Chasm -- my little Obsession right now! It's a little bit of CastleVania with a little bit of Dark Souls...!? The pixels are chonky in a good way. The animation is smooth in spite of the big pixel style. Lots of enemies. Lots of Weapons and Sub-Weapons (Whips, Boomerangs and Holy Water included!)... Each weapon type fights slightly differently. You've got a dedicated dodge button too. The enemies and bosses have definite patterns. They can be tricky but the game is never unfair. When you die it's your own fault! Cool little factoid besides: the levels are procedurally generated! You can share a seed it you wish, but for the most part, each time you play, the map's gonna be different. So cool!
Super Metroid-the very best of the Metroidvanias.
It's the absolute classic Super NES experience, that does exploration better than perhaps any other game. Except maybe Metroid Prime.
Sorry, may be considered a cheat since Metroidvanias are named after it but certainly worth the replay.
Ori and the Will of Wisps!!! Its on gamepass, just came out. Seems like another excellent metroidvania.
Dvader said:Ori and the Will of Wisps!!! Its on gamepass, just came out. Seems like another excellent metroidvania.
Was gonna mention this one. Just started it last night. Loved the first so much that I sprung for the physical collector's edition.
robio said:I know that technically metroidvanias are usually two-dimensional, but if you look into the 3D realm Control is totally a Metroidvania. You're in a large setting that involves backtracking and opening up passages between previously visited areas. Constantly gathering new abilities that help you gain access to these areas. Weird David Lynch stuff aside, it's got a very similar feeling to Metroid Prime.
I really enjoyed Control. I only wished it had a better finale.
robio said:I know that technically metroidvanias are usually two-dimensional, but if you look into the 3D realm Control is totally a Metroidvania. You're in a large setting that involves backtracking and opening up passages between previously visited areas. Constantly gathering new abilities that help you gain access to these areas. Weird David Lynch stuff aside, it's got a very similar feeling to Metroid Prime.
Indeed, as far as I can see the term "Metroidvania" is actually just a euphamism for "2D Metroid". 
I keep hearing good things about Control. I really need to pick it up some day.
Anyway the only suggestions I have are pretty well known already which are Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night and Ori and the Blind Forest. Both are excellent games.
Metroidvanias aren't exclusively 2d, it's been used for 3D stuff plenty. Besides the obvious Metroid Prime, Dark Souls 1 is a metroidvania. The woke understanding is also that Resident Evil 1/Remake very much fits the bill.
Let's not forget the Arkham games, some of the finest examples of this type.
Asylum would be the only one that fits. City more an open world/Zelda styled take. Knight straight up open world like gta n a ubisoft game.
TimeSpinner -- A little bit of Chrono Trigger meets a nearly shameless Symphony of the Night clone. We're talking multiple weapons and Spells, Summon partners, time travel and multiple Endings. Little short but VERY sweet... and it was created all by ONE guy! Highly Recommended!