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This article is written in partnership with Solateria. Get it on Steam here.
If you’re a Metroidvania fan, you’re always looking for the next game to challenge you and to lose yourself in. With its hand-drawn art style, fully explorable world and tough but rewarding mechanics, Solateria is the game you’re looking for.
In Solateria, you play as Tott, a fire warrior serving the King of the titular land. The Shadow Plague has descended upon the land, corrupting its inhabitants and darkening the once sunny environments. You wake up in this blighted land with no memories aside from a voice calling on you to save the missing King.
As with other Metroidvanias, navigation of the world of Solateria is non-linear, with new routes opening as you gain new abilities. In this game, however, you have a whole new level of freedom. The world is fully open right from the start, meaning you can tackle the challenges ahead of you in the order that suits you.
Along the way, you’ll face countless combat encounters that will challenge your skills. There’s a heavy focus here on parrying oncoming attacks, with each parry slowing down time, opening up the perfect opportunity to counter. Master your counterattacks and you’ll enter a satisfying flow state, unleashing stylish combos on your foes. This proves especially satisfying in boss fights, which offer a much tougher challenge, but getting those parries down is extremely rewarding. However, if all this proves a little too challenging, there are multiple difficulty settings if you need a less intense experience.
You can further turn the tide in your favor through a full suite of customization upgrades. Explore the world to uncover King Statues that grant you portions of the King’s power or uncover rare items that allow you to unlock Heat Cores. By using these Heat Cores you can customize your build by combining them with Parts you find. Experiment with your setup to reveal unique synergies, powerful hidden abilities and unique ways to boost your fire warrior to his full potential.
Exploring the world doesn’t just grant you items for amassing power, it also reveals a slow burn story. Meet with friendly NPCs to help them out and gain insights into interesting sights to visit. In return, they’ll share their stories with you, peeling back the curtain on Solateria’s mysteries and revelations. In addition, you can also find shards of your own lost memory, with each one recovered revealing something new about you and your quest.
As you explore, you’ll get to enjoy the beautifully hand-drawn landscapes that make up Solateria. You’ll venture through aquatic lands, dark caves and halls of crystal, among others, all rendered in a painted art style.
Solateria was developed by Studio Doodal, a Korean team who love to create games with big imagination and excellent storytelling. Their previous game, a precision side-scrolling platformer named Lapin, received the Unity Korea Award for Best Graphics and the Grand Prize at GIGSC, and currently sits at a 93% Very Positive rating on Steam.
Solateria is exclusively available through Steam right now, and for those on the fence about buying it, there is a demo you can try out beforehand and a 10% off introductory offer that runs until March 26, 2026.