Best Metroidvanias To Play While Waiting For Hollow Knight: Silksong

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home February 10, 2025 8 Views 13 Min Read
Best Metroidvanias To Play While Waiting For Hollow Knight: Silksong



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In 2019, Team Cherry announced Hollow Knight: Silksong as a fully-fledged sequel to Hollow Knight, instead of a DLC where they let you play as Hornet. Given the long wait with minimal information from the developers, it’s only logical for fans to be both excited and inpatient while waiting.

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The hype is justified, for sure, but the long wait might be a blessing in disguise if you think about it. The Metroidvania genre is nothing short of a gold mine, and what better time to take advantage of that and explore the genre a little bit deeper and help make the wait a little more entertaining? It’s definitely the perfect moment to look into some great alternatives to choose from while you wait for Hollow Knight: Silksong.

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Hollow Knight

The Knight from Hollow Knight holding his nail.

Let’s just get it out of the way, shall we? If you’re waiting for Silksong, you’ve probably played Hollow Knight. But that doesn’t mean you can’t play it again. And if you haven’t played it, what better way to quench that Silksong thirst?

The atmosphere, charm system, rich music, deep world building, simple but engaging combat, and challenging bosses, Hollow Knight has it all. It’s the complete package when it comes to Metroidvanias, and if Silksong is as good as its predecessor, we are really in for a treat, eventually.

9

Ultros

The player sxploring the Sarcophagus in Ultros which has vibrant patterns in the background..

Ultros is a Metroidvania game which is visually stunning and actually looks different from others. The visual style seems taken straight out of a sixties concert poster, with psychedelic art being its main inspiration.

Ultros

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Ultros fuses Rogue-like mechanics with the classic Metroidvania formula to give it a new spin. Basically, your abilities reset after beating any boss, which may sound counter-productive, but it really is anything but. Ultros is the right dose of visual appeal and fun gameplay you need.

8

Animal Well

The blob sits in a room with capybaras in the background in Animal Well.

Probably the most original entry on this list. Animal Well tosses out so many of the typical Metroidvania tropes, that it feels almost like an entirely new sub-genre. For example, one of the most impactful changes is having no direct ways to attack enemies. Instead, you can do things like distract them, or scare them off with different items.

The game does such a good job at making you feel powerless, that some of the enemy animals you’ll encounter will give you long periods of actual dread. On the other hand, you can also find areas where you can actually relax with the critters while solving puzzles, such as capybaras. And you can’t go wrong with capybaras.

7

Nine Sols

Nine Sols boss fight arena as protagonist faces off against a red clawed boss.

It might be a cliché to say this, but if Hollow Knight and Sekiro had a baby, it would be Nine Sols. A very narrative-driven, dialogue-heavy, and story-focused baby.

You’d better hone your parrying skills, because you’re going to need them. Nine Sols is not an easy game, and it will test your patience and reflexes, but just like you first clicked-in with Sekiro’s combat after a few tries, it will happen with Nine Sols as well. Once you enter that state of flow, learn the enemies’ attack pattern and understand the combat loop, nothing will be able to stop you, and you’ll feel like you can overcome any boss the game throws at you.

6

Bō: Path Of The Teal Lotus

Bo using a Jingu Daruma attack in Bo Path of the Teal Lotus in Midori Forest.

If Japanese folklore, art, music and general esthetics were a Metroidvania, they would be Bō: Path Of The Teal Lotus. Filled with tons of references to Japanese tales, deities, and art, such as The Great Wave off Kanagawa, Bō wears its inspiration on its sleeve.

Bo is in the lake with his eyes closed in Bo - Path Of The Teal Lotus.

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You know how Hollow Knight reminds you of the infection in several areas of the game? Well, Bō has its own looming threat that you’ll constantly see hanging in the background. In spite of that, the likable, quirky and goofy characters create a cozy atmosphere that just keeps you playing. It is by no means a brutally hard game in terms of the combat. Instead, it focuses on challenging, well-designed and precise platforming sections to ramp up the difficulty.

5

Ori And The Will Of The Wisps

A Spirit Tree in Ori and the Will of the Wisps.

The second entry of the Ori games is nothing short of a masterpiece. With an almost-completely overhauled combat system in relation to its predecessor, the addition of a Hollow Knight-like charm system, and a sometimes eye-watering story, Ori And The Will Of The Wisps is a whole new experience in and of itself.

The platforming has been refined to near-perfection here, with epic set pieces that will have you on the edge of your seat. After that, you’ll have plenty of time to take in the beautiful sights and breathtaking visuals while you wander through the land of Niwen.

4

Blasphemous 1 & 2

A screenshot of Great Preceptor Radames from Blasphemous 2 in a dark cave.

What Bo: Path Of The Teal Lotus is to Japanese folklore, the Blasphemous games are to Spanish religious traditions. With a grotesque and gory esthetic, mainly based on the works of historic Spanish painter, Francisco de Goya, Blasphemous has an atmosphere unlike any other Metroidvania on this list.

Images of three different characters from Blasphemous 2

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Blasphemous, and especially its sequel, Blasphemous 2, tread on the more open-ended side of the Metroidvania spectrum, as well as on the harder one, with bosses that will probably take you at least a couple of tries to beat. But don’t worry, combat has much more depth now, thanks to the addition of different weapons and combat styles to choose from.

3

Haiku The Robot

Haiku The Robot Fighting a suspended weight.

Here’s another cliché for you: what if Hollow Knight had robots instead of bugs? Well, that’s Haiku The Robot in a nutshell. Yes, it might not be the most original Metroidvania out there, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a very solid, fun game.

Haiuku’s theme and overall structure might be similar to Hollow Knight’s, but in spite of that, it manages to present you with an experience that’s different enough by leaning towards the easier side of Metroidvanias, with bosses that aren’t particularly difficult, and instead focusing more on exploration, and it really exceeds at it. Each area is distinct, with its own color palette and environmental hazards that make the world feel more alive. At least, as alive as a world of robots can get.

2

Super Metroid

A Metroid in captivity in Super Metroid.

The father of them all. Of course, it probably isn’t the first Metroidvania game, especially being the third entry in the series, but it most definitely is the one that defined the genre.

Super Metroid was to the SNES what The Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild was to the Nintendo Switch, you know, the era-defining, system-seller game. Some might think a 30-year-old game isn’t worth playing today, but Super Metroid holds up surprisingly well, and that’s a testament to its tight and near-flawless design. You can never go wrong with the blueprint of the genre.

1

Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night

castlevania symphony of the night screenshot of a castle containing a flying gargoyle attacking the player.

Putting the –vania in Metroidvania. Although Symphony Of The Night probably hasn’t aged as well as Super Metroid for some people, it’s still a cornerstone in Metroidvania design.

Taking a departure from previous entries in the saga, the side-scrolling action design was tossed out in favor of a single, giant, interconnected maze-like level inside Dracula’s castle. And, as you’d expect from a genre-naming title, you will find a masterful execution of the typical Metroidvania tropes in this all-time classic, including power-ups, abilities, and items that will unlock new paths through the castle.

Three-image collage of suited-up Rayton walking along a platform among the cityscape of FIST: Forged in Shadow Torch, a close-up of the protagonist Zau from Tales of Kenzera: Zau, and Yi wall climbing in Nine Sols.

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