10 Best Metroidvania Games on PlayStation Plus (July 2025)

Looking for the best Metroidvania games on PlayStation Plus? Metroidvania games bring a perfect mix of action, platforming, and deep exploration. They let you unlock new powers, backtrack through hidden paths, and discover new areas as you grow stronger. With so many great options on PS Plus, it's the right time to dive into this exciting genre. Here’s a list of ten fun and standout PlayStation Metroidvania games on you can play right now.

What Defines the Best Metroidvania Game on PS Plus?

To build this list, a few key things were considered. The games had to offer strong exploration, smooth controls, and a clear sense of progress. Each one includes a connected world where unlocking new powers lets you reach new areas. Combat needed to feel satisfying, with enemies and boss fights that test your timing and skills.

Level design also played a big role. Games with smart layouts, hidden paths, and creative environments stood out the most. Art style, music, and overall polish were also important. Lastly, each game had to be available through PlayStation Plus and offer good value for players. These picks highlight what makes the Metroidvania genre so fun and rewarding on PS Plus.

List of 10 Best Metroidvania Games on PS Plus in 2025

Each game on this list brings exciting combat, smart upgrades, and maps designed for deep exploration. They offer a mix of challenge, discovery, and progress that keeps players coming back. All of them are available through PS Plus and deliver a complete Metroidvania experience. Now let’s take a look at the top 10 titles worth playing right now.

10. F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch

F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch is a side-scrolling action-platformer set in a dark, dieselpunk city controlled by a robotic army. You play as Rayton, a former soldier who is also a rabbit, and he fights back using a giant mechanical fist. His mission is to fight back against a robotic army that has taken over his home. The gameplay focuses on exploration, fast combat, and unlocking new areas as you gain new abilities. What sets it apart from a bunch of other metroidvania games is its super detailed 3D graphics in a 2D setting and that combo-heavy fighting style. Players explore a huge interconnected map, fight different types of enemies, and solve small platforming puzzles.

9. Salt and Sacrifice

In Salt and Sacrifice, you play as a Marked Inquisitor. Your mission is to hunt powerful mages spreading chaos across the land. The game is a 2D action RPG with dark, hand-drawn environments. You explore large areas, fight enemies, and find hidden paths. Combat is slow and tactical. You need to manage stamina, dodge attacks, and strike at the right time. Defeating mages lets you collect materials to craft better gear. As you unlock tools, new parts of the map open up. You can also play with others in co-op or PvP.

8. Strider

Strider is a fast-paced action-platformer set in a futuristic world ruled by a powerful enemy force. You play as Hiryu, an elite ninja assassin equipped with a plasma sword called the Cypher. His mission is to take down a dictator known as Grandmaster Meio, who controls the in-game city. The gameplay focuses on constant movement, fast combat, and exploring large areas filled with enemies, traps, and hidden upgrades. You can run, climb walls, slide through tight spaces, and use different sword techniques to defeat enemies.

7. Celeste

While this is not a metroidvania in the traditional sense, Celeste still offers exploration and progression that fans of the genre often enjoy. You play as a young woman named Madeline who sets out to climb a mysterious mountain called Celeste. The game is all about tight platforming where you jump, dash, and climb your way through tricky levels filled with hazards. Each area brings new challenges like moving platforms, spikes, wind, or gravity shifts that push your reflexes. It’s a game focused more on precision and timing than combat, and everything you do builds up Madeline’s journey both physically and emotionally.

6. Source of Madness

What if every time you played a game, the world and its enemies were completely different? Source of Madness does exactly that, giving players a side-scrolling world where monsters and maps change in every run. The enemies are designed by AI, so each one looks and moves in strange, unexpected ways. You play as an acolyte exploring dark areas, using magic, and unlocking new abilities. The combat is wild and fast, with spells and powers that react to physics. It’s a very different take compared to other titles in the best metroidvania games on PlayStation Plus list.

5. Dandara: Trials of Fear Edition

Dandara: Trials of Fear Edition is a unique 2D metroidvania where you play as Dandara, a warrior chosen to bring balance to a world on the edge of collapse. Instead of walking or running, you move by jumping from surface to surface, using gravity-defying leaps to explore rooms, solve puzzles, and fight enemies. The controls may feel different at first, but once mastered, they offer a fresh take on movement that separates it from most side-scrollers. It belongs on the list of the best metroidvania games on PlayStation Plus because of how it reimagines traversal, and turns every space into a creative puzzle.

4. Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom gives players the ability to switch between six different animal forms, each with special powers that help in solving puzzles and reaching new areas. The gameplay stays fun and creative because every transformation changes how you explore the world. What makes it different from many other titles in the best metroidvania games on PS Plus is how each form feels fully useful, not just a one-time gimmick. The game keeps surprising you with how abilities interact with the world, and that clever design is a big reason it deserves a spot here.

3. Rain World

Survival takes center stage in this brutally challenging and deeply atmospheric platformer. Players control a vulnerable slugcat trying to reunite with family in a hostile, post-apocalyptic ecosystem. Exploration is open-ended, but danger lurks in every tunnel, with predators hunting relentlessly and the weather itself turning deadly. There’s no traditional map guidance, so learning the environment through trial and error becomes the main progression loop. It’s less about leveling up and more about mastering the world.

2. Dead Cells

Fast, fluid, and full of action, this roguelike platformer grabs your attention from the very first run. You play as a reanimated warrior fighting through ever-changing levels. Here, combat is super smooth, with a mix of melee weapons, bows, and magic. Each run is different, thanks to random level layouts and enemy placement. You unlock permanent upgrades that help you go further each time. It blends roguelike action with metroidvania exploration in a way that just works. For anyone searching PS Plus for a fast-paced game with tons of replay value, this one stands strong in the best metroidvania games on PS Plus lineup.

1. Hollow Knight

The final game on our list of best metroidvania games on PlayStation Plus is Hollow Knight, a dark and mysterious 2D adventure. You play as a small warrior called the Knight. The mission is to explore a huge underground world known as Hallownest. It’s full of hidden paths, strong enemies and bosses, and secret areas. Combat is fast and simple to learn. You fight using a nail, which works like a sword. As you explore, you unlock new powers like double jump and wall climbing. These help you reach new places and find hidden rooms. The map is big and opens up slowly as you gain new skills.