Metroidvania fans like myself spent all of 2024 impatiently waiting forHollow Knight: Silksong, but we didn’t really need to.
Take a step back, and you’ll see just how good of a year 2024 was for the Metroidvania genre even without that one game. From the AAA space withPrince of Persia: The Lost Crownto the indie scene with games likeNine Sols, many fantastic games dropped in this well-trodden platforming subgenre this year. You’re doing yourself a disservice if you aren’t checking out other well-made Metroidvania tiles while you wait for Team Cherry to drop the game it has been teasing since 2019.
I do not doubt that Team Cherry’s long-awaited sequel will be a monumental release, but we shouldn’t use that as an excuse to ignore how the genre evolved over the course of the year. It’s misguided to place all your opinions on whether a year was good for games on a single title. The video game industry is much too diverse and flush with options for that — and 2024 proved it.
The many Metroidvanias of 2024
The originalHollow Knightis considered one of the best Metroidvanias of all time. It sported gorgeous visuals, had a lot of intriguing lore to dig into, gave players a massive and secret-filled world to explore, and featured silky-smooth platforming. No matter which of those things aboutHollow Knightyou liked the most, some new Metroidvania game this year appealed to that sensibility.
Want to play a game with gorgeous art? Look at the stunning animation ofBo: Path of the Teal Lotusor the detailed pixel art ofGestalt: Steam & Cinder. Are narrative and action the most important elements of a Metroidvania for you? ThenNine Sols’ Taopunk worldand deflection-driven combat create theSekirotoHollow Knight’s Dark Souls. And no Metroidvania this year captured the feeling of curiosity during exploration as expertly asAnimal Welldid.
Even those who prefer retro games were satiated this year with theCastlevania Dominus Collection. There are several other competent Metroidvanias that I could mention, likeBiomorph,The Devil Within: Satgat, AWAKEN — Astral Blade,Yars Rising, orPinball Spire. A quick look at thegenre’s new and trending Steam pagewill show how many Metroidvania games are coming out every month.Hollow Knight: Silksongmight not be out right now, but this genre is as lively as ever.
Coming for Hollow Knight’s crown
Of all the Metroidvania games that came out this year, one matches — and, in some areas, surpasses —Hollow Knight. That game isPrince of Persia: The Lost Crown. Released in January, this game brought the series back to its 2D roots while innovating in the Metroidvania space.The Lost Crownis a meaty adventure that takes upward of 20 hours to beat, and not a moment of that feels like fluff.
Combat is fast and snappy, sometimes feeling like a 2D version ofDevil May CryorStellar Blade. Platforming is fluid, and Ubisoft wasn’t afraid to create some truly devious challenges that wouldn’t have felt out of place in a game likeCeleste. Both benefit from the Metroidvania formula as their complexities deepen as players acquire more abilities. On top of all that, it’s also incredibly approachable.
There are tons of difficulty and accessibility modifiers, and aMemory Shard systemallows players to take screenshots of important locations and pin them to a map so they don’t forget where to go next.Prince of Persia: The Lost CrowngivesHollow Knighta run for its money as the best recommendation for someone’s first Metroidvania. The base gameand its DLCprovided some of the most fun I’ve had in video games this year, and I can’t imagine not having played it because I just wanted to wait forSilksong.
It’s always a good year for games
There’s a takeaway in all of this. Whenever a highly anticipated product takes a long time to come out, the noise surrounding the hype for it becomes deafening. Right now,Hollow Knight: Silksongis right up there withNintendo Switch 2andGrand Theft Auto 6as the biggest culprits of this in the gaming space. Of all those titles, the hype forSilksongcan be the most damaging because it takes away attention from other indie games and other standout Metroidvanias.
Check the chat of every gaming showcase for the past couple of years and you’ll find at least a few people spamming it with pleas forSilksong. Those fans can sometimes tune out announcements from indie-focused presentations like theTriple-I Initiative ShowcasebecauseSilksongdidn’t appear. Games likeThe Lost Crownseeminglyunderperform and don’t get sequels, while some Metroidvania fans act likeSilksongis the only upcoming game in the space that matters.
None of that is Team Cherry’s fault; the studio should take as long as it needs to craft an unforgettable experience. It’s also OK to be excited aboutSilksong. I’ve just found myself disappointed in people saying 2024 has been a weak year for games because it didn’t have as many high-profile game launches as 2023 did or 2025 will. The situation withSilksongand the Metroidvania genre in 2024 is a microcosm of that.
The next time you’re about to beg forHollow Knight: Silksongin a showcase chat, maybe head over to Steam and see if there’s a new Metroidvania title that you’re interested in playing there.
