What is a good (recent) 2d-style/side-scroller action games? (Can also be top-down zelda-clones)

[aweigh]

So besides MM11 what are some good recently-made side-scrollers?

I also recently played MALDITA CASTILLA and it was EXCELLENT, it is a ghouls and goblins clone:


Besides Maldita Castilla and Mega Man 11 what's good? I see a lot of so-called "metroidvanias" coming out but I have no idea which is even worth playing. One name I saw propped up was "Hollow knight", but is it actually good?

As for zelda-clones and/or top-down view games the only recent one i have seen mentioned recently is that hazille bastille something or other.

 

[sullynathan]

Dead Cells. Binding of Isaac

 

[moraes]

Hollow Knight is a contender for best metroidvania ever created, it's very good. The main game is very balanced, difficulty wise, but if you want to 100% it some of the optional areas are very, very hard.

La Mulana 2 got recently released, haven't actually played it though, but I heard that it's as good as the first one.

If you want something more relaxed try Steamworld Dig 2, a bit on the easier side, but it's fun to explore.

 

[Siveon]

Dump. Also seconding what moraes mentioned. This is for platformers/metroidvanias

Spoiler

Hollow Knight is good. Great style, great bosses. Not sure what your beef is with the name metroidvania, better than "open world platformer".
I love Aggelos. It's a Wonder Boy styled game that has a good pace, and well polished gameplay.

Very cheap but very well put together Mario 3 like game.

Celeste is a tad overrated but this has a good amount of challenging levels.

This one is obvious enough. A boss rush game that has some subpar Mega Man inbetween sections, but those bosses are great.

Ignore the IP here, because this dev has made some of the best platformers around in their engine. Stylish, fast paced, beautiful action. Cannot recommend this one enough. Look for Pharoh rebirth+ as well if you want just as good.

Slower paced but very fun platformer. Compared to Dark Souls but eh that's a simplification.

As for top down view, Crosscode. Easily. There's more but they aren't finished yet.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Muramasa: The Demon Blade

Dragon's Crown

Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir

 

[Tehdagah]

MegaMari

 

[Abu Antar]

Salt and Sanctuary.

 

[Machocruz]

 

[Palikka]

By the way, aweigh, have you tried Locomalitos other games? https://www.locomalito.com/
He has couple other platformers and a number of shoot'em-ups on his site.

 

[aweigh]

So I been playing one of the games recommended here, Momodora - Reverie under the Moonlight and...

HOLY FUCK is it fun! Supremely satisfying controls and mechanics and it is hard as FUCK.

 

[Lagole Gon]

Tiny Barbarian DX

It's pretty damn good. Sadly, the price is just too damn high. I think it has something to do with Nintendo deal.

 

[Villagkouras]

The Messenger. It's more complex that it seems at first, just get it, it's great.

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

This looks like it could be good

 

[Siveon]

This looks like it could be good

I just realized the vague question that was asked in the OP, side scrollers in general? There's a shit ton of good ones. I recommend playing this demo, feels like a fighting game in a beat 'em up.

 

[Lutte]

Ignore the IP here, because this dev has made some of the best platformers around in their engine. Stylish, fast paced, beautiful action. Cannot recommend this one enough. Look for Pharoh rebirth+ as well if you want just as good.

Ignore the IP uh? besides the actual core IP being pretty good shmups, the indies around it have made some truly nice games. In the sidescroller vein, not recent but the Touhouvania are something to behold too :


I second the recommendation for Luna Nights, but warning, it's early access and unfinished. Having played what is currently available, I was left wanting so much more of it because it's indeed very good.

And then, if you've enjoyed the style of boss fight found in that game, put some blinders and ignore the nasty visuals of Rabi Ribi and give it a shot. Rabi Ribi is pretty much constant boss action of that sort with some of the most creative bullet hell pattern I've seen, and boy does it need to get creative because the game has as many boss encounters with a wide variety of patterns as two handfuls of shmups. I think playing through the entirety of it gives you an historical of all possible bullet hell patterns done in a side scroller fashion. It's just unfortunate that the devs of that game were.. let's just say... some of the dweebest people in existence, so everything else about the game just oozes in it. The average touhou dweebdness pales in comparison, so to speak.

 

[Siveon]

Ignore the IP uh?

It's my call to "please try to get past what you might think is super weeb thing" - I personally think touhou is great.

 

[Ivan]

Hollow Knight

Volgarr the Viking

two best things to come out of kickstarter

 

[Great Deceiver]

Volgarr is pretty damn cool. It's an homage to Rygar and it's hard as fucking shit. One of the best things to come out of Kickstarter.

It's not recent but if you haven't played it yet, Goku Makaimura Kai on the PSP (it's a jp-only version of Ultimate Ghouls and Ghosts directed by the original series creator, Tokuro Fujiwara) is also excellent. It's also balls to the wall hard.

 

[Urthor]

Celeste, Owlboy, Hollow Knight, Cave Story

There are bucketloads

 

[Siveon]

Volgarr is pretty damn cool

God both of those games murdered me.

 

[Great Deceiver]

So besides MM11 what are some good recently-made side-scrollers?

I also recently played MALDITA CASTILLA and it was EXCELLENT, it is a ghouls and goblins clone:


Besides Maldita Castilla and Mega Man 11 what's good? I see a lot of so-called "metroidvanias" coming out but I have no idea which is even worth playing. One name I saw propped up was "Hollow knight", but is it actually good?

As for zelda-clones and/or top-down view games the only recent one i have seen mentioned recently is that hazille bastille something or other.

Hey I'm trying to play Maldita Castilla but I'm getting a black screen on launch. Tried every compatibility setting, disabled Afterburner and all other programs with overlays, still no cigar. I tried the EX version too, same problem. Running a nvidia card with the latest drivers.

Did you have any similar issues?

Edit: It doesn't run if the desktop is set at 2160p. Runs fine when I switch to 1080p. Minor inconvenience, but the game is great. Thanks for the tip! I grew up playing Ghosts and Goblins and Ghouls n Ghosts. This is one of the better free games that I've ever played. Did you play the EX version for the extra levels?

Also, if you haven't tried it yet, play Ori and the Blind Forest. It's an awesome game, I think it's as good as Hollow Knight.

 

[Agame]

Hollow Knight is fantastic, beautiful art/level design.

I also love Rain World, but its probably not for everyone as its more of a slow, exploration/puzzle kind of experience.

 

[aweigh]

Yeah I have no idea why Loco Maldito releases his games for free. All of his games are easily better than most of the stuff bloating Steam.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Oh yeah, check out Iji as well. Great game. Boggles my mind that it hasn't really been discovered.

 

[Jinn]

I also love Rain World, but its probably not for everyone as its more of a slow, exploration/puzzle kind of experience.

Rain World is the shit!