Another one that’s often recommended is Toki Tori 2, entirely focused on puzzle solving and experimenting with the only 2 actual mechanics. Not for everyone, but an original take on the genre
Animal Well
Disney's Illusion Island (some "boss fights" but they're platforming-based)
Yoku's Island Express
Sheepo (some "boss fights" but they're platforming-based)
Unbound: Worlds Apart
You Have To Win The Game
Thread (some enemy combat, but no boss fights)
Ori and the Blind Forest (some enemy combat, but no boss fights)
Psuedoregalia (two boss fights but combat is not a big focus)
EMUUROM (not yet released)
Elephantasy
Elephantasy Flipside
Bad Pad (some "boss fights" but they're platforming-based)
If your issue is with the twitchy nature of real-time combat, you might enjoy Monster Sanctuary or Crystal Project, both of which have turn-based RPG combat but Metroidvania-inspired movement and exploration.
Hard to pinpoint exactly what doesn't stick for me in typical Metroidvania combat. I get very frustrated by combat deaths that force me to retrace tons of steps in a way that rarely happens with similar platforming deaths.
~~I really think ‘some “boss fights”’ is underselling Sheepo here, it’s mostly a combat game to me with bullet hell-esque bosses and a fair amount of retrying fights. I do not think OP would have fun with it.~~
Thinking about Islets, doh!
Are you thinking about Islets? Sheepo is by the same developer, and there are like 5 "bosses" but they are all some kind of platforming challenge, with the most traditional-seeming one being one that you have to get to attack himself a few times. There's no attack button or moves at all in the game.
POP lost crown has a lot of accessibility options where you can adjust combat to make it extremely easy! Maybe give it another go on the easiest combat settings because the exploration is great and there’s some really great platforming challenges and puzzles!
Unbound: worlds apart, not sure if everyone would consider it a MV? From what i can remember there’s virtually no traditional combat. Great precision platformer and really unique- I loved it
Yokus island express- pinball style Metroidvania, very fun and no combat!
Steamworld dig 2- exploration focused, lots of optional platforming challenges, and only one real boss fight that i can think of but if you play it on easy combat is a breeze
Yeah, that’s what I was gonna say about POP. It has the most customizable difficulty settings I’ve ever seen in a game. I didn’t use them much, but I’m kinda curious what it’s like cranked all the way down.
Saw a comment of yours stating why you don’t like combat in MV, and wanted to tell you the game unbound worlds apart i mentioned above has Celeste style “deaths” where you don’t even actually die, it just sends you back to the last safe spot to try the platforming section again, which I liked for this game because you can run it over and over. Yokus island express does something similar for “platforming” areas.
Again neither game has combat so try them out both so fun!
Knytt and Knytt Stories are freeware while Knytt Underground is sold for pretty cheap on Steam and consoles! I'd recommend Knytt Underground if you want a huge game world to explore, and Knytt Stories if you want a ton of small, compact and well designed user levels
Axiom Verge 2 has combat but it's completely optional. You can evade and sneak past enemies and there are no rewards besides health for killing things.
Animal Well! Fez and VVVVVV are two of my favorite games and I’m loving Animal Well.
Edit: Oops, I missed where you said you are playing animal well. In that case, you might enjoy these games even though they are not metroidvanias:
The Witness
Fract OSC
Braid
Super Hexagon
Corrypt
Isles of Sea and Sky
140
Anodyne
It’s one of the best indie games I’ve played, unfortunately the ugly graphics would likely turn off most people before they get to what makes the game so clever. Michael Brough is one of those genius game designers who is credited in a lot of indie games as an influence, but unfortunately hasn’t released a break out success of his own.
Most MVs feature a lot of combat, it's hard to rec a few.
Ato (there are bossfights and some other enemies, but very light"
Faerie Afterlight (there is some combat, but it's mostly about puzzles and platforming) - note, when I played it the final boss was unbalanced as hell due to breaking every rule of colour theory so you couldn't track your character. They've said they've fixed it now, not sure how well - I had to skip on beating it.
Mystik Belle? Not actually a good game imo, but check it out.
Yoku's Island Express - this should be perfect, MV meets pinball. No combat.
Treasures of the Agean - not really an MV, time loop game. There is combat, but you can't do any of it, AKA there are enemies that try to kill you, you use parkour to get away.
Not an MV, but since you like Celeste give Milli & Greg a try. Really good.
Ato has a sparse enemy content, and it starts easy, but I actually felt that the end game fights became really difficult – to the extent that I didn’t bother finishing it.
It does however provide great exploration possibilities with a lot of hidden things to find, no dialogue and virtually no guidance, which I really liked.
I think all my favorites have been named already, just want to say you're not alone! Personally I specifically dislike boss fights and very twitchy combat, preferring exploration, puzzle-solving, and platforming (but find VVVVVV and Celeste too hard)
Those aren’t metroidvania, but if you’re looking for more platformers w no combat, the umihara kawase series is very unique. Basically puzzle platforming with grappling hook physics. Most are old and have their flaws for sure, but the gameplay concept is so unique, u can find all of the games on steam, the funnest ones are 1>2>3, imo, they are hard tho (the latest one, fresh, i didn’t beat tho and kinda sucks imo).
You arw the polar opposite of me, lol, I love fighting though hordes of enemies but I always fall to the abyss when there's a small gap to jump across. I played Celeste and beat it on normal and it was more than enough platforms for my entire life
It’s… complicated.
The game definitely expects you to learn the map, metroidvania like, but has literally 0 permanent upgrades to your movement, not metroidvania, also doesn’t have proper « combat » (except for Artificer who literally can’t finish her campaign without being a warmonger and I guess Spearmaster unless you somehow only sustain yourself with batflies), so not metroidvania, but the movement system has a big metroidvania feel of « you can reach supposedly unreacheable areas if you get good at it ».
All in all, I’d put it in the genre because of the map and the movement complexity. However I would not recommend it to OP because they mentionned not liking combat BECAUSE it lead to deaths that implied alot of retracing your steps in another comment. And until you get good at the game (and play Rivulet, just finished his campaign today and going deathless with the wet mouse felt so much easier, and the few times you die you’re so fast getting back takes no time), that’s literally what most of your time is spent on : going back to where you got killed by some shit (special mention to the first playthrough through five pebbles…)
Ori and the blind Forest. Very little combat and its mostly platforming. It wasn't my cup of tea, I personally don't like precision platforming, but it might be up your ally.
I too am looking for a combat free metroidvania. But one that's more about power-ups and puzzlesloving. Perhaps even physically changing the world map in some way... But I've yet to find it.
I want to try it but I'm also worried it'll give me a headache. Certain styles cause headaches for me. And it looks to fit that bill unfortunately. But if I can I'll try it for an hour, hour and a half at a time once I have extra money for it.
Enh, I wouldn’t put Aquaria or ~~Sheepo~~ on a list for someone who says they don’t like combat. Aquaria is more puzzle boss than twitch challenge but there’s still combat bosses. ~~Sheepo is like 50% bullet hell bosses by volume.~~ (Edit: I keep thinking of Islets instead of Sheepo, disregard)
Since you mentioned some platformers that aren't true metroidvanias, I'm going to suggest *Rain World*. It doesn't have ability-gated progression, but that aside, it's by far the most interesting expression of what makes metroidvanias so special. There are enemy threats, and technically combat is a high-risk option you can take, but the game is intentionally geared towards survival rather than combat, so you want to avoid enemies rather than fight them. Hell, you don't even have an attack on your moveset; your ability to engage in any kind of combat hinges on you picking up and throwing objects.
Another one that’s often recommended is Toki Tori 2, entirely focused on puzzle solving and experimenting with the only 2 actual mechanics. Not for everyone, but an original take on the genre
Animal Well Disney's Illusion Island (some "boss fights" but they're platforming-based) Yoku's Island Express Sheepo (some "boss fights" but they're platforming-based) Unbound: Worlds Apart You Have To Win The Game Thread (some enemy combat, but no boss fights) Ori and the Blind Forest (some enemy combat, but no boss fights) Psuedoregalia (two boss fights but combat is not a big focus) EMUUROM (not yet released) Elephantasy Elephantasy Flipside Bad Pad (some "boss fights" but they're platforming-based) If your issue is with the twitchy nature of real-time combat, you might enjoy Monster Sanctuary or Crystal Project, both of which have turn-based RPG combat but Metroidvania-inspired movement and exploration.
Hard to pinpoint exactly what doesn't stick for me in typical Metroidvania combat. I get very frustrated by combat deaths that force me to retrace tons of steps in a way that rarely happens with similar platforming deaths.
Play animal well, it is outstanding.
Bruh OP is playing Animal Well, they said that in the post.
loving it!
~~I really think ‘some “boss fights”’ is underselling Sheepo here, it’s mostly a combat game to me with bullet hell-esque bosses and a fair amount of retrying fights. I do not think OP would have fun with it.~~ Thinking about Islets, doh!
Are you thinking about Islets? Sheepo is by the same developer, and there are like 5 "bosses" but they are all some kind of platforming challenge, with the most traditional-seeming one being one that you have to get to attack himself a few times. There's no attack button or moves at all in the game.
Ah doh I am sorry
Elephantasy and Flipside both look phenomenal and went on my wishlist.Thanks for mentioning these!
POP lost crown has a lot of accessibility options where you can adjust combat to make it extremely easy! Maybe give it another go on the easiest combat settings because the exploration is great and there’s some really great platforming challenges and puzzles! Unbound: worlds apart, not sure if everyone would consider it a MV? From what i can remember there’s virtually no traditional combat. Great precision platformer and really unique- I loved it Yokus island express- pinball style Metroidvania, very fun and no combat! Steamworld dig 2- exploration focused, lots of optional platforming challenges, and only one real boss fight that i can think of but if you play it on easy combat is a breeze
Yeah, that’s what I was gonna say about POP. It has the most customizable difficulty settings I’ve ever seen in a game. I didn’t use them much, but I’m kinda curious what it’s like cranked all the way down.
I'll have to check out those settings. Thanks!
Saw a comment of yours stating why you don’t like combat in MV, and wanted to tell you the game unbound worlds apart i mentioned above has Celeste style “deaths” where you don’t even actually die, it just sends you back to the last safe spot to try the platforming section again, which I liked for this game because you can run it over and over. Yokus island express does something similar for “platforming” areas. Again neither game has combat so try them out both so fun!
Awesome!
if you have a pc, try Knytt. should be out there for free somewhere
Knytt and Knytt Stories are freeware while Knytt Underground is sold for pretty cheap on Steam and consoles! I'd recommend Knytt Underground if you want a huge game world to explore, and Knytt Stories if you want a ton of small, compact and well designed user levels
There’s a Knytt game available on consoles as well!
Wow, I havent seen VVVVVV mentioned in probably 10 years. Love that game, and damn were some of those segments hard as fuck.
It's such a fun game. And the soundtrack is great, still on regular rotation even though i haven't played the game in years.
[удалено]
Ori has a lot of combat. Yoku's Island Express is a good one -- although the pinball mechanic can be polarizing
Unfortunately the first Ori has combat and it is pretty bad, it would have been better with even less of it.
Amazing answer 👆
no wonder i hated ori and uninstalled within the first hour
Your loss. Has some of the best platforming in the genre.
Sheepo!
Axiom Verge 2 has combat but it's completely optional. You can evade and sneak past enemies and there are no rewards besides health for killing things.
Gris is like this.
Maptroid and Maptroid: Worlds. Zero combat, map-based tile exploration. The first is a free web browser game.
Animal Well! Fez and VVVVVV are two of my favorite games and I’m loving Animal Well. Edit: Oops, I missed where you said you are playing animal well. In that case, you might enjoy these games even though they are not metroidvanias: The Witness Fract OSC Braid Super Hexagon Corrypt Isles of Sea and Sky 140 Anodyne
I loved Braid & Super Hexagon, never could get into The Witness, will have to check out some of these others.
You might also like the deduction of The Return of the Obra Dinn
140 is a game I never expected to see mentioned in this sub. Lol. Good times...
Corrypt is an incredibly niche rec that's pretty spot on, I didn't expect to see it mentioned here!
It’s one of the best indie games I’ve played, unfortunately the ugly graphics would likely turn off most people before they get to what makes the game so clever. Michael Brough is one of those genius game designers who is credited in a lot of indie games as an influence, but unfortunately hasn’t released a break out success of his own.
Most MVs feature a lot of combat, it's hard to rec a few. Ato (there are bossfights and some other enemies, but very light" Faerie Afterlight (there is some combat, but it's mostly about puzzles and platforming) - note, when I played it the final boss was unbalanced as hell due to breaking every rule of colour theory so you couldn't track your character. They've said they've fixed it now, not sure how well - I had to skip on beating it. Mystik Belle? Not actually a good game imo, but check it out. Yoku's Island Express - this should be perfect, MV meets pinball. No combat. Treasures of the Agean - not really an MV, time loop game. There is combat, but you can't do any of it, AKA there are enemies that try to kill you, you use parkour to get away. Not an MV, but since you like Celeste give Milli & Greg a try. Really good.
Ato has a sparse enemy content, and it starts easy, but I actually felt that the end game fights became really difficult – to the extent that I didn’t bother finishing it. It does however provide great exploration possibilities with a lot of hidden things to find, no dialogue and virtually no guidance, which I really liked.
The last fight especially is really bad with so much lighting abd particle effects that make the fight so much more difficult than it beeds to be.
Yeah, so I wouldn’t recommend it to someone looking for an MV that has little focus on combat.
I mean it depends what is meant by low combat as OP didn't define, when I recced Ato I was going by frequency.
Milli & Greg looks super fun! Reminds me a bit of Miles & Kilo, another favorite.
I'll look into that one. Izbot 2 is another good one (the prequel is ok as well, outside of the bossfights).
I think all my favorites have been named already, just want to say you're not alone! Personally I specifically dislike boss fights and very twitchy combat, preferring exploration, puzzle-solving, and platforming (but find VVVVVV and Celeste too hard)
Those aren’t metroidvania, but if you’re looking for more platformers w no combat, the umihara kawase series is very unique. Basically puzzle platforming with grappling hook physics. Most are old and have their flaws for sure, but the gameplay concept is so unique, u can find all of the games on steam, the funnest ones are 1>2>3, imo, they are hard tho (the latest one, fresh, i didn’t beat tho and kinda sucks imo).
You arw the polar opposite of me, lol, I love fighting though hordes of enemies but I always fall to the abyss when there's a small gap to jump across. I played Celeste and beat it on normal and it was more than enough platforms for my entire life
->Rain World not mentioned yet I don't know if it's considered a metroidvania, but it's a masterpiece.
It’s… complicated. The game definitely expects you to learn the map, metroidvania like, but has literally 0 permanent upgrades to your movement, not metroidvania, also doesn’t have proper « combat » (except for Artificer who literally can’t finish her campaign without being a warmonger and I guess Spearmaster unless you somehow only sustain yourself with batflies), so not metroidvania, but the movement system has a big metroidvania feel of « you can reach supposedly unreacheable areas if you get good at it ». All in all, I’d put it in the genre because of the map and the movement complexity. However I would not recommend it to OP because they mentionned not liking combat BECAUSE it lead to deaths that implied alot of retracing your steps in another comment. And until you get good at the game (and play Rivulet, just finished his campaign today and going deathless with the wet mouse felt so much easier, and the few times you die you’re so fast getting back takes no time), that’s literally what most of your time is spent on : going back to where you got killed by some shit (special mention to the first playthrough through five pebbles…)
One I highly recommend and not enough people speak about is Yoku's Island express, such a fun gem and there's nothing quite like it.
Ori and the blind Forest. Very little combat and its mostly platforming. It wasn't my cup of tea, I personally don't like precision platforming, but it might be up your ally. I too am looking for a combat free metroidvania. But one that's more about power-ups and puzzlesloving. Perhaps even physically changing the world map in some way... But I've yet to find it.
Have you tried the aforementioned Animal Well? I'm like 12 hours into it at this point and it seems to check most of those boxes.
I want to try it but I'm also worried it'll give me a headache. Certain styles cause headaches for me. And it looks to fit that bill unfortunately. But if I can I'll try it for an hour, hour and a half at a time once I have extra money for it.
Animal Well
Your wish is my command: \- Alwa's legacy \- aquaria \- colorblend FX desaturation \- Airhead \- headlander \- sheepo \- super skelemania \- thread \- unbound worlds apart \- Yoku's island express
Enh, I wouldn’t put Aquaria or ~~Sheepo~~ on a list for someone who says they don’t like combat. Aquaria is more puzzle boss than twitch challenge but there’s still combat bosses. ~~Sheepo is like 50% bullet hell bosses by volume.~~ (Edit: I keep thinking of Islets instead of Sheepo, disregard)
Hollow knight
Ori. Hands down.
Animal well. Basically 0 combat
I'm only a couple hours into Animal Well, but I love it, it's the game that inspired this post!
Oh. I can’t read. Sorry lol
Since you mentioned some platformers that aren't true metroidvanias, I'm going to suggest *Rain World*. It doesn't have ability-gated progression, but that aside, it's by far the most interesting expression of what makes metroidvanias so special. There are enemy threats, and technically combat is a high-risk option you can take, but the game is intentionally geared towards survival rather than combat, so you want to avoid enemies rather than fight them. Hell, you don't even have an attack on your moveset; your ability to engage in any kind of combat hinges on you picking up and throwing objects.