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Choose a metroidvania by looking beyond its map size or difficulty label: consider how its world rewards exploration, how combat feels and adapts to your preferences, and whether upgrades meaningfully change movement or fighting. Optional navigation aids and challenge settings can also determine whether the experience suits you. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and Hollow Knight illustrate different design choices, not an objective ranking.
Start with the kind of exploration you enjoy
A metroidvania usually asks you to learn a connected world, reach areas that were previously inaccessible, and revisit places with new abilities. When comparing games, ask whether routes offer meaningful choices and whether returning to an earlier area can reveal something new. One design analysis argues that mobility upgrades work best when they affect later obstacles and that secrets can make revisits rewarding; these are useful questions, not rules every game must follow. GameDeveloper’s analysis of metroidvania design also points out that fast travel can matter in larger worlds when repeated journeys become lengthy.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
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ULTROS - Nintendo Switch | $34.53 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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Voidwrought Standard Edition - Nintendo Switch | $34.43 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania Edition Nintendo Switch | $28.40 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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Shadow Labyrinth Nintendo Switch Standard Edition | $19.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
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The Messenger - Nintendo Switch | $26.99 | Buy on Amazon |
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Decide how much uncertainty you want
Some games expect you to remember a blocked passage and find it again later. Others let you mark places or show objectives. Neither approach is automatically better: the choice is whether you enjoy keeping mental notes or would rather have optional reminders.
For The Lost Crown, Ubisoft documents an optional guided mode that marks objectives and blocked or available paths. Its Eye of the Wanderer feature lets you pin screenshots to the map as reminders. Ubisoft Senior Game Designer Rémi Boutin said the team wanted free exploration without the frustration of feeling lost. Ubisoft’s accessibility spotlight and feature details describe these navigation options.
#1 Best Overall
- ULTROS is set in a multifaceted realm - a vast alien landscape teeming with life
- Experience brutal, intimate, close-quarter combat with cosmic lifeforms, driven by a sense of urgency
- Intense combat is juxtaposed with cultivating the greenery and tending to plant life in The Sarcophagus, providing precious moments of contemplation & peace
- A unique loop-based mechanic will allow you to start over at key moments in the story, providing opportunities to unfold secrets
- Experiment with and master your own specific fighting style as you explore the world of ULTROS
Judge combat by feel and flexibility, not the label
Consider whether actions feel responsive, what defensive options are available, how enemies apply pressure, and whether you can approach encounters in different ways. In an Xbox Wire interview, The Lost Crown creative director describes combat built around experimentation and responsive actions. The game’s toolsets, amulets, and special abilities are presented as ways to compose a preferred playstyle.
Check the actual challenge and assistance options
A genre label or one difficulty setting does not tell you how adjustable a game is. Ubisoft lists difficulty presets and individual parameters for The Lost Crown, along with visual and audio options, an optional platforming assist, and a practice area. That combination may suit someone who wants demanding combat but also wants control over some barriers; it does not mean every encounter or challenge can be customized to every preference. See Ubisoft’s accessibility overview for the documented features.
Rank #2
- Descend below the star-scorched surface and explore multidimensional depths filled with secrets and lore. Witness the corrupted revelry of the Court, lose yourself in the icy tunnels of the Old Waters, and discover the grim fate of the Abandoned Expedition.
- The world is filled with treasures sought by the learned, the brave, and the mad. Scour the halls of your shrine, rend the corpses of defeated deities, and hunt in the hidden corners of the cosmos to find objects capable of granting unique powers.
- Excavate into the rubble of the Gray City to construct a shrine filled with loyal followers. As you expand your shrine and followers, new secrets, rewards, and horrors come to light.
- In-game text languages: English, French, German, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, and Traditional Chinese.
Look for upgrades that change more than one locked door
Ask what a new ability does after the first obstacle it opens. Does it alter ordinary movement, change combat options, expose new routes, or make familiar environments worth revisiting? GameDeveloper’s design analysis argues that upgrades should fundamentally affect how players play and that environments and routes can make those options matter. It also discusses secrets that encourage backtracking. These are criteria for evaluating a game, not a promise that every upgrade will transform every part of play.
Progression can be more or less rigid
Hollow Knight is an example of progression that became less linear during development. In a PC Gamer interview, Team Cherry co-director William Pellen recalled that the original power-up progression was changed as the game expanded. Co-director Ari Gibson said some powers became optional, a result the team welcomed. That account describes the developers’ design process; it does not guarantee that each player will encounter the game’s progression in the same way.
Rank #3
- 17 Levels - Each one with its own atmosphere, foes and secrets to discover
- 5 Bosses - Made by the most sadistic of the devs, raised on the salt of the testers
- 150 or so weapons and skills - Spears, swords, bows, magic spells, shields, pets, frying pans etc; You name it, we got it
- Unlock the four original Dead Cells DLCs, giving you late-game content plus an entire new pathway to follow, with an alternative ending and tons of new enemies, weapons & outfits
- Battle through the corridors of Dracula’s Castle; Wield weapons against monsters to reach the throne room of the Dark Lord
Use these examples to match priorities, not pick a winner
| If you value… | Example to investigate | What the cited evidence establishes |
|---|---|---|
| Navigation reminders and adjustable challenge | Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown | Ubisoft documents optional path and objective guidance, map screenshots, difficulty customization, and other accessibility features. |
| Less rigid ability-gate progression | Hollow Knight | Team Cherry’s developers describe moving from a planned linear power-up sequence toward a less linear structure with optional abilities and fewer hard gates. |
| Responsive combat with player-composed actions | Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown | The developer interview describes experimentation, responsive actions, and tools that support different playstyles. |
These examples address distinct preferences; they do not establish that one game is objectively better or represent the whole genre. Ubisoft’s 2023 announcement names Nintendo Switch among The Lost Crown’s launch platforms, but that alone does not establish current retailer stock, price, or whether a particular listing is a cartridge or digital code. Check the platform and format on the listing before buying. Ubisoft’s announcement identifies the launch platforms.
Quick Recap
Best Value
- Includes the Picnic Panic DLC!
- Dynamic, acrobatic gameplay and ultra tight controls worthy of an epic ninja adventure.
- Character upgrades, new abilities, hidden levels, and branching paths to discover.
- Meticulously designed 8-bit and 16-bit sprites, animations, and backgrounds in the spirit of the classics.
- Original soundtrack by renowned chiptune composer Rainbowdragoneyes, handmade using Famitracker.
Rank #4
- Includes Base Game
- Search the remnants of an age-old intergalactic conflict, started long before your arrival, and discover new powers and abilities
- Master the fluid combat and combine powerful skills to create a playstyle of your own
- Team up with PUCK, and dive deeper into the maze of a mysterious alien world
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