Clockwork Ambrosia (2026)

While I definitely appreciate that the NPCs in town here will reliably nudge you towards the critical path, the freeform, self-directed approach of all the optional exploration is even better! The world is quite big, opens up early on, and puts very few restrictions on where you're able to go, so the choice of where to head next always feels like it's got some real weight behind it.

The hands-off nature of the map pushes this feeling ever further, as it only marks the most essential points of interest automatically. For hidden treasures, locked doors, and every other little mystery you're just expected to mark stuff with a pin and return when you deem it important. Love it.

Think this is the first metroidvania I've played where the whole world is mapped out onto a cylinder! There's hard boundaries at the top and bottom, but traveling very far to the left or right loops you around to where you started.

Since you're almost always able to keep moving forward, this setup helps avoid the common genre pitfall of hitting a bunch of dead ends and retracing all your steps endlessly. But so quickly shuffling through each biome also feels sorta breathless, like each area isn't given enough time to develop a strong identity. Not sure how I feel about tubevanias just yet.

Now this is more like it! It's yet another metroidvania demo, but all the particulars of movement and combat feel excellent. Metal Slug and Ratchet are clear inspirations here, with exploration largely rewarding custom weapon mods that you can mix and match to create your own outlandish guns.

Enemy and boss design felt promising as well, and there were some solid little puzzles for those in search of hidden treasure. Definitely recommended!