Metroidvanias galore

We’re not huge fans of the term

(‘Metroid-like’ would be our preference), but we’ll recognise that ‘Metroidvania’ has long since passed into the gaming lexicon. The fact that it’s so commonly used and understood says a lot about how many of the blighters there are these days. But that underlying structure continues to endure the test of time. The gradual sense of empowerment. The steady unfurling of a world as the player character’s new abilities allow them to see more of it. The opportunity to face once-dreaded opponents with the confidence of the overpowered. The shortcuts and the secrets.

Little wonder, then, that we’re going to be awash with them in 2021 – the flipside, of course, being that the level of saturation is such that some of these games will struggle to set themselves apart from their peers. High-quality pixel art alone is no longer enough. Starsoft Entertainment’s Savior has precise park our and Punch-Out !!- style pattern recognition combat to help it stand out.

Vernal Edge is as much a character-action game (complete with a DMC-style grading system) as a Metroidvania. The aptly-named Grime, meanwhile, leans on grisly body horror, as you use living weapons to defeat enemies before consuming them to mutate into new forms. Surely the two most exciting propositions, however, are Tom Happ’s

Axiom Verge 2 and last month’s cover star

Hollow Knight: Silksong (pictured), both games refining originals that themselves managed to reinvigorate those old standards. By the time Metroid Prime 4 gets here, the series that gave the genre its name may well have been gazumped by the games it has inspired.