In this feature, we’ll be talking about what we feel have been the 15 best Metroidvania games of the last few years. Given how spoilt for choice we are, it goes without saying that we’ll be missing out on a few games, so sound off about those in your comments below.

So let’s kick this off, and let’s begin with the most obvious choice:

HOLLOW KNIGHT

To say that Hollow Knight is not only one of the best games of the last few years, but quite simply one of the greatest games ever made, would not be an exaggeration in the slightest. Team Cherry’s masterpiece exudes a breathtaking level of confidence in everything it does, from the crisp combat, the incredible atmosphere, and the tight platforming to the labyrinthine map design, the charming visuals, and the memorable boss fights. It’s the standard that all Metroidvania games should aspire to, and stands toe-to-toe with genre giants like Super Metroid.

]]> https://gamingbolt.com/15-best-modern-metroidvania-games/feed 0 429830 https://gamingbolt.com/dust-an-elysian-tail-and-year-walk-part-of-weekly-humble-bundle https://gamingbolt.com/dust-an-elysian-tail-and-year-walk-part-of-weekly-humble-bundle#respond Fri, 02 Jan 2015 15:53:30 +0000 http://gamingbolt.com/?p=218445

This week’s Humble Bundle package contains a rather amazing collection of games including Dust: An Elysian Tail, Year Walk, The Blue Flamingo and Lovely Planet.

You can pick up the latter three for the average price. Pay more than $4.66, Dust: An Elysian Tail will be available along with MIND: Path to Thalamus and Eidolon. If you pay $10 more, then you’ll also have FRACT OSC to play with as well.

All of the games are available on PC and Mac though you won’t be able to play some on Linux. Steam keys apply for all games of course.

Dust: An Elysian Tail and Year Walk are some of the better releases to be had from this Humble Bundle. The former is one of the best 2D action adventure platformers of all time while the latter is arguably the top adventure title of last year. What are your thoughts on the collection? Let us know in the comments below.

The free games in October for PlayStation Plus subscribers have been revealed and it’s a very busy month for PS3, Vita and PS4 users alike.

PS3 users will receive Batman: Arkham Asylum and Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara, with the former being one of the best open world games available and which kickstarted the Arkham franchise. PS4 users arguably have a better deal with DriveClub PlayStation Plus Edition and Dust: An Elysian Tail.

Finally, the number of Vita titles available include Pix the Cat (cross buy with PS4), Rainbow Moon (cross buy with PS3) and Spelunky (cross buy with PS3 and PS4). These are available for free but if you download them on the Vita, they’ll be available for their respective consoles.

The free games will be available starting from October 7th in North America and October 8th in Europe. DriveClub PS Plus Edition will be out on October 10th in UK.

Humble Hearts’ Dust: An Elysian Tail, developed by a single indie designer Dean Dodrill, has been announced for the PlayStation 4. Through a very ham-fisted and somewhat adorable speech delivered by side-character Fidget, it appears that the game will run at 1080p resolution and 60 frames per second.

The game takes place in the world of Falana where the central character Dust wakes up in a forest one day with no memory. With the help of his weapon, the Blade of Ahrah, and its guardian Fidget, Dust sets out on a quest to discover his identity and find out just what’s going on. The game released on Mac, PC and Xbox 360, and has received rave reviews for the quality of its combat, gameplay and visuals.

Though no information was provided regarding a release date, Humble Hearts promises more details in the coming months. Are you excited to see Dust: An Elysian Tail heading to the PS4? Let us know in the comments.

Though it’s yet to hit the Xbox One, Microsoft’s Games With Gold program is still going strong on the Xbox 360. Two new games have been revealed for the month of May – Dust: An Elysian Tail and Saints Row: The Third, the former available on May 1st to 16th while the latter will be available on May 16th to 31st. Both games are free to download and keep permanently.

Dust: An Elysian Tail comes from Humble Hearts and is renowned for being a game made by a single individual – with a lot of help on the soundtrack and voice acting. Regardless, it’s a beautiful side-scrolling beat ’em up with light RPG elements and some fantastic characterization and dialog. Saints Row: The Third is Volition’s open world third person shooter and marks the period when the series truly found its calling as a romp in insanity. Dr. Genki, furries, predator drones, futuristic aircraft and tons of chaos all combine together to make one of the best open world games yet.

Head here for more information on both releases.

Designed and programmed by Dodrill alone – with help for the soundtrack, voice acting and some story parts – the result was a gorgeous and highly addictive platformer with elements of Devil May Cry-combat and Metroidvania exploration.

It seems that a sequel will be appearing for Dust at some point; however, it won’t be Dodrill’s next project. He stated as much after a question posed by AnalogAddiction on Twitter:

@jamieaa I’ll definitely do a sequel at some point, but it won’t be my next game.

— Dean Dodrill (@NoogyTweet) March 3, 2013

So on one hand: More Dust! Hurray! On the other: Just what is Dodrill working on? And will it take another three and a half years to develop Dust? Will it be on Xbox 360 or feature on other consoles as well?

Regardless, Dodrill has become a force to reckon with and we can’t wait to see what he has in store. Meanwhile, check out our review for Dust: An Elysian Tail.

This contest is now closed! Thanks for participating. Stay tuned for more contests; we have more to giveaway on GB!

We have another contest for our readers where you get to win three Xbox 360 PAL copies of Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Dust an Elysian Tail and The Expendables 2.

All you have to do is comment below what game you’d like to win and why along with your email address in this format: abc (at) abc.com. This is so that we can contact you easily.

Counter Strike: Global Offensive is an amazing game released by Valve for the Xbox 360 and other platforms, which offers some good competitive gameplay and is quite good on consoles too as our review suggests here.

Dust an Elysian Tale was developed by one guy and has been a massive critical success worldwide and our review praised it as well. The Expendables 2 has Sylvester Stallone, so yeah.

Three fantastic games and all you have to do is comment below. The contest will end on Wednesday 12th, so what are you waiting for?

You play as Dust, a man with no memory of who he is. Suddenly, a mysterious blade named Ahrah beckons to his side, with its guardian nimbat Fidget tagging along. It may appear as a typical cast of clichés but the treatment is quite fresh. Fidget is annoying, but she’s adorably sarcastic and biting in her fears and flights. Dust is the socially awkward yet courageous hero but you can sense the inner conflict between being who he is and who he previously was. Ahrah is the wise, all-speaking mentor but there’s obviously more than meets the eye.

Note to casting directors: If your actor’s delivery and expressions convey character so well that one willingly sits through cut-scenes and conversations, you’re doing things right. The dialogue is similarly wonderful, full of humour, drama and a helping heaping of fourth-wall breaking comments. Lip-synching isn’t totally up to snuff half the time, but that’s a small nuisance.

It’s not just Dust’s voice acting that deserves props. The music is, in a word, excellent. It captures the grand sweeping epic scale, but on a more personalized level. Certainly it assists in giving battles their proper ambience – it changes accordingly, from enemies suddenly approaching triggering a high tempo to the relative calm and peace of an open field or the calm foreboding theme as you traverse underground caverns. Combine this with the visuals, which are a clean mix of 2D and 3D. It’s also animated lovingly, especially when battles devolve into screen-traversing antics.

Yes, not screen-filling, screen-traversing. Dust functions as a 2D side-scrolling, action-RPG. You can pull off combo attacks with X, launch enemies into the air with Y, and special combinations of both allow for downward slashes, throws, and more. Things really hit up when you unlock Dust Storm, an ability that allows you swing your blade in a circular motion while remaining stationary.

This, combined with Fidget’s magic and the latter Aerial Dust Storm, make for insane highlight reels of multi-hit combos. You could launch a few enemies into the air, follow up with an Aerial Dust Storm and Fidget’s projectiles (which multiply as they come in contact with the Dust Storm), and reach a higher level wherein you do battle with another set of enemies. Just when it may seem to get repetitive, you’ll be introduced to Dodges, Parries and different types of magic. Parries especially become essential when taking on larger foes. The combat may seem intimidating but the responsive controls make it easy and fun.

There’s so much more to say about the sense of exploration that has you going out of your way to collect keys, “Friends” (that offer free stat boosts), treasure chests and take up Arena challenges. Somehow, Dust manages to bridge the gap between frantic action and in-depth adventuring – your constant tirades around the screen won’t unlock secrets any faster and the items gained don’t render your foes too much weaker. The developer also took care to separate the over-world map into distinct areas that can be accessed quickly via teleporters. Nonetheless, each region feels large and packed with a good number of secrets.

Can a case be made against Dust? The action can get a little repetitive at times but there’s always a new upgrade, story twist or humorous conversation around the corner. Quite frankly it’s hard to make any negative points about the game. It’s fun, addictive, visually appealing and services a nice long playthrough even without the secrets. Genres like 2D side-scrolling action RPGs may seem like a niche, but Dust rises above that to provide a stellar story and adventure that will appeal to all. If you’re looking for the current top pick of this Summer of Arcade, look no further than Dust: An Elysian Tail.

This game was reviewed on the Xbox 360.