Best Metroidvania Games with Expansive Worlds

Summary

• Metroidvania games feature expansive landscapes, diverging from claustrophobic settings.
• Different environments in the genre offer diverse experiences, from atmospheric platformers to anime-inspired titles.
• Titles like Cathedral and Hollow Knight balance expansive worlds with engaging gameplay mechanics.

While the Metroidvania genre’s makeup is often composed of tightly packed biomes and vein-like corridors, there are many instances where these claustrophobic surroundings are swapped for a much more expansive landscape. Be this for narrative or gameplay reasons, the tightly interconnected landscape of Metroidvania titles is often positioned as characters themselves – as such, its growth or containment is a pivotal thematic decision.

From acclaimed atmospheric platformers to ambitiously spacious anime-inspired action titles, the Metroivania genre remains as diverse and symbiotic as the environments that exist in its various installments.

8

Cathedral

An 8-Bit Fantasy Platformer With The Scope Of Modern Titles

• Released: October 31, 2019
• Developer(s): Decemberborn Interactive
• Platform(s): Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Evercade
• Genre(s): Retro-Inspired, Metroidvania

With retro-inspired eight-bit pixel art and a chiptune soundtrack that arguably rivals some of the most notable titles on third console-generation systems, Decemberborn Interactive’s 2019 indie Metroidvania seemingly takes inspiration from some of the genre’s most memorable entries. However, with more than 600 interconnected rooms, the scale of exploration available in Cathedral is unparalleled in the retro titles it so clearly takes inspiration from.

Sending players on a journey to reclaim five elemental orbs across aesthetically distinct pixel-art biomes, Cathedral‘s implementation of an 8 and 16-bit allure bolstered by the scope afforded by contemporary machinery culminates as an homage to games of the past with modern technology.

7

Aeterna Noctus

The Sprawlng Metroidvania Twist On A Classic Tale Of Endless Struggle

• Released: December 14, 2021
• Developer(s): Aeternum Game Studios
• Platform(s): Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
• Genre(s): Soulslike, Metroidvania

Despite the tried-and-true nature of Aeterna Noctis’ plot at first glance, being that of an immortal set of dueling warriors, Aeternum Game Studios’ 2021 attempt at subverting both this narrative and the Metroidvania genre has gone down as an acclaimed inaugural title from the Spanish team.

However, while the breadth of content available from the game’s multiple merchants and side-quests is commendable, players have seemingly been overwhelmed by Aeterna Noctis‘ gargantuan scope. With 16 connected areas, the scale of Aeternum Game Studios’ project cannot be slighted, yet with players becoming lost or stuck while playing the game; since the experience is so large the question remains whether Aeterna Noctis would be improved by concentrating its world into a smaller play area.

6

Knytt Underground

A Titanic World Developed By One Person & Filled With A Murky Atmosphere

• Released: October 25, 2013
• Developer(s): Nifflas’ Games
• Platform(s): Steam, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo WiiU
• Genre(s): Indie, Precision Platformer, Metroidvania

With players being prompted to explore over 1,800 rooms in Nicklas Nygren’s titanic Metroidvania Knytt Underground, the possibility of becoming disorientated in its labyrinthian environment is high. Developed by the itch.io game designer, and released in late 2013, Knytt Underground is an expansive exploration of not only Nifflas’ Games’ Knytt series but also the Metroidvania genre.

Despite only taking just over 25 hours to explore, the breadth of Knytt Underground‘s locales is equally breathtaking and overwhelming. While the overwhelming amount of content available is commendable, the breadth of Knytt Underground‘s world – being seemingly six times larger than classic titles like Super Metroid – is expansive with very little to guide players on the right path, leading to some dead-end journeys and messy exploration.

5

Lone Fungus

A Cutesy Explorative Platformer With An Extensive World of Flora

Despite having an objectively smaller interconnected world than some of its modern Metroidvania contemporaries, Lone Fungus‘ 10 distinct areas remain a dauntingly sizable task for many players to overcome. With players being able to fully navigate and inspect its differing biomes in just over 20 hours, the scale of Basti Games’ 2023 Metroidvania – while great – is not a diluting influence on Lone Fungus‘ game experience.

With the 2023 announcement of a Basti Games-developed sequel – Lone Fungus: Melody of Spores – in the works “set in a world thousands of years before the first game”, the expansive Metroidvania adventures of the anthropomorphic mushroom are set to continue.

4

TEVI

A Creative Yet Adorable Interpretation Of Metroidvania & Bullet-Hell Environments

With a lengthy lineage of developing exploration-focused platforming titles, Taiwanese studio CreSpirit’s 2023 Metroidvania TEVI boasts “a large, interconnected map” with a kawaii anime-inspired art style and inspiration from the bullet-hell genre. Bolstered by an arsenal of more than 300 pieces of equipment and items, the expansive world of TEVI – with its multiple cultures and biomes – is a sidescrolling playground.

Despite its Metroidvania inspirations often prioritizing density over the breadth of their worlds, TEVI‘s melding of bullet-hell and action-platforming stylings alongside its 50-hour runtime provides players with arguably one of the more well-rounded environments in contemporary Metoridvania titles.

3

Afterimage

A Hand-Drawn Title That Puts Narrative & Scale At The Forefront

Despite its prowess in creating cinematic role-playing games, developer Aurogon’s inaugural Metroidvania provides players with not only a platformer with fluid hand-drawn animation but a commended expansive world. Pushing players to journey “deep within the ruins of the vast interconnected world of Engardin”, Afterimage‘s narrative legacy has been balanced with its open-ended Metroidvania footing.

With Afterimage‘s range of explorative abilities and dynamic combat utilized to create narrative breadth, and players praising the 2023 title for “how open-ended most sections are”, the game’s 40-hour-long completion is spread seemingly evenly around its breadth of content.

2

Hollow Knight

The Critically & Commercially Acclaimed 2D Gothic Metroidvania

While Hollow Knight‘s position as a modern classic within the Metroidvania genre has been somewhat solidified in the acclaim-riddled years since its 2017 release, pinning down the exact reasons why is a broad challenge. The landscape of Hallownest brims with creatively quirky characters and is navigated using arguably some of the tightest 2D action-platforming of the genre, yet the terrain itself provides players with a “detailed and utterly unique underground world” to explore.

Despite remaining arguably minuscule compared to some gargantuan Metroidvania titles of recent years, Hollow Knight‘s world remains expansive compared to titles such as Castlevania: Symphony of the Night – of which it is seemingly four times larger. In taking players around 60 hours to fully explore, Hallownest’s subways and secrets sprawl out across a range of aesthetics and atmospheres while remaining creatively navigable for all players.

1

Rain World

A Survival Platformer That Places Its Metroidvania Inspiration On Its Sleeve

Although Metroidvania titles are renowned for their drip-feeding of player mechanics and worldbuilding, the landscape of titles in the genre is often there for players to ultimately dominate. However, as “the main threat of Rain World is the environment”, in an acclaimed subverting of this trope, Videocult’s 2017 survival platformer flips its pseudo-Metroidvania non-linear world on its head.

Despite being able to speed through much of Rain World‘s core content in around 20 hours, the bulk of its near-70-hour runtime is spent increasing the player and Slugcat’s confidence in navigating the title’s rain-soaked world. However, with its dingy setting and oppressive atmosphere weighing down on its protagonist, Rain World‘s landscape may not be as colossal as some other contemporary titles – yet its grand scale is complimentary to its themes of fragility and perseverance.