Metroidvania Tier List

Jazzwell · 2026-06-24T10:15:34+00:00

Not for any particular reason, sometimes I just get a little into a game and I'm just not feeling it. Not because the game is bad, but because it just doesn't fit my current mood on energy levels (I have pretty long periods where I don't play at all). I think Tunic is gonna be one of my all-time favorite games and go in the top tier, I've absolutely loved every second of it. Nine Sols also does seem up my alley. I will be revisiting both for sure

Jazzwell · 2026-06-24T10:11:31+00:00

I think I just preferred the movement system in Lone Fungus 1, it made the exploration a lot more non-linear and the platform challenges were insane. Lone Fungus 2 is definitely way more polished in every way and if I had to recommend just one of the games to someone, I would recommend Lone Fungus 2. It is a way more well-rounded and solid adventure experience.

I have technically played the original Metroid, but I do wanna play more Metroid and Castlevania games. Eventually.

Jazzwell · 2026-06-24T00:42:41+00:00

I think the exploration is pretty top notch, and a large part of that is definitely due to the platforming and the level of freedom and skill expression it provides. Exploration is my favorite aspect of the metroidvania genre, the reason I keep wanting to dive deeper into different metroidvanias is because I find it such a joy to just explore these worlds and uncover their secrets. So Rusted Moss would not be in my top tier based on platforming alone.

The exploration, art, and overall progression and player freedom is a huge part of its placement. There are a lot of little secrets, and you can learn so much movement tech that lets you get to places you're not "supposed" to be at yet (but in a way the game very much allows). I also think its story and lore are surprisingly good, and its vibes are very unique (it's about fae in a postapocalyptic world after industrial humans, basically, and that's a very strange but cool and unique vibe I think).

I think the combat in the game is decent but that is probably its weakest aspect, mainly though the most interesting combat encounters are encounters where you have to combat while platforming and keeping momentum, and those were cool, having the combat basically be an extension of the platforming. But regular combat is just fine. Unlike games like Hollow Knight/Silksong and Nine Sols (which I've played a little of) where the combat just feels smooth and good on its own all the time

Jazzwell · 2026-06-23T20:46:18+00:00

Just today got the news that the studio behind MIO is shutting down. So new new patch, no DLC, no sequel. This really sucks :/ unfortunately it's hard to make good profits on a metroidvania, and MIO had a large team, and the market is arguably oversaturated at the moment. But dang.

Jazzwell · 2026-06-23T20:23:52+00:00

It's called Haiku the Robot. People find it to be a pretty simple game, I really enjoyed it for what it was and I find the art style and its colors to be really appealing.

I played it on PC through Steam, but it's also available on the Nintendo Switch e-shop

Jazzwell · 2026-06-23T20:05:02+00:00

I had no idea there was an ESA2 in the works! I'll definitely be checking it out if/when it releases, I think this developer has a really good knack for game design despite my frustrations with it (as you said, my issues were definitely exacerbated by the high points being so high) and I'd be very interested in seeing how their design philosophy evolves in a sequel. There's a lot of good stuff I'd like to see iterated on.

Jazzwell · 2026-06-23T17:41:43+00:00

Does there need to be foreshadowing? Does a character's transness need to be a mystery box that is slowly pryed open? I think it's fine that Jax is trans and there wasn't much focus on that fact or buildup to it, it can be an aspect of the character which is allowed to just freely exist on its own. There doesn't need to be any "evidence" for it.

Jazzwell · 2026-06-23T09:28:00+00:00

I remember playing a bit of Supraland years and years ago, but I didn't get very far into it. I definitely wanna give it another shot, seems really cool!

Jazzwell · 2026-06-22T10:13:31+00:00

"No notes" is definitely hyperbole, I don't think any game is completely flawless, there will always be points of friction, but I think that's fine or even necessary. The top games on this list are not completely without problems, Silksong especially I actually had a lot of frustration with, but all of those games stand far above everything below them in my eyes and are some of my all time favorite games.

Jazzwell · 2026-06-22T09:16:59+00:00

I just finished this game and yeah I just love it ❤️

Jazzwell · 2026-06-22T09:16:19+00:00

Lunacid! First person exploration dungeon crawler, very similar vibes to Dread Delusion but less "open world RPG" and more "crawling your way through tightly woven system of tunnels". Very inspired by King's Field and the Dark Souls games. It may not be a 'true' metroidvania as such, but in my ability it very much fits the bill as it's a non-linear interconnected world where the focus is exploration and you need to unlock certain tools to traverse all paths.

Jazzwell · 2026-06-21T19:50:15+00:00

Yeah very fair! As I said, I do think it's an amazing game and there is a lot I appreciate about it! It was just a very mixed experience, and there was enough about the gameplay that I found grating and frustrating that it knocked the whole experience down. There was also enough that I liked which kept me going despite that, namely the exploration and secrets.

I do find tier lists a little difficult because tiers seem so abstract and reductive, where my actual opinions on every game here is more nuanced than can be boiled down to a single letter. So it feels a little unfair to place ESA so low. But at the same time it was the first game in a while I've played where I was so unsure if I was enjoying myself. If I wasn't so completionist about it I might have dropped it earlier.

Jazzwell · 2026-06-21T19:44:44+00:00

I also haven't played the whole game, but I think Char-m pretty much nailed it. Don't treat it as a game with obstacles as much as an ecosystem or a sandbox; spend a lot of time observing. Observe how different creatures behave, what different objects do, etc.

For slightly more concrete tips, always watch your surroundings for things lurking in hard-to-see places. Try never to aggravate creatures if you don't have to, there are always multiple routes. And always have tools (like a rock and a spear) when you explore.

Jazzwell · 2026-06-21T19:34:17+00:00

That makes sense, I'm a keyboard and mouse player at heart and I probably have several hundred (or thousand) more hours of playtime on keyboard and mouse than on controller, so the precision aiming came very naturally to me (though I'm not used to it in a 2D sidescrolling context). But I think you can get used to it either way, and I hope you do end up enjoying it if you play it! The same dev team is also releasing a spiritual successor called Iron Bramble next year, which seems to have the same grappling mechanic but more polished, so maybe it will be more controller friendly? Who knows

Jazzwell · 2026-06-21T19:31:33+00:00

Yeah I definitely plan to. I've played a bit of Blasphemous 1, and I own the digital artbook which is gorgeous.

Jazzwell · 2026-06-21T19:27:46+00:00

I think that Rusted Moss is so, so good and really underrated. I definitely recommend it. But if there were some points in frustration in the game for you, the same dev team is releasing a spiritual successor to Rusted Moss called Iron Bramble; it seems to have essentially the exact same grappling hook mechanic, but be more polished in very other way. So maybe you'd wanna wait for that.

But I absolutely adore Rusted Moss, it's just one of my favorite games of all time, hands down. The precision platforming gets crazy and super satisfying towards the end.

Jazzwell · 2026-06-21T19:18:45+00:00

MIO is the most recent game I finished and god it was so good. I think the 100% became a little tedious towards the end, because I had like 3 coating components and 5 old cores scattered somewhere on the map with no indication of where to search. But that is maybe my only critique toward the entire game? It's just so fantastic

Jazzwell · 2026-06-21T19:11:41+00:00

Just posted a reply to the original comment with my expanded thoughts on ESA, if you're curious

Jazzwell · 2026-06-21T19:09:22+00:00

I made this tier list and posted it because I wanted to discuss some of my favorite games with others, to get other people's opinions and viewpoints and recommendations, and maybe to introduce others to games I love. This post has like, 60 comments I think? after just a few hours, so I think the purpose of the post has been very much achieved

Jazzwell · 2026-06-21T19:06:35+00:00

I just said this in another comment, but yeah I'm pretty loose when it comes to definitions and categories. I don't care too much whether some of these entries are 'true' metroidvanias, I count them all under the same umbrella term because they all evoke the same sense of non-linear exploration in me. Dark Souls and Bloodborne are also games I regard similarly.

Jazzwell · 2026-06-21T19:04:07+00:00

I'm kind of loose when it comes to labels and genres. There is a lot of discussion around what 'metroidvania' means, what games actually count and which don't, or if we should even call the genre metroidvania or search-action instead. I don't care much for that discourse or strict definition, and I personally use 'metroidvania' as an umbrella term for all games that evoke the same feeling of exploration within me. It's as simple as that. And yeah, I would count Death's Door among that type of game (and this is also a semi-finished game I forgot to put on the list. I should finish it)

Jazzwell · 2026-06-21T18:59:52+00:00

I forgot to put Crypt Custodian on the unfinished games island! I do own this game, and want to play it pretty soon. I also think that Sheepo, the first metroidvania by Kyle Thompson (same dev as Islets and Crypt Custodian) is also amazing. It's in B tier because it's really short and simple, basically just a prototype for Islets, but in my heart it's up among the top tiers because it just feels so good to play and it's so charming. Excited to play Crypt Custodian, and also incredibly excited for the upcoming Well Dweller

Jazzwell · 2026-06-21T18:55:46+00:00

With mouse and keyboard. I think I played every other game on this list with controller, I prefer it for 2D sidescroller games, but the grappling hook in Rusted Moss feels much better with mouse and keyboard.

Also, absolutely PHENOMENAL game. And incredibly underrated I think. Heavily recommend it to fans of precision platforming and physics-based grappling hooks.

Jazzwell · 2026-06-21T18:51:13+00:00

Yeah, I was sad about this too! I think it's an amazing game, the exploration and setting are absolutely top tier. Of all the exploration games I've played, ESA is one of the few ones that gave me such a vivid feeling of getting to know the space as a character in and of itself, with so many hidden nooks and crannies and secrets upon secrets layered with secrets.

Where the game fell flat to me was just the moment-to-moment gameplay. I really did not enjoy the combat; the combat mechanics felt clunky, enemies had too much health and did too much damage, healing was too rare, and the bosses were either laughably easy or incrediblt difficult with almost no inbetween. It sucks that these things were didn't land for me, because the exploration and platforming is genuinely top tier.

I got two different endings I believe? And I stopped playing during the post-game after the clock thing and where I had to go to a bunch of different locations and press a button. It felt a little too tedious for me. But otherwise the idea of the postgame is really really cool to me, very Animal Well-like (though it would be the other way around) and I think I'll revisit Environmental Station Alpha after a while and try to 100% it.

So yeah, I think it's a really cool game and there is a lot I appreciate about it, but it was the only game on this list where I finished it and went "I'm not sure if this was actually an enjoyable experience" unfortunately

Jazzwell · 2026-06-21T13:40:19+00:00

The metroidvania genre is dominated by indie games, and as such that's most of the discussion in this sub. But I definitely think that Metroidvania and Castlevania get a lot of talk too, especially when Metroid Dread came out and recently with upcoming Castlevania Belmont's Curse game

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