2026 looks like a fantastic year for Metroidvania games, with several promising new 2D adventures on the horizon. Developers are responding to player demand for immersive, interconnected worlds, satisfying combat, tricky platforming, and compelling stories, and they’re really innovating within the genre. They’re building on what makes Metroidvanias great while also trying new things. Now that Hollow Knight: Silksong is out, other developers can focus on their own unique visions without the same level of expectation.
2026 is shaping up to be a great year for Metroidvania fans, with lots of new games on the horizon. While we’re still waiting for release dates for highly anticipated titles like Crowsworn and Grime 2, several other confirmed games are already generating excitement with their innovative ideas and unique art styles. Here are four upcoming Metroidvanias to keep an eye on in 2026.
4) Fallen Tear: The Ascension
Fallen Tear: Ascension is a beautiful Metroidvania game currently in development. It combines stunning 2D animation with a heartfelt story about friendship, fate, and the connections between people. Players explore the colorful world of Raoah as a young hero, uncovering secrets and facing challenges within a land shaped by ancient protectors and powerful magic. Its unique, painterly art style and smooth character movements make Fallen Tear: Ascension a particularly impressive game in its genre.
The game focuses on classic Metroidvania exploration, meaning you’ll gain new abilities to reach previously inaccessible areas and fight challenging enemies in a connected world. Combat is fast-paced and rewards skillful combos, letting you create your own fighting style with attacks, blocks, and dodges. You’ll also find environmental puzzles, discover a rich story through the game’s world, and build relationships with a surprisingly engaging companion.
Fallen Tear: The Ascension is a promising Metroidvania game with a strong story, inspired by Japanese RPGs. It focuses on creating an emotionally engaging world and offers exciting action-platforming gameplay. The game also includes roguelike elements, ensuring each playthrough feels fresh and contributes to the overall story and world development. It looks to be a standout title for fans of story-driven action games next year.
3) Rune Fencer Illyia
Rune Fencer Illyia offers a fresh take on the Metroidvania genre with its beautiful, atmospheric world, fast-paced movement, and combat that uses magic. Players control Illyia, a warrior searching for her lost twin sister, as she explores a strange land filled with massive ruins, magical traps, and ghostly creatures. The game creates a feeling of peaceful but sad exploration, uncovering the secrets of ancient, forgotten kingdoms.
Rune Fencer Illyia really stands out thanks to its focus on smooth and fast movement. Players can dash, grapple, and expertly navigate levels using a combination of martial arts and rune-based powers. The game encourages you to try different approaches and rewards skillful movement and combining abilities effectively. Battles are fast-paced and require quick thinking, letting you customize spells and find enemy weaknesses, making each fight feel unique and strategic.
The game’s beautiful art style, which blends watercolor backgrounds with detailed character designs, makes it stand out among recent Metroidvania games that focus on visual artistry. Rune Fencer Illyia should appeal to both longtime fans of the genre and those new to indie games. It’s also refreshing to see a colorful Metroidvania with a dark fantasy setting, reminiscent of Ori and the Blind Forest.
2) Aeterna Lucis
Aeterna Lucis is quickly becoming known as a beautiful and well-designed Metroidvania game. From the creators of Aeterna Noctis, it features the same stunning hand-drawn art style but with a brighter, more colorful look. While the world is now filled with light and inspired by the cosmos, the game remains just as challenging, offering the precise platforming, difficult obstacles, and expansive exploration that fans love. It also expands on the series’ story with a richer mythology.
What truly sets this game apart is its stunning world design. Instead of just using typical dark, gothic settings, Aeterna Lucis features vast, dreamlike cities, glowing caves, otherworldly landscapes, and ancient, tech-powered temples. Each area is beautifully made by hand, filled with unique challenges and different types of enemies, pushing players to try out all of their movement skills.
Aeterna Lucis features a dynamic combat system that rewards quick reflexes, precise timing, and the ability to adjust to different situations. Players can combine fast-paced platforming with new weapons and magic, allowing for fluid aerial attacks, skillful dodging, and the discovery of hidden paths. The game also deepens the series’ story by delving into the ongoing battle between light and darkness, introducing new characters, powerful groups, and choices that shape the narrative. With stunning visuals, an epic soundtrack, and a richly detailed world, Aeterna Lucis aims to create a more immersive and emotionally resonant experience for players.
1) Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement
The Bloodstained series carries on the legacy of the classic Castlevania games, and Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement looks to be its most refined and up-to-date title yet. Created by the original Castlevania designer Koji Igarashi, the new game builds on what fans love about the series: large castles to explore, complex ways to improve your character, and a dark, gothic world filled with supernatural battles.
The Scarlet Engagement features fresh characters and a stronger emphasis on storytelling, building the world around their connections and reasons for acting. It keeps the classic exploration-focused gameplay you’d expect, but with improved combat, more fluid movement, and a map that changes as you play and become more powerful.
A standout feature of the game is its innovative buddy system, letting players switch between characters – Alex and Leo – to tailor their combat strategy. This gives players freedom in how they tackle battles, traps, and puzzles. With enemies that respond to your actions, hidden areas to discover, and challenging boss fights that require both skill and quick thinking, The Scarlet Engagement reimagines a classic gameplay style for a new audience.
The game boasts beautiful new animations, detailed environments, and a striking gothic look. Each location, from decaying clock towers to creepy underground areas, is designed to create a specific atmosphere and encourage players to explore. Building on the success of the original game, with its impressive improvements and passionate community, The Scarlet Engagement is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated Metroidvania games of 2026.
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2025-11-29 21:13