The Metroidvania Shelf Keeps Growing

You probably think you know what a Metroidvania is. A big map, a locked door, a double jump you'll get three hours from now.

Then three show up in three weeks, and each one bends it somewhere new.

What are they doing with the formula? And is the genre splitting into subgenres right in front of us?

End of Abyss (1 Oct) comes from former Little Nightmares developers. You get an atmospheric alien world and tough bosses. Fallen Tear: The Ascension (16 Sep on PC, consoles in 2027) adds party recruitment and fairy-tale JRPG storytelling. Silver Pines (8 Oct) is a horror Metroidvania, which means all that backtracking is now something you dread.

I think the map stopped being the point. Each of these uses it as a frame and hangs something else on it: a creepy planet, a party, a haunted town.

And the namesake is up next. Castlevania: Belmont's Curse (15 Oct) comes from Evil Empire, who also made Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania. Half the genre's name, back on the shelf.

Good time to be a map nerd.

Find more in the "Metroidvania, but Make it Modern" list on the Discover page. It's all Metroidvanias from 2020 onward. Which one pulled you in first? And what do you think is slept on?