Blasphemous: The Stir of Dawn
4 out of 5. With the latest patch, Blasphemous is a great value, with five new great bosses, fixes to old content, and three new modes to extend your play time in challenging ways.
AeternoBlade
2.5 out of 5. AeternoBlade ambitiously tackles deep concepts like time travel and psychological character development, but its obsession with padding its length is detrimental to the experience.
Castlevania: The Lecarde Chronicles 2
4 out of 5. A delightful marriage between Classicvania and Metroidvania that will surely please fans of both. Challenging combat and a deep world to explore make for a wholly memorable game.
Biomass
4 out of 5. Its combat is just good enough to be of passing interest to Souls-like fans, but where Biomass really shines is how it presents its mysteries, and how much it leaves open to interpretation.
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness
4 out of 5. All of the fat has been trimmed off the previous 3D Castlevania title, leaving strong combat and a new addictive monster raising system to keep it interesting for multiple playthroughs.
Vigil: The Longest Night
4 out of 5. Greater than the sum of its parts. If you enjoy exploring an open Metroidvania world with the occasional amazing boss fight, then its charms can easily outweigh its flaws.
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
3 out of 5. Competent crunchy action and addictive exploration are marred by fixed camera angles and awkward story presentation, creating an enjoyable but somewhat flawed Belmont Origin story.
Super Daryl Deluxe
3.5 out of 5. It’s so incredibly stupid that it circles around to being purely entertaining. You have to be the type that enjoys its brand of humor, but if you are then you’re in for a good time.
Phoenotopia Awakening
5 out of 5. While the difficulty and some features may grate against individual preferences, its immersiveness and gameplay variety combine to make Phoenotopia Awakening an absolute masterpiece.
UnEpic – Single Player Mode
3.5 out of 5. UnEpic pulls off strategy and action with varying degrees of success, but the true value of the game will come from whether you are in the target audience for the story it presents.
Weapon Hacker
4 out of 5. Tight controls and strategic gameplay make this roguelite Metroid style game a great way to spend an hour, or maybe a hundred hours. Customize your weapons on the fly and conquer.
3000th Duel
3 out of 5. A mostly formulaic Souls-like experience that offers up fun exploration with good verticality and combat that is competently executed.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
4.5 out of 5. Improved combat, a plethora of new mechanics and areas, and an emotional continuation of the story that The Blind Forest started makes this a must play for fans of the original game.
Minoria
3.5 out of 5. A bit of a step backward from the Developer’s previous work, but there are still some great combat challenges to be had for those that enjoy mastering difficult patterns.
Leowald
2.5 out of 5. High levels of customization and novelty mitigate some floaty controls and repetitive design, however beyond that there’s still something truly special about Leowald that can’t be scored
Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom
4.5 out of 5. The best of the Wonder Boy series so far, offering a diverse core game full of puzzle platforming challenges and Zelda-Like bosses. Its colorful world is family friendly and inviting.
Metamorfose S
2.5 out of 5. In spite of some wonky physics and production values, Metamorfose S still manages to be a decent game. If you enjoy the Igavania classics, then you’ll like exploring the castle here.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
4.5 out of 5. With a little patching, Bloodstained could surpass the best of the Igavania genre. As-is it’s still one of the best Igavanias yet.
Castlevania Order of Ecclesia
4 out of 5. A more linear approach allows Order of Ecclesia to straddle the line between Igavania and its Classic-vania roots, making it a challenging swan-song for the DS Castlevania titles
Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow
4 out of 5 – An excellent follow up to Aria of Sorrow with improvements and additional RPG elements. Some new features could have used a little more thought, but overall meets the Castlevania standard
Castlevania Aria of Sorrow
5 out of 5. Even with the limitations of the GBA hardware, Aria of Sorrow is packed with variety and flavor, and is perhaps the best work Koji Igarashi has ever been a part of.
Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance
3 out of 5. Highly ambitious considering the Gameboy Advance limitations, but its attempt to expand on what Symphony of the Night accomplished resulted in a lot of content that feels like padding.
Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap
3.5 out of 5 – Either a magnificent example of how graphics can improve gameplay, or a superior way to enjoy a classic on modern platforms. Either way this is a fun blast from the past.
Castlevania Symphony of the Night
5 out of 5. To this day, Symphony of the Night oozes with the passion of a group of artists doing what they love. Down to the tiniest detail it’s hard not to appreciate everything this game is.
Wonder Boy in Monster World
2.5 out of 5. Experience an actual Blast from the Past with the Sega Classics Emulator on Steam! Has many of the problems from that era of gaming, but also all of the charm that creates nostalgia.
Feudal Alloy
3.5 out of 5. Not the sprawling epic that some of the upper tier Metroidvanias can be, but still provides a relaxing RPG Dungeon Crawl with meticulous level design and tight controls.
Death’s Gambit
3.5 out of 5. It’s good, but it’s definitely not finished. There are plans to rectify some of its flaws, so you may want to wait, but for now it still has well thought-out level design and fun bosses.
Timespinner
3 out of 5. Local Co-op. Gorgeous visuals and music, and tight controls. Level design doesn’t live up to the standard set by its Castlevania Inspirations. Its unique ideas could be fleshed out more.
Aggelos
4.5 out of 5. An expertly crafted callback to simpler times while still maintaining a modern approach to game design. Unique and imaginative power-ups and puzzles place Aggelos above the competition.
Iconoclasts
5 out of 5. If you enjoy JRPG Style storytelling in conjunction with deeply philosophical themes, as well as spatial reasoning puzzles and intense combat, this may be your best Metroidvania ever.