Nominate me a Metroidvania game

After watching the QL for Sundered, I found out that I was really in the mood for a Metroidvania game. However, after reading reviews of Sundered, I'm thinking maybe that's not the one I want. I've played Symphony of the Night and I've played Shadow Complex and the Metroid games, and I own Ori but I guess I'm feeling something a little more actiony and less platformy. I can play on almost any system. So, please, name the best game in this genre I haven't played!

I'd say Dust. That game was really good.

Makes me wonder what the Dust guy is up to now. Back then metroidvanias were paltry, now they feel a dime a dozen. Still would like a sequel, or something else from him at any rate.

I like Sundered, but it doesn't feel entirely like a Metroidvania (the whole 'get new powers to get to a new place' doesn't feel as pivotal, though it's in there), nor does this other game I'm going to mention, but you should try Outland. It is actually like Sundered, but it's slower (slower attacks, fewer enemies on screen) and has an Ikaruga inspiration where you dodge two different colors by switching your body color. If you're looking for something with more action, then... Sundered.

Dust: An Elysian Tale and Outland spring to mind.

Hero Core: 2 colours, all action, no platforming (strictly speaking).

Axiom Verge is like the most Metroid-ass metroidvania to come out in a while. I'm looking forward to playing it again on Switch--I bet it'll be priced too high there though.

If you decide to play Dust, maybe bump it up to hard. I played it on normal and it was really boring. I'm not suggesting these types of games need to be challenging, I just mean you're way too overpowered and decimate everything without any thought. Outland was pretty good.

Guacamelee is a great game. Fun art style and humor. There are literally chozo statues in the game. It's light on the platforming, heavy on action and puzzle solving. It's probably really cheap now too.

Can't really add much to what's been said, but ye, if you're looking for something more action-y I'd say Guac or Salt and Sanctuary. Although SaS is fairly border-line as far as being a metroidvania, and of the little platforming it has some of the stuff in it is "controller-throwingly" frustrating.

The GBA and DS Castlevania games are pretty good. Dawn of Sorrow is probably the best of the bunch. I can say that isn't just nostalgia talking too, since I played them for the first time this year.

Headlander is great, though maybe not as action-y as you want.

Hollow Knight, Axiom Verge, Outland, Dead Cells... and Ribi Rabi if you can stomach bunnygirls

@veektarius: That Strider re-make was pretty fun and action paced with your classic ol' Metroidvania style map and progression system.

Give Cave Story a go!

If you're in the mood for a metroidvania, I would NOT recommend Salt and Santuary. The game is designed much more in the style of Dark Souls than it is a Metroidvania. It just happens to be in 2D. It's a fine game, but it's not what you're asking for.

Axiom Verge was pretty terrific, but I eventually ran out of steam on it. I think I got stuck towards the very end when I couldn't figure out how to proceed. Stopped for a few days and never went back.

If you want something like Sundered but better maybe try Rogue Legacy? It should also play on anything. If you want a Metroid style game Guacamelee is probably the best outside of Metroid or Castlevania.

Ōkami- it starts really slow, but if you pull through the first couple of hours, you're in for a 40-50 hour masterpiece!

Thanks for the replies, having looked over the games mentioned, I'd say Strider looks the most interesting - except maybe for the Castlevania DS games. I got two different recommendations here, can anyone cast a deciding vote?

One other question - Outland doesn't look like it's an exploration game, is it?

Axiom Verge and Dust are a couple of my favourites.

Hollow Knight is the best one of those IF you are looking for an exploration focused game. Past the first few areas there's always more than one new spot to explore and there's no pointer telling you where to go.

It takes some patience to play and there's more backtracking than it others, but it's definitely worth it.

Salt and Sanctuary, Guacamelee and Hollow Knight are great choices. Hollow Knight and Salt and Sanctuary are fun, but they split the difference between a Dark Souls and a Metroidvania. I played Salt and Sanctuary 3 times through at the beginning of the year.

Dead Cells; although that might be leaning slightly more towards a spelunkyvania type of game.

Sundered actually reminds me a lot of Dust given the hand-drawn ascetic. I think Dust is a much better game, though. Sundered is a good game, but it could have been a great one with some small tweaks.

Hollow Knight is one of the best Metroidvania ever made. I vastly prefered it to Ori and it is definitely more action-orientated. There are over 30 hours of content and secrets hidden everywhere.

If you're stuck on PC? Dust, Outland, and Hollow Knight. EDIT: Axiom Verge isn't a bad choice. However, I'm not so hot on that game because a mid-game dash ability is bound to double-tapping left or right and I found myself accidentally dashing all the fucking time. If the game would let me bind the dash to L2 or something, I would have loved that game way more. Still finished it, still enjoyed it, but fuck that dash ability. /EDIT

If you're willing to play something older on handhelds? Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow still blow pretty much all of the Metroidvania competition out of the water, aside from the better Metroid games themselves.

I really want to like Sundered, but the combat in the Quick Look looks like it would get repetitive and annoying pretty fast, I was already tired of watching Dan do the same combo for the billionth time against the same enemy when fifteen other guys were flying all over the place. That boss at the end was something special, though, that thing looked great and as a boss it seemed really well-designed.

Outland totally has a lot of exploration. I don't really remember it too well, I played it on XBLA over half a decade ago, but I do remember really enjoying it and there is some exploration and ability-gathering.

I'm giving both action and platformer focused recommendations in case you get in the mood for a more platformer-focused experience in the future:

• Environmental Station Alpha if you want something very similar to Metroid with a mid-range weapon, a fantastic grappling hook, and tons of worthwhile secrets. It's definitely more about platforming and exploration than combat.
• Hollow Knight if you want a massive, fairly open experience with great combat and tons of charm/polish. It's about 50/50 on platforming and action.
• Magicians & Looters if you want something short and sweet (~5 hours) with very fluid action and decent humor.
• Valdis Story: Abyssal City if you want smooth, challenging combo-focused combat, light RPG mechanics like experience points, and multiple playable characters.

Of the lot, I'd say Valdis Story is my top recommendation for you since you said you preferred the focus to be on the action, but Magicians & Looters is also very action heavy and a close second. The combat systems in both games are fun, though very different from each other. There is a price difference worth mentioning though: Valdis Story is $14.99 while Magicians & Looters is only $2.99. Multiple characters and difficulty settings give Valdis Story a lot more replay value on top of it just being a longer game in the first place, but Magicians & Looters is still an exceptional game for its price, especially if you don't care about replay value.

since it hasn't been mentioned yet, i'll do it. Shantae & The Pirate's curse is a pretty fun one.

It's not 100% a metroidvania since it has multiple levels, but apart from that , it's a full blown Metroidvania.

@onemanarmyy: Certainly more of a metroidvania than Dark Souls, which people seem to consider to be one...

While we're talking about segmented metroidvanias (or whatever you want to call them...), I'll give a mention to Wario Land 3, which is a fantastic game. It has a few dozen levels, but you need to go back and forth between them after gaining skills/items.

As a big fan of Metroidvanias and Dark Souls, I loved every moment of Hollow Knight and spent about 40 hours with it.

Axiom Verge is good but I didn't know what to do too often...

AM2R is actually the real choice if you haven't played that. (sshhh it's secretly better than most actual Metroid games)

Shadow Complex is probably my favorite one

Gauacamelee

My favorite Metroidvanias are the GBA and DS Castlevanias: Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance, Aria of Sorrow, Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclesia. They've all got loads of cool collectibles (that actually do something not just look pretty on a menu) and abilities, well connected worlds (not so much Portrait and Ecclesia which both went a little too linear, though the latter makes up for it with cool combat) and leveling and other number crunching stuff that's just addictive.

One that I rarely see mentioned but is really quite good is Treasure Adventure Game. Despite the ridiculously generic title, it's awesome and completely free. Not free to play or microtransaction riddled either. Completely free. As far as completely free games are concerned, I'm hard pressed to think of one better.

Oh yes, if you're a masochist, give La-Mulana a shot. It's great, but be prepared for the singular hardest puzzles in any game ever. I'm serious. You don't use a guide, expect to spend hundreds of hours figuring shit out. Even with a guide it's hard to keep all the weird minutia straight.

I just came here to say we should change it to Castletoid. Metroidvania is too long and clunky.