Gameplay revolves around familiar mechanics of exploration and power-up collection, and there are some light RPG elements and crafting, with stylish and flashy combat taking center stage. You play as the titular character Dust who awakens with no recollection of his past or identity and is immediately thrust into a growing war. Dust: An Elysian Tail (2012)ĭust: An Elysian Tail is a hack n’ slash action-adventure game that takes place in a beautiful, hand-crafted world inhabited by anthropomorphic creatures.
The game is available on PC and older platforms. It’s a shame many people missed out on it back in 2011 as there wasn’t enough done to promote the title.
Aside from gameplay, it boasts impressive, if minimalistic, visuals that deviate from the retro-pixel style that permeates the genre and despite being a decade old, its art style has aged well and retains a modern look that’s sleek and moves fluidly. Outland is certainly one of the more unique takes on the Metroidvania genre. Certain objects in the environment respond to your polarity such as elevators that ascend with light and descend with darkness, hovering platforms that hold your weight only when in the correct polarity, and barriers that dissipate when dashed through in the opposite polarity, among many others. The polarity switching is not limited to the fighting however, as Outland’s exploration and puzzle solving also makes extensive use of the mechanic. The melee action consists of simple, but effective sword slashes and is given complexity by the polarity switching, making for fun, frantic and challenging gameplay. True to Housemarque form, Outland also plays much like a bullet hell shooter where the player weaves in between waves of projectiles while looking for an opening to attack or recover. Enemies can only be harmed by the opposite polarity and they too will employ polarity-based attacks that the player can dodge by switching to the same polarity. Shortly after beginning the game, the protagonist gains the ability to switch between light and dark polarities at will, uncovering the core element that drives the game’s combat and platforming. Unique to Outland is the polarity mechanic, which fans of the classic shoot ‘em up Ikaruga may recognize. While more linear than many games in the Metroidvania genre, Outland follows the familiar gameplay structure of platforming, combat and boss battles with puzzles and power-ups interspersed throughout. Starting off the list, an older game that we feel deserves more recognition is Outland from Housemarque whom you may know from the bullet hell-heavy action games Resogun, Matterfall and the incredible Returnal which released just last week. Hollow Knight one of the amazing metroidvania titles that’s on this list! Outland (2011) It’s worth noting that while the genre is not defined by this distinction, many Metroidvanias are 2D or 2.5D sidescrollers. Metroidvanias typically feature progressively revealed maps with plenty of secrets and locked areas that can only be reached after you’ve acquired a new ability, item or equipment, all of which are often found behind a boss encounter.
The hallmarks of the genre are large, non-linear, interconnected worlds and progression-based exploration. The name is a portmanteau of Metroid and Castlevania, two highly respectable franchises in their own right which inspire the core designs and mechanics of the subgenre. Metroidvania is a subgenre of platformer-heavy action and adventure games. Check out our Top 10 CPRGs to play in 2021, and our previous Metroidvania: making a comeback coverage as well. This list includes fairly recent releases as well as older titles that have withstood the test of time, and are available on a wide variety of platforms making them accessible to a large audience. In this article, we take a look at the Top 10 Metroidvanias to play in 2021.
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