, so I highly recommend you give it another try whileutilizing those features to see what the fuss is about that game. One of the best stories in a game I've ever played!
huh, thanks for sharing! i quickly dismissed Nine Sols because i hate difficult combat and the game seemed to be marketed towards the Souls crowd. i will give it a go! what did you enjoy about the exploration?
Thank you for another great video. Metroidvania games are among my favorites for their variety and opportunities for exploration. I also think it was a clever way for companies to re-use the same areas over and over. 😊
Have been meaning to try Prince of Persia because of your recommendations. It just has been hard to find the time, and I've been a bit reluctant to devote the space to it on my Switch's SD card. It's weirdly big for a Metroidvania.
I'm playing The Mobius Machine right now and I'm really loving it. I really prefer exploration focused metroidvanias without many really difficult boss battles.
Really well done video! I agree with a lot of your takes except for Biogun. That really never grabbed me, the level traversal is so tedious and it's often hard to figure out what to do next. The same flaws were also in Moebius Machine, I just liked the vibe of that game better. Cheers.
The only Metroidvania I played that came out this year was Awaken - Astral Blade, which I personally enjoyed. It's more combat-focused than platforming, and while it does have an optional parry -> counter which I love, it can only be used on ground, and a lot of bosses like to hover so you'll have limited parry opportunities. (You get some ranged options but your primary damage is melee air combos.) There generally are checkpoints right outside boss rooms too. Admittedly key upgrades are rather few and far between, but you do eventually get to zoom which feels nice. I took 20 hours to 100% the game on Normal, so decent length; I'll revisit the game for a hard playthrough soon, as they've added a few updates since release.
Nine sols was my game of the year, and might even dethrone hollow knight for me. It’s funny how people can have such drastically different experiences with the same games. I’ve played many of the games on this list, and prince of Persia was actually my least favorite. It felt very vanilla to me, and It’s one of the rare instances where I didn’t feel at all inclined to collect everything because I didn’t feel like it would’ve enhanced the lore or the experience for me. I do agree with last faith though. I loved that one for the same reasons
my favourite metroidvanias are, symphony of the night and Ufouria... Ufouria is a NES game that I didnt liked after bought when I was a kid, and later started to like more and more... I thought was a kind of supermario multiplayer for 4 characters, but it was a kind of metroidvania game that was in english so I could not understand anything as a kid, and thats why I didnt like it before... now I love it, despite of you can finish it in about 4 hours once you know where to go
So glad I'm not the only one who bounced off of Nine Sols. The art and the environmental vibes were great, but oh god was combat not fun. I dropped it once I realized I was mostly just speed-dashing through enemies and ignoring them. Maybe the MV scene needs to split the "soulsvania" games off into their own subgenre. Merry Christmas and happy holidays, thanks for another year of great videos!
I dropped and went back to Nine Sols a few times, but just couldn't make myself like it. I also decided at one point to try just running past every enemy.
Animal Well is tied for GOTY with Silent Hill 2 remake for me, and is heads and shoulders the best MV i've played this year (and i played some classics that I loved too, like Metroid Zero Mission and Metroid Prime Remake!) i hope it's success leads to good imitators and further evolution in MVs, i feel like there's so much potential in this genre that is not tied to combat but instead lies in creative items / abilities and cool exploration.
This was a great video. The only one I might disagree on is Nine Sols, but that's because Sekiro is one of my favorite games of all time. I really enjoy the parry mechanics in both games. But I completely recognize that combat-style is not for everyone.
Recently started playing Bio-Gun and Mars 2120 (which got some quality of life updates), earlier this year I've played The Möbius Machine, Axiom Verge, Afterimage, Voidwrought, Gestalt: Steam and Cinder, Biomorph and Awaken - Astral Blade. Still looking forward to Grime II.
@@Cannotbetamed1 Sure it was, it got me hooked on metroidvanias, though the last DLC was a bit of a letdown, only annoying platforming sections for just 1 new weapon. As for Mars 2120, which boss made you give up? The game actually looks good and I enjoyed my time with it. Most bosses weren't actually that hard (almost easy compared to some in BioGun). Draconis Magma was tedious and repetitive, It really tooks it's time. I gave it a chance because of the latest patch and it was on sale on Steam. For me it would fall between B and C Tier on your list.
@@Cannotbetamed1 Agreed, I was glad the fight was finally done. But it's the only slow bossfight in this game. Used only ice-core here, the shotgun and melee attacks work best when it's claw is perched onto the platform and especially when it sticks it's head above the platform. It's "story" is mostly told through audiologs. Has any game you've played gained a tier rank after it got quality of life and balancing improvements? Or is the first impression that counts for you?
I wasn't familiar with most of these, except Prince of Persia. Always appreciate Pam's insight. I'm going to have to check out Crypt Custodian, namely because I'm a sucker for anything with a black cat (yes, I've sunk more than a few hours into "Little Kitty Big City"). 😸
Nine Sols and Bo got me with the art style, I bought both of them. I didn’t like either both for the same reasons. Although I love Katana Zero’s parry mechanic, it wasn’t good in NS. I thought Prince of Persia was a bit too hard on normal and a bit expensive. Tails of Iron 2 is coming out in 2025, the first one was great and had Geralt’s voice actor. Anyone reading this, check out Tails of iron. A hidden gem.
I love ya stuff. If you ever start doing books like Pat Contri does I'm sure I can read and re-read them over and over. The next time I go to a game store and you point 👉 out a good game at a great price I'll assume it's worth buying and just get it. 99.9% of the stuff you recommended is fucking dope. I hope ya Christmas went well. Mine actually did this year. Seriously. I thought I was all alone but it turns out I'm not. (Nes Manga) 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Well, I don't know about physically getting it, but actually hitting the 100K looks more plausible know when I look at the number, it seems to gone up from 99.4 to 99.6 since your last video... So, fingers crossed :-)
It seems like your tastes are somewhat similar to mine, I tend to be put off by Soulslike mechanics and precision platforming being constantly required. I like MVs to be relaxing and mentally challenging.
It hurts to see where Nine Sols landed, but if it's not for you it's not for you. I can totally feel that.
Solid vid. Always love hearing your take on MVs.
The GOAT has arrived! 🫡
Just subbed, some good videos.
outside of huge channels I don’t get recommended any new channels anymore, definitely something YT needs to sort out.
Thanks!
@@mrmagoo-i2l thats nuts cause all i get are channels with 10 views, 200 subs etc
@@danny8063could be a regional thing, I’m in sunny England.
It's hard to find good coverage and reviews of games for an audience that doesn't want to play tedious or frustrating games, so it's real nice to find videos like this.
Most of these games were'nt even on my radar, thanks for shining some light on them Pam!
You're welcome!
Great video Pam. I enjoy hearing your takes on these. I might play Animal Well next.
Prince of Persia is low key goated. Finished it 3 time plus the DLC.
Great vid Pam. Love when you cover the Metroidvania genre. Glad I watched the vid to the end, because you mentioning and your praise of The Last Faith just sold me on the game.
Have a good end of year & happy new year pAm!
Thanks, you too!
Hey Pam! So thank you very much for the high praises of Animal Well.
I really connected with what you said about 9 Sols and agreed with everything about Prince of Persia so I took the plunge based on your review on this Animal Well.
I’m over 20 hours and bought it after Christmas 😂 I’m living in this game!!!!
That's awesome!
Of these, I only played Animal Well and I just picked up Prince of Persia yesterday. So that's a good start for me. Nice to know about these other solid titles found within.
Nice, hope you have fun with it.
Great video! There are a few games on here that I hadn't heard about at all and am now looking forward to trying out (especially BioGun). It's a shame the Nine Sols combat didn't gel with you, I personally found it very satisfying and loved that game. That and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown were definitely my favorite Metroidvanias of the year.
These reviews confirmed a lot of the vibes I was getting for these games over the last year. Great video.
Thanks!
I don't even play metroidvanias but always appreciate staying in the loop / learning about corners of gaming I don't personally partake in. Great vid as always - sounds like it was a good year for fans of the genre.
Great channel for years, another exceptional year end list thank you for all your creative content and hard work!
Pam I wish, I wish so much to see you hit 100k. You definetly deserve it, your awesome and devoted to what you love!
Thanks, soon, I hope!
Hi, Pam! I found your channel last year so I was able to catch all your vids this year making this kind of a nice "pam season finale" of sorts lol. Thanks for the vids and happy new year! Hope metroidvania fans continue to eat good in 2025! 🙏
Happy New Year, and thanks for watching!
Thanks for the year in review round-up! We have very different tastes in games but I really appreciate your critical reviews
Glad you like them!
Just wanted to comment and say thank you for making this list!
I just bought Prince of Persia and I am having a blast already. This really is the kind of game I needed right now.
I'm glad you're enjoying it!
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is awesome!
Play Nine Sols!
@@MattRandomnumber prince of persia is in a different league.
@@Mike-hj7gg I've played it and I disagree
Minishoot Adventures is my favorite on this list. I love genre mashups! The gameplay reminded me slightly of Star Of Providence(previously named Monolith)
Awesome video Pam! Thank you! Hope you had a Merry Christmas!
Thank you, I hope you did as well!
I really don't usually like metroidvanias but I started playing F.I.S.T. a few weeks ago not knowing what kind of game it was going to be and I'm enjoying it a lot.
Cool! I never got very far in that one.
@aaronmarko good to know. I'm terrible as well. which is one reason I don't care for absurdly difficult games that waste my time. I like when people are honest about how hard a game is. I don't have that much time to invest so I want to play games that are fun and don't cause me as much frustration.
I finished FIST this year too. Though not a masterpiece like the new Prince of Persia, I found it to be quite enjoyable overall. It's definitely a combat-oriented game. The fighting feels nice but combos were pretty much useless.
@@zenniste I hope I can keep going and don't get stuck. interesting about the combos...
@@Faustustopheles I'm not talking about normal combos but the absurd weapon-switching combos the game makes you do to get rewards (at your master's).
I'm playing a non linear 2d game called afterimage right now and i'm having a great time. Everything is hand drawn and the game is very atmospheric. I've been drawn to these kind of games lately, or indie titles overall. There is so much love and hard work put into those kind of titles that you almost never find in games from big studios
Afterimage is a lot of fun. It was on my best of list last year... or at least got an honorable mention.
Found your channel through this video, nice list!
The quality and variety of Metroidvanias this year was really something special. Even some of the less polished ones often had something unique to offer. Here’s hoping that momentum carries into next year.
Welcome to the channel!
Fantastic video! Always enjoy your thoughts on metroidvanias.
Thanks!
I think I agree with almost all your opinions here, we're MV twins :P Nine Sols has been amazing to watch let's plays on youtube, but I suck at parrying, so it's definitely not for me, as a player anyway. P.S. Your doggo is so lovable!
I always love Pam's videos cause there's always 1 or 2 games I have never heard about and must immediately buy them the moment the video ends 😂
Perfect timing as fancied a new metroidvania. Gonna pick up Prince of Persia and Gestalt thanks to your insights 🥂
Enjoy!
Great video, Pam! Thank you for the suggestions. I plan on purchasing Prince of Persia soon!
Love this MetroidVania games because I love MetroidVania games. You cover some obscure games (at least for me) that I’ve never heard of and because of you I will definitely try some of them. Thank you for this video.
You're welcome!
I really like Pampas & Selene, Animal Well and Minishoot Adventures this year, that was my top 3 of Metroidvanias. Minishoot was the surprise of my 2024 (I couldn't play Prince of Persia or Nine Sols, they will be left for next year). Happy holidays to you and have a great end of the year Pam! 😄
Thanks! Happy holidays to you too!
I'm gonna try some of these out! thanks for the recommends!
Play Nine Sols. It is on par with or better than Hollow Knight.
Love the bangs Pam. It's nice to see you got through a lot of games for 2024 and even for the metroidvania games you ended up liking the vast majority of them which is still a victory unto itself. I myself, haven't had a lot of time to dedicate to gaming this year because of the hectic nature of my job but I've been spending a lot of time trying to complete and permanently retire the 23 games that I've always wanted to play for the sega cd. I'm currently trying to complete and permanently retire my 4th game for the system which is Vay. I'm slowly managing to get through them - hopefully gaming in 2025 is just as productive as what it was in 2024.
Good luck with your Sega CD saga.
Great review as always... just felt i wanted a review or more of your dog lol.
Holy smokes! Almost to 100k!!! 🎉
So close!
Thanks for playing them all for us Pam!
I'm so glad you did a review of my FAV The Last Faith!! Great list and video! Thank you!
I wanted to be sure to say something about it. It would have made my top 10 games last year if I played it earlier.
@@Cannotbetamed1 Hahaha I think I was asking you last year if you played it yet!! LOL
thank you for your content, always. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
This was a great list of games, thanks for putting 'Pampas and Selene' on my radar, looking forward to your videos in 2025!
Prince of Persia was incredible. One of the best games I played this year for sure. Hoping for more but it's not looking good with the team that made the game getting disbanded.
It's a shame Ubisoft is so dumb, because the game was great and the team was really passionate about it. I'm sure they could have made an excellent sequel if they were given the chance.
@Cannotbetamed1 totally agree. Makes me sad
Very good year for metroidvania, appreciate the tier list.
One game that is not on many people's radar is Exographer, a puzzle oriented metroidvania like animal well.
That looks cool, I've added it to my wishlist.
Some that slipped my radar here, appreciate the spotlight.
Hope you all had a happy Christmas [or whatever it is you celebrate].
I've only played the Prince of Persia demo and most of Animal Well [I went a bit further beyond the end credits, but got either distracted or too unwell to play games, which kinda defines 2024 for me].
I hope you're feeling better next year.
Bo: Path of Teal Lotus is super underrated. Great game - hardest platformer I've played.
Thanks for the look back. Of these, I played Lost Crown and Animal Well, but I'm curious about several of the others (and also The Last Faith).
Play Nine Sols, ignore this trash opinion from a great creator. Nine Sols is Hollow Knight tier.
@@MattRandomnumber true its just way too difficult that makes new players quit the game i understand why she stop playing
Nine Sols is definitely the best metroidvania I've played this year. Combat is difficult, but so rewarding when you get it down.
Great round up 🙂
Thanks!
I didn't expect PoP to be so hard, the jumping puzzles are brutal, my poor hungover brain is melting 😮
Prince of Persia will be the game I start the new year with, happy to hear it is awesome!
Also great channel, as a sidescroller lover it was a nice recommendation from youtube.
You are by far the most important reviewer on youtube
Just started Prince of Persia and I love it! ❤
Gestalt: Steam & Cinder is a game I've really been interested in. I was actually just thinking about it last night. I also really love how it emphasizes the use of ranged and melee weapons, not dissimilar to Devil May Cry. Actually the DMC series is part of why I gained such an adamant appreciation for mixing together weapons like swords and guns.
I didn’t play many new Metroidvanias this year, but my picks are Minishoot Adventures and Momodora: Moonlit Farewell. I did buy Crypt Custodian but only made it about an hour in so I can’t say much about it yet.
What's Moonlit Farewell like? I loved the other four Momodoras, but I just couldn't get into Minoria, because it felt like it was too easy to get ripped apart by trash mobs.
@ It’s a straightforward Metroidvania, but still offers some of the aesthetic charm and atmosphere of Reverie Under the Moonlight. Moody, melancholic soundtrack. Gameplay seemed a bit tighter with a more agile moveset. Took me a bit longer to beat, too. I haven’t played Momodora 1-3 so I can’t compare with those.
@@Davey_Cakes Thanks!
Great video, finally find someone that feels the way I do about several of these games! Totally agree with you on Bo..the "pogoing" ugh, I just couldn't get it. I didn't care for Nine sols either, initially, but I picked it up again recently and have been enjoying it this time. LOVED mini shoot (played it through twice - I wish there were more games like that but I haven't found any). I just got Crypt Custodian and looking especially forward to it based on your feedback.
Awesome, I hope you have fun with Crypt Custodian.
Really enjoying Nine Sols right now, so it's fascinating to hear your opinion. I've been enjoying the dialogue, but I suppose it is rather heavy compared to most metroidvanias, isn't it.
Hope your Christmas was great with your family Pam ❤!
Thank you! I hope you had a great Christmas as well.
love the new haircut! hope you had a great holidays!
Thanks, I hope you did as well!
You have a great diction. I learn English from your videos.
Mine Metroidvania of 2024
- Meifumado
- Nine Sols
- Bo Teal of Loctus
- Gestalt Steam & Cinder
It is an oldie but they released the remasters of the Soul Reaver games this year. You get 1 and 2 with a single purchase. Still holds up really well after all these years.
Two games that are off radar that I’ve been recommending are “Rebel Transmute” and “Rusted Moss”. Rebel transmute plays like NES Metroid and it doesn’t hand hold you with how your upgrades might synergize. It also seems to encourage sequence breaking with brute force solutions-letting the player go anywhere so long as they have the skill. Rusted Moss has a really unique movement style (tethers + gunplay) that give it an exotic feel if your looking to try something different. I don’t think they’re for everyone though.
Totally agree with prince of Persia. One of the all time best for the genre. DLC just came out, and it’s pretty cheap. I really like crypt custodian too (100%). Animal well was great but I don’t feel like hunting down all the eggs right now. Kenzara was great for the story, but did feel like “baby’s first Metroidvania”. I’m playing Bo right now and liking it so far.
Rusted Moss is amazing.
PoP was the best metroidvania in 2024
I'm not one for overly difficult combat in games AT ALL, but Nine Sols is probably my game of the year this year - the story, exploration, and platforming are all absolutely amazing. It has excellent difficulty settings that let you dial in the difficulty on the fly to suit your playstyle, so I highly recommend you give it another try whileutilizing those features to see what the fuss is about that game. One of the best stories in a game I've ever played!
huh, thanks for sharing! i quickly dismissed Nine Sols because i hate difficult combat and the game seemed to be marketed towards the Souls crowd. i will give it a go! what did you enjoy about the exploration?
Something about knocking a metroidvania down to easy just makes me want to quit instead.
Nice bangs 👍
Thank you for another great video. Metroidvania games are among my favorites for their variety and opportunities for exploration.
I also think it was a clever way for companies to re-use the same areas over and over. 😊
It's amazing when the good ones can make you go through the same areas over and over and still enjoy it every time.
Have been meaning to try Prince of Persia because of your recommendations. It just has been hard to find the time, and I've been a bit reluctant to devote the space to it on my Switch's SD card. It's weirdly big for a Metroidvania.
Never heard of Pampas & Selene! That looks fun! 🎉
Frogmonster was another really good, under the radar one from this year with some incredible boss fights.
Nice video!
Thanks!
I'm playing The Mobius Machine right now and I'm really loving it. I really prefer exploration focused metroidvanias without many really difficult boss battles.
Animal Well looks and sounds really neat. Gonna check that one out!
Awesome, hope you have fun with it!
Really well done video! I agree with a lot of your takes except for Biogun. That really never grabbed me, the level traversal is so tedious and it's often hard to figure out what to do next. The same flaws were also in Moebius Machine, I just liked the vibe of that game better. Cheers.
The only Metroidvania I played that came out this year was Awaken - Astral Blade, which I personally enjoyed. It's more combat-focused than platforming, and while it does have an optional parry -> counter which I love, it can only be used on ground, and a lot of bosses like to hover so you'll have limited parry opportunities. (You get some ranged options but your primary damage is melee air combos.) There generally are checkpoints right outside boss rooms too. Admittedly key upgrades are rather few and far between, but you do eventually get to zoom which feels nice. I took 20 hours to 100% the game on Normal, so decent length; I'll revisit the game for a hard playthrough soon, as they've added a few updates since release.
Nine sols was my game of the year, and might even dethrone hollow knight for me. It’s funny how people can have such drastically different experiences with the same games. I’ve played many of the games on this list, and prince of Persia was actually my least favorite. It felt very vanilla to me, and It’s one of the rare instances where I didn’t feel at all inclined to collect everything because I didn’t feel like it would’ve enhanced the lore or the experience for me. I do agree with last faith though. I loved that one for the same reasons
Meteiodvanias are awesome! I got quite a few of them this year.
The Lost Crown is one of the best metroidvanias of all time. Number 3 for me personally, right after Hollow Knight and Ori
I agree!
my favourite metroidvanias are, symphony of the night and Ufouria... Ufouria is a NES game that I didnt liked after bought when I was a kid, and later started to like more and more... I thought was a kind of supermario multiplayer for 4 characters, but it was a kind of metroidvania game that was in english so I could not understand anything as a kid, and thats why I didnt like it before... now I love it, despite of you can finish it in about 4 hours once you know where to go
So glad I'm not the only one who bounced off of Nine Sols. The art and the environmental vibes were great, but oh god was combat not fun. I dropped it once I realized I was mostly just speed-dashing through enemies and ignoring them. Maybe the MV scene needs to split the "soulsvania" games off into their own subgenre.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays, thanks for another year of great videos!
I dropped and went back to Nine Sols a few times, but just couldn't make myself like it. I also decided at one point to try just running past every enemy.
I tried once but it was hard. But I love the style and the world so I'll try harder next time.
Animal Well is tied for GOTY with Silent Hill 2 remake for me, and is heads and shoulders the best MV i've played this year (and i played some classics that I loved too, like Metroid Zero Mission and Metroid Prime Remake!)
i hope it's success leads to good imitators and further evolution in MVs, i feel like there's so much potential in this genre that is not tied to combat but instead lies in creative items / abilities and cool exploration.
I also hope it spawns some more creativity in terms of abilities and ways to avoid combat, it was such a nice treat.
Didn't manage to finish Animal Well but thx for recommending Minishoot ima give it a try.
Have fun!
Great video and love your hair❤🔥
Thanks!
Good for you giving Sols a C. I couldn’t get into that one either. I loved Prince of Persia; 100 Percent an S tier :)
This was a great video. The only one I might disagree on is Nine Sols, but that's because Sekiro is one of my favorite games of all time. I really enjoy the parry mechanics in both games. But I completely recognize that combat-style is not for everyone.
I like parrying, but Nine Sols didn't do it well. It wasn't clean like in Sekiro or even Dead Cells
Great video Pam. But you misspelled "The Mobius Machine" as "Moebius". Just thought you'd want to know. Keep up the great content !
Did you mean Möbius?
I didn't play many Metroidvania this year, but my favorite was Ultros! Though I admit it's not for everyone.
I played the demo of it. It was a super cool concept but I found it hard to focus my eyes on anything.
Cool video
Only one I played that released this year is gestalt. Was looking for more opinions on some of these, especially nine sols.
Recently started playing Bio-Gun and Mars 2120 (which got some quality of life updates), earlier this year I've played The Möbius Machine, Axiom Verge, Afterimage, Voidwrought, Gestalt: Steam and Cinder, Biomorph and Awaken - Astral Blade. Still looking forward to Grime II.
The first Grime was great.
@@Cannotbetamed1 Sure it was, it got me hooked on metroidvanias, though the last DLC was a bit of a letdown, only annoying platforming sections for just 1 new weapon. As for Mars 2120, which boss made you give up? The game actually looks good and I enjoyed my time with it. Most bosses weren't actually that hard (almost easy compared to some in BioGun). Draconis Magma was tedious and repetitive, It really tooks it's time. I gave it a chance because of the latest patch and it was on sale on Steam. For me it would fall between B and C Tier on your list.
@@mdegast It was the Magma boss that made me give up.
@@Cannotbetamed1 Agreed, I was glad the fight was finally done. But it's the only slow bossfight in this game. Used only ice-core here, the shotgun and melee attacks work best when it's claw is perched onto the platform and especially when it sticks it's head above the platform. It's "story" is mostly told through audiologs. Has any game you've played gained a tier rank after it got quality of life and balancing improvements? Or is the first impression that counts for you?
I wasn't familiar with most of these, except Prince of Persia. Always appreciate Pam's insight. I'm going to have to check out Crypt Custodian, namely because I'm a sucker for anything with a black cat (yes, I've sunk more than a few hours into "Little Kitty Big City"). 😸
Prince Of Persia was by far my fav this year. Did you play Yars Rising by any chance? That was pretty short, simple and sweet.
I didn't play it. Something about the aesthetic turned me off.
Awesome job and great reviews! I'll probably try some of these and how's the Majestic Lily doing 🐕
Lily is doing great, thanks for asking.
Very cool 😎👍 haven't seen her on the show in a bit
Hair looks really nice. I like this one
Nine Sols and Bo got me with the art style, I bought both of them.
I didn’t like either both for the same reasons. Although I love Katana Zero’s parry mechanic, it wasn’t good in NS.
I thought Prince of Persia was a bit too hard on normal and a bit expensive.
Tails of Iron 2 is coming out in 2025, the first one was great and had Geralt’s voice actor.
Anyone reading this, check out Tails of iron. A hidden gem.
Thanks for the recommendation. I love the art style.
@@Cannotbetamed1A hidden boss is called Ratnor Rodentson, an undead viking rat king.
If that doesn’t sell you on it then nothing will.
I love ya stuff. If you ever start doing books like Pat Contri does I'm sure I can read and re-read them over and over. The next time I go to a game store and you point 👉 out a good game at a great price I'll assume it's worth buying and just get it. 99.9% of the stuff you recommended is fucking dope. I hope ya Christmas went well. Mine actually did this year. Seriously. I thought I was all alone but it turns out I'm not. (Nes Manga) 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Pam is so beautiful and has great taste in MV.
I usually find atleast one new game during your metroidvania videos. Here's hoping for something new this one
I was hoping Pam would get her 100K plaque as a New Years gift, but right now - I am little bit sceptical... Maybe for Valentine's day?
I have no idea how long they take to ship out. I was hoping for 100k by the end of the year... almost there.
Well, I don't know about physically getting it, but actually hitting the 100K looks more plausible know when I look at the number, it seems to gone up from 99.4 to 99.6 since your last video... So, fingers crossed :-)
Do you talk about Last Faith in another video? I haven’t seen anyone else talk about it and I find your reviews helpful.
Not a full review, but I talk about it more here: ruclips.net/video/dW6_Eez5CRk/видео.htmlsi=nwWAjEEtump4MAt1&t=1141
@@Cannotbetamed1 thanks for the link
It seems like your tastes are somewhat similar to mine, I tend to be put off by Soulslike mechanics and precision platforming being constantly required. I like MVs to be relaxing and mentally challenging.
Good vid. Would like to see your opinion on Rebel Transmute as it seems to warrant strong positive/ negative reactions.
I have had that one on my wishlist for a while, I'm sure I'll get to it at some point.
There is still time to play the new Momodora game.
I really didn't like the last Momodora game, so I didn't really consider it.