All of them except mobius machine, rebel transmute and nine sols. The first two were just horrible games for many reasons but mainly level design and annoying enemies. The last one was good but i expected so much more from it after hearing so much praise. I was very dissapointed with nine sols
@@soulsborneseeker indeed, i'm writing up a wall of text at the moment discussing the MV's both on and off this list so apoligies in advance. Regardless i'm very curious to hear your thoughts on nine sols but i think you'll like it as you're not afraid of a challenge. What i'm most curious on is how the story will vibe with you. Will you dislike it like i did or love like so many others? Can't wait to find out!
Nine Sols is not only my favorite Metroidvania of the year, but it's my favorite Metroidvania ever, hell, probably even one of my favorite GAMES ever, like straight up. It's a fucking masterpiece in my eyes. And yes, I think it's better than Hollow Knight.
Great list! It was a pretty good year for MVs, with Nine Sols and The Lost Crown being the best by far. It kinda sucks how Turbo Kid flew under the radar tho
Man, 2024 was full of great MVs! The Lost Crown has to be on of the best MVs I have ever played, while Animal Well's puzzles and ideas impressed me! It's cool to see so many new and different ideas being implemented into the genre, like Nine Sols' Sekiro-like combat, Ultros' time loop and psychedelic artstyle, Laika Aged Through Blood's motorvania concept, Crypt Custodian's top-down perspective etc. Great video as usual!
Lost Crown is on my list of top games ever made and is a damn shame it didn’t sell well. Dev team is now disbanded hopefully those peeps can start up their own small company and make something else.
Thank you for the excellent and informative video. I like that you didn't only offer your own opinions, but gave a summary of each game's general reception and the breakdown of gamers' takes on it. I always find that really useful when looking into new MVs. :)
Prince of Persia TLC, Nine sols, The devil within satgat and BIOMORPH were my top games & metroidvanias of this year Can't wait for more good stuff next year!
This is a great list. I have been looking around trying find some gems and this really is the best collection of titles so far, with some I havent seen yet 👍
Moonlight Pulse was my most anticipated MV of the year, having played the demo a bunch of Steam Next Fests ago. I played it Day 1, and it did not disappoint. It is hands down, the best. I need to get back to PoP, Zau, Ultros, Rebel Transmute, and play Gestalt and BioGun (I played the demos for both of these 2). Of your list, I also played and beat, Biomorph Nine Sols, Bo and VoidWrought. You're in for a treat with Biomorpth and Nine Sols. I'll trust you and give Venture to the Vile a shot next year. I really didn't vibe with the demo. Anima Flux demo didn't work for me, and I'm cagey about minishoot adventures, because I am quite bad at bullet hell games. great list, hope you have a wonderful New Year, and and looking forward to more videos in the future.
I liked this year: nine souls, gestalt steam and cinder, the devil within, wordless (although it's not a metroidvania), momodora, Bo....lotus, animal well (I'm not exactly thrilled, it's not exactly my preference, but I can't help but admit the style, mechanics, gameplay features, all of this is compactly placed with retro vibes, and also gives a certain feeling rain world although the games have different mechanics). I'm waiting for next year, there are several metroidvanias in development that look very interesting, they've been in development for a long time and I hope for a release next year. I congratulate the author on the upcoming year and wish him a happy new year, so that next year there will be even more interesting metroidvanias.
Indeed, it was an incredible year for the genre, and there are some awesome stuff in the horizon as well! On that note, have a happy new year with lots of health, wealth and quality gaming!
Its amazing how out of step with 95% of the community I am with Nine Sols. I thought it was a complete drag. My favourites of the year were PoP, Animal Well, BioGun, Crypt Custodian and Minishoot Adventures.
I played Bio-Gun, Voidwrought, Gestalt, and the new Blasphemous 2 DLC. Blasphemous and Voidwrought got multiple playthroughs out of me. Ender Magnolia and Deviator are on my list for when they leave early access (Ender's coming next month!) Gotta fill that void until Silksong finally comes out (next year hopefully! *clown honks*)
Voidwrought is my top metroidvania of 2024. The updates that they released a couple weeks after launch really helped with boss balance. And those updates also shuffled a few minor item locations around to smooth out progression. I did a second playthrough to get the last few achievements and it felt quite a bit better in some places. I also really liked Momodora: Moonlit Farewell, Crypt Custodian and Animal Well. Hated the combat in Nine Sols, so I dropped it, despite the game looking good. The core mechanic and platforming of Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus also wasn't my thing. Next on my list are Biomorph, Rebel Transmute and Gestalt: Steam and Cinder.
I hope you get top have fun with those last three! As for Voidwrought, I haven't played it after the balance patches, but I'm glad to hear that the overall quality has improved!
@soulsborneseeker i wish I had more constructive criticism to offer. "Souls borne seeker out" with a superhero esque tone was just too corny and silly for my tastes
Alright as is custom for my comments it is now time for a HUGE wall of text absolutely nobody asked for! :D I want to start of mentioning a few metroidvania's that are not featured on this list and are in my opinion VERY much worth a shot. They are criminally underrated and as far as i'm concerned games that every metroidvania fanatic should play! - Noreya the gold project is a metroidvania with incredibly smooth gameplay, addictive platforming and brilliant level design. It's my #1 this year of the ones i played. - Ultros may not be for everyone but i found the loop mechanic to be perfectly woven into the narrative creating a memorable experience with S tier visuals and music - Airhead is an incredibly well made puzzle metroidvania with an impressive variety of ingeniously crafted puzzles, atmospheric visuals and immersive sound design - Tales of kenzera i did not play (yet) but when it was announced i was very moved by the lead designer's speech of losing his father so i'm keeping this one for a special occasion - The last case of benedict fox may not have the best gameplay but the visuals, story and exploration are top notch. It's the best looking 2.5D game imo and worth it for that reason - Teslagrad 2 came out lat year but was incredibly fun with crazy fast movement and unique mechanics that really make it feel unique, an improvement over the 1st game in every way - NEVA isn't a metroidvania but i would like to squeeze it in here as it's so beautifully made that i think MV fans will still love this short masterpiece - Sheepy a short adventure is like neva not a real metroidvania but it has some hallmarks of one and it's completly free! It's also under 2 hours so no reason not to try it! - Awaken astral blade has some rough translations and voice acting but the visuals, combat and exploration were still a ton of metroidvania goodness! - Skelethrone is a bit rough but for a one man project it is certainly an impressive metroidvania with suprisingly good soulslike combat. It's pretty hard though but not impossible - Ex vitro is another short and free metroidvania but this one has uncharacteristically good writing. Seriously the lore is so well crafted in this, which makes it worth it Now for the titles shown in the video, i did not play all of these yet, some i never well because they don't interest me, however i'll give my two cents nontheless - Nine sols i found to be underwhelming because of the high expectations set by all the praise. I found there to be too much dialogue for how poor the writing was and combat was too punishing to be enjoyable anymore. I also really hated the music which is super subjective but it really didn't vibe with me. I did love the visuals and level design/exploration - Animal well is a game i opted to watch rather than play because that cut down the aimless wandering that is prevalent throughout the game. I enjoyed watching the game this way as the controls seemed too finnicky for my liking but the game is nonetheless and impressive solo dev effort and worth all the accolades. Also it's less than 1GB so that's just mindblowing tbh! - Prince of persia the lost crown is next to blasphemous 2 my most anticipated game i've yet to play. I played over 30 metroidvania's this year because i wanted to play the mediocre ones first, so I keep saving the best titles for last which is why i never get to them unfortunately. Same happened with blasphemous 2 last year, but once i finally play these i know i'll love em - The mobius machine is one of my least favorite MV's i've ever played, it really pissed me off with how tanky enemies are which made combat dull and boring, not hard, just boring. The map is huge and interconnected but there's nothing fun to find or discover. The only exception is genuinly fun boss fights but that alone does not make it worth playing imo - Biogun is dripping with charm and has such lovely visuals and an uplifting soundtrack that made playing it a blast. The exploration is solid and it has some of the most fun twin stick shooter combat i've seen so far in an MV. Definately worth playing but maybe after they've ported over the engine to unity, which they're now hard at work with - Moonlight pulse really suprised me with how fun exploration was. I'm not the biggest fan of character swapping in games but moonlight pulse did it very well. I also found level design to be very clever and i especially liked the fast travel system because it was so unique and appropriate for the setting. Bosses were also lots of fun but that final boss shocked me! - Bo path of the teal lotus is just an incredible game and finally another MV that places a big emphasis on platforming. Unfortunately most MV's nowadays focus more on combat, but i find platforming more enjoyable personally especially if it's challenging but not ridiculous. So no precision platforming basically, bo strikes the perfect balance
@@soulsborneseekerIt's nice! Graphically, it's day and night, but I didn't play it back in the day, and I don't think it has aged that well. The combat feels ancient, it's really cryptic, and the lack of a map makes it really hard.
Hmm, I've heard people say it's either balanced or way too hard now. I think this perception is influenced by its non-linearity, which makes each player's experience different depending on what areas they explore first. I'll definitely revisit the game to see for myself!
There were a few titles I omitted even though they were good, because I thought that they didn't do anything special or different even though they were fun. I should have probably added them as honorable mentions, though, so good point!
The Dark Light came out in 2022, so it wouldn't fit in this list. As for The Devil Within, it sort of slipped my mind, to be honest, since it came late in the year and I didn't get a chance to play it :/
Personally found nine sols to be a mediocre metroidvania. It would have been an insane linear game (if they removed all the yapping) but they wanted to do a metroidvania. They clearly dont know how to do one though. Confusing map and direction, it tries to be an open map with linear progression for the sake of being confusing. Finale boss is also just artificially difficult, having too much health for no reason and one shoting you
It's a game that definitely has its detractors, mostly on account of its difficulty, a sentiment largely directed to its final boss. Just as every other game on this list, though, it all falls on the matter of taste!
While i find HK to be extremely overrated this is just not true. HK has better platforming, better visuals, better story, better music and lots more enemy variety and bosses than nine sols. Nine sols just has ridiculous difficulty which is why people somehow like it so much
None of the metroidvanias released this year captured my attention. The only one I played was Gestalt, and it was just good. I might give Nine Sols a shot, but it doesn't vibe with me, really. For me, 2023 was better thanks to Blasphemous II and The Last Faith.
Well, to be fair it was one of the strongest years for the genre! I'd recommend checking out the games on this list, one of them is bound to do it for you!
What were your favorite metroidvanias of the year?
All of them except mobius machine, rebel transmute and nine sols. The first two were just horrible games for many reasons but mainly level design and annoying enemies. The last one was good but i expected so much more from it after hearing so much praise. I was very dissapointed with nine sols
@d00mnoodle24 Tastes vary when it comes to games in this list for sure, but that's part of their charm in my eyes :D
@@soulsborneseeker indeed, i'm writing up a wall of text at the moment discussing the MV's both on and off this list so apoligies in advance. Regardless i'm very curious to hear your thoughts on nine sols but i think you'll like it as you're not afraid of a challenge. What i'm most curious on is how the story will vibe with you. Will you dislike it like i did or love like so many others? Can't wait to find out!
Nine Sols is not only my favorite Metroidvania of the year, but it's my favorite Metroidvania ever, hell, probably even one of my favorite GAMES ever, like straight up. It's a fucking masterpiece in my eyes. And yes, I think it's better than Hollow Knight.
Great list! It was a pretty good year for MVs, with Nine Sols and The Lost Crown being the best by far. It kinda sucks how Turbo Kid flew under the radar tho
Thank you! Yeah, I'm hoping to bring more attention to it, as well as Moonlight Pulse which also went largely unnoticed!
Didn’t help that they released Turbo Kid during the holiday sale madness
Man, 2024 was full of great MVs! The Lost Crown has to be on of the best MVs I have ever played, while Animal Well's puzzles and ideas impressed me!
It's cool to see so many new and different ideas being implemented into the genre, like Nine Sols' Sekiro-like combat, Ultros' time loop and psychedelic artstyle, Laika Aged Through Blood's motorvania concept, Crypt Custodian's top-down perspective etc.
Great video as usual!
Thank you! Indeed, 2024 was an absolute powerhouse when it comes to the genre!
Prince of Persia is worth playing
I fully agree, it is my MV GOTY for 2024!
Excellent list! Glad you shouted out Biomorph and Mobius Machine. I did not play alot of MVs this year, but those two were for sure great!
Thank you, glad you enjoyed the list!
Lost Crown is on my list of top games ever made and is a damn shame it didn’t sell well. Dev team is now disbanded hopefully those peeps can start up their own small company and make something else.
I would 100% play whatever they would come up with next!
Thank you for the excellent and informative video. I like that you didn't only offer your own opinions, but gave a summary of each game's general reception and the breakdown of gamers' takes on it. I always find that really useful when looking into new MVs. :)
Glad you got value out of the video!
Happy New Year for you, and have a nice 2025 ❤🎉 i love your videos!
Same to you, Happy New Year, and thank you for being around!
Yes! 2024 was a great year for metroidvania. We got Castlevania Dominus Collection. No other metroidvania needed 👍
True, that collection was a banger!
Awesome vid 🎉
Thank you!
Appreciate this.
Happy to hear that!
Prince of Persia TLC, Nine sols, The devil within satgat and BIOMORPH were my top games & metroidvanias of this year
Can't wait for more good stuff next year!
Oh, there are some very promising titles in the horizon!
Prince of Persia Lost Crown might be one of my favorite metroidvania's of all time. Runners up this year for me are 9 sols followed by Animal Well.
Definitely the three most popular and beloved MVs of 2024!
Absolutely insane that one of the best mv's of the year was devved/published by ubisoft
This is a great list. I have been looking around trying find some gems and this really is the best collection of titles so far, with some I havent seen yet 👍
@@JoeyAndTheBoss Happy to hear you got some value out of this video!
دمت گرم❤خسته نباشی👍
Moonlight Pulse was my most anticipated MV of the year, having played the demo a bunch of Steam Next Fests ago. I played it Day 1, and it did not disappoint. It is hands down, the best.
I need to get back to PoP, Zau, Ultros, Rebel Transmute, and play Gestalt and BioGun (I played the demos for both of these 2).
Of your list, I also played and beat, Biomorph Nine Sols, Bo and VoidWrought. You're in for a treat with Biomorpth and Nine Sols.
I'll trust you and give Venture to the Vile a shot next year. I really didn't vibe with the demo. Anima Flux demo didn't work for me, and I'm cagey about minishoot adventures, because I am quite bad at bullet hell games.
great list, hope you have a wonderful New Year, and and looking forward to more videos in the future.
Thank you, and I hope you have an amazing new year as well!
I liked this year: nine souls, gestalt steam and cinder, the devil within, wordless (although it's not a metroidvania), momodora, Bo....lotus, animal well (I'm not exactly thrilled, it's not exactly my preference, but I can't help but admit the style, mechanics, gameplay features, all of this is compactly placed with retro vibes, and also gives a certain feeling rain world although the games have different mechanics).
I'm waiting for next year, there are several metroidvanias in development that look very interesting, they've been in development for a long time and I hope for a release next year.
I congratulate the author on the upcoming year and wish him a happy new year, so that next year there will be even more interesting metroidvanias.
Indeed, it was an incredible year for the genre, and there are some awesome stuff in the horizon as well! On that note, have a happy new year with lots of health, wealth and quality gaming!
Its amazing how out of step with 95% of the community I am with Nine Sols. I thought it was a complete drag.
My favourites of the year were PoP, Animal Well, BioGun, Crypt Custodian and Minishoot Adventures.
Nine Sols did have its detractors, especially on account of its boss difficulty. As for your favourites, definitely solid choices!
I played Bio-Gun, Voidwrought, Gestalt, and the new Blasphemous 2 DLC. Blasphemous and Voidwrought got multiple playthroughs out of me. Ender Magnolia and Deviator are on my list for when they leave early access (Ender's coming next month!)
Gotta fill that void until Silksong finally comes out (next year hopefully! *clown honks*)
The skies will part and the heavens will sing when Silksong releases!
Voidwrought is my top metroidvania of 2024. The updates that they released a couple weeks after launch really helped with boss balance. And those updates also shuffled a few minor item locations around to smooth out progression. I did a second playthrough to get the last few achievements and it felt quite a bit better in some places.
I also really liked Momodora: Moonlit Farewell, Crypt Custodian and Animal Well. Hated the combat in Nine Sols, so I dropped it, despite the game looking good. The core mechanic and platforming of Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus also wasn't my thing.
Next on my list are Biomorph, Rebel Transmute and Gestalt: Steam and Cinder.
I hope you get top have fun with those last three! As for Voidwrought, I haven't played it after the balance patches, but I'm glad to hear that the overall quality has improved!
Nine sols is pretty addicting. I wish it was more challenging overall not just the bosses.
I plan on playing it early next year, and I'm hoping to have a pretty good time with it!
@ the parry mechanic is pretty awesome, and the game is super intuitive. I lowkey agree with the other comment that it’s better than hollow knight
Nine sols, crypt custodian and Voidwrought are my top 3
Solid choices!
Loved the vid. Your outro needs some help imo tho
Thank you! As for the outro, could you elaborate a bit on that? What didn't work for you there?
@soulsborneseeker i wish I had more constructive criticism to offer. "Souls borne seeker out" with a superhero esque tone was just too corny and silly for my tastes
@ChomskyHonkable Ah, I understand, no worries! It was something I did for my first video and it kind of stuck with me xD
@@soulsborneseekerplease don't drop it, it's a classic at this point!
Alright as is custom for my comments it is now time for a HUGE wall of text absolutely nobody asked for! :D I want to start of mentioning a few metroidvania's that are not featured on this list and are in my opinion VERY much worth a shot. They are criminally underrated and as far as i'm concerned games that every metroidvania fanatic should play!
- Noreya the gold project is a metroidvania with incredibly smooth gameplay, addictive platforming and brilliant level design. It's my #1 this year of the ones i played.
- Ultros may not be for everyone but i found the loop mechanic to be perfectly woven into the narrative creating a memorable experience with S tier visuals and music
- Airhead is an incredibly well made puzzle metroidvania with an impressive variety of ingeniously crafted puzzles, atmospheric visuals and immersive sound design
- Tales of kenzera i did not play (yet) but when it was announced i was very moved by the lead designer's speech of losing his father so i'm keeping this one for a special occasion
- The last case of benedict fox may not have the best gameplay but the visuals, story and exploration are top notch. It's the best looking 2.5D game imo and worth it for that reason
- Teslagrad 2 came out lat year but was incredibly fun with crazy fast movement and unique mechanics that really make it feel unique, an improvement over the 1st game in every way
- NEVA isn't a metroidvania but i would like to squeeze it in here as it's so beautifully made that i think MV fans will still love this short masterpiece
- Sheepy a short adventure is like neva not a real metroidvania but it has some hallmarks of one and it's completly free! It's also under 2 hours so no reason not to try it!
- Awaken astral blade has some rough translations and voice acting but the visuals, combat and exploration were still a ton of metroidvania goodness!
- Skelethrone is a bit rough but for a one man project it is certainly an impressive metroidvania with suprisingly good soulslike combat. It's pretty hard though but not impossible
- Ex vitro is another short and free metroidvania but this one has uncharacteristically good writing. Seriously the lore is so well crafted in this, which makes it worth it
Now for the titles shown in the video, i did not play all of these yet, some i never well because they don't interest me, however i'll give my two cents nontheless
- Nine sols i found to be underwhelming because of the high expectations set by all the praise. I found there to be too much dialogue for how poor the writing was and combat was too punishing to be enjoyable anymore. I also really hated the music which is super subjective but it really didn't vibe with me. I did love the visuals and level design/exploration
- Animal well is a game i opted to watch rather than play because that cut down the aimless wandering that is prevalent throughout the game. I enjoyed watching the game this way as the controls seemed too finnicky for my liking but the game is nonetheless and impressive solo dev effort and worth all the accolades. Also it's less than 1GB so that's just mindblowing tbh!
- Prince of persia the lost crown is next to blasphemous 2 my most anticipated game i've yet to play. I played over 30 metroidvania's this year because i wanted to play the mediocre ones first, so I keep saving the best titles for last which is why i never get to them unfortunately. Same happened with blasphemous 2 last year, but once i finally play these i know i'll love em
- The mobius machine is one of my least favorite MV's i've ever played, it really pissed me off with how tanky enemies are which made combat dull and boring, not hard, just boring. The map is huge and interconnected but there's nothing fun to find or discover. The only exception is genuinly fun boss fights but that alone does not make it worth playing imo
- Biogun is dripping with charm and has such lovely visuals and an uplifting soundtrack that made playing it a blast. The exploration is solid and it has some of the most fun twin stick shooter combat i've seen so far in an MV. Definately worth playing but maybe after they've ported over the engine to unity, which they're now hard at work with
- Moonlight pulse really suprised me with how fun exploration was. I'm not the biggest fan of character swapping in games but moonlight pulse did it very well. I also found level design to be very clever and i especially liked the fast travel system because it was so unique and appropriate for the setting. Bosses were also lots of fun but that final boss shocked me!
- Bo path of the teal lotus is just an incredible game and finally another MV that places a big emphasis on platforming. Unfortunately most MV's nowadays focus more on combat, but i find platforming more enjoyable personally especially if it's challenging but not ridiculous. So no precision platforming basically, bo strikes the perfect balance
Now that's some quality feedback right here! Looking forward to your thoughts on Gestalt, PoP and Voidwrought!
some would consider legacy of kain: soul reaver, to be a metroidvania, and the remaster is pretty cool
That is, indeed, true! I plan on playing it next year and I'm fully ready for the nostalgia waves to wash over me!
@@soulsborneseekerIt's nice! Graphically, it's day and night, but I didn't play it back in the day, and I don't think it has aged that well. The combat feels ancient, it's really cryptic, and the lack of a map makes it really hard.
@@eljapel there is a basic map and compass (where to go next for objective) isn't there now?
Voidrought has swung the other way - after a late November patch, it's waay too difficult.
Hmm, I've heard people say it's either balanced or way too hard now. I think this perception is influenced by its non-linearity, which makes each player's experience different depending on what areas they explore first. I'll definitely revisit the game to see for myself!
BIOGUN got my vote for 9 out of 11 catagories on steam.... if ya havent played it yet, i feel sad for you. BIOGUN is my #2 fave game of all time
I've played it (though haven't finished it yet), and it's awesome!
The Devil Within Satgat, Awaken Astral Blade, Frontier Hunter Erza’s Wheel of Fortune - unfortunately these are not on the list ❄️
There were a few titles I omitted even though they were good, because I thought that they didn't do anything special or different even though they were fun. I should have probably added them as honorable mentions, though, so good point!
I 100% Voidwrought
Game is good
One of my favourites!
Where is The Devil Within or Dark Light?
The Dark Light came out in 2022, so it wouldn't fit in this list. As for The Devil Within, it sort of slipped my mind, to be honest, since it came late in the year and I didn't get a chance to play it :/
Personally found nine sols to be a mediocre metroidvania. It would have been an insane linear game (if they removed all the yapping) but they wanted to do a metroidvania. They clearly dont know how to do one though. Confusing map and direction, it tries to be an open map with linear progression for the sake of being confusing. Finale boss is also just artificially difficult, having too much health for no reason and one shoting you
It's a game that definitely has its detractors, mostly on account of its difficulty, a sentiment largely directed to its final boss. Just as every other game on this list, though, it all falls on the matter of taste!
I honestly think Nine Sols is better than Hollow Knight
If there was ever a game to clash heads with good old HK, that one's it!
I thought this too, but then I've booted HK again, and...no
@@banenamuffin9842 Can't argue with HKs ambience! It still haunts me...
While i find HK to be extremely overrated this is just not true. HK has better platforming, better visuals, better story, better music and lots more enemy variety and bosses than nine sols. Nine sols just has ridiculous difficulty which is why people somehow like it so much
None of the metroidvanias released this year captured my attention. The only one I played was Gestalt, and it was just good. I might give Nine Sols a shot, but it doesn't vibe with me, really. For me, 2023 was better thanks to Blasphemous II and The Last Faith.
Well, to be fair it was one of the strongest years for the genre! I'd recommend checking out the games on this list, one of them is bound to do it for you!
Yeah despite how many amazing titles there were it cannot compete with blasphemous 2, the last faith and also afterimage that released last year!