Other games like this? ( with a lesser difficulty )

[Andrew R]

Besides the obvious like Inside, ( beaten ) Limbo, Owlboy, ect. Please list as many as you can and I prefer indie. :D

[.//slayer]

Cave Story+ and Aquaria are the absolute closest atmosphere-wise. You might also like Dust: An Elysian Tale, I find the graphics to be fairly close in style.

If you are interested in Metroidvanias in general, give Momodora a try. Then there're Kero Blaster, MURI and Iji - more combat-focused, but still with plenty of exploration and secrets.

Oh, and nearly forgotten - do check out UnEpic and Ghost 1.0. They are two amazing from the same developer.

Axiom Verge if you feel like hardcore sci-fi. Rabi-Ribi if you enjoy anime and enhanced combat system with plenty of moves. Don't be fooled by its cute graphics - it's a legitimate metroidvania with plenty of exploration and character development, one of the best that I played.

[Andrew R]

Thank you so much for the suggestions. :D

Sadly, I own pretty much everything you mentioned. Don't think I have Kero Blaster, Muri, or Iji so I will give them a look...

[viktorhallo]

ori and the blind forest, it got 3 difficultys, the highest one is approx as hard as this one.
salt and sanctuary, its slightly easier imo but still hard
castlevania symphony of the night, its harder than average, but easier than this one imo

if you google metroidvania or chech the metroidvania tag on steam, you could find some games ;)

[Andrew R]

I will keep looking but I have my eye on Kero Blaster. Think it is by the same dev / creator of Cave Story...

[Markiesje]

Ori and the blind forest is a must play if you liked this one =)
beautiful art, music, atmosphere ... and you can play on easy difficulty (besides normal, hard and 1 life)

[velvetrose]

Valdis Abyssal City, Castle in the Darkness, Rex Rocket. I'm not sure any of them have less difficulty tho.

[.//slayer]

Originally posted by Andrew:

I will keep looking but I have my eye on Kero Blaster. Think it is by the same dev / creator of Cave Story...

It is. The game is not finished after just a single playthrough, too - it opens up more instead. And do check out Iji - it's a free indie game that's not on Steam, but it's a real masterpiece with hundreds of secrets and ways to play, including a pacifist playthrough.

[Andrew R]

Where can I find IJI?

[Wisnoskij]

Some really great oldschool indie games from before indie was a marketing term. Cave Story (non plus) is free, and arguably either identicle or sometimes preferred the to CV+ version (the CV+ version might have an easy mode, it had a few things like that added).

An Untitled Story (free) would need to be tied with CV for best Metroidvania of all time. It's more pure platformer, less action. If I remember correctly, it starts off easy enough, but I cannot remember if you can beat it easily or not. But it is a humongous game and the really really hard parts are bonus non required parts.

Then Hero Core (free) is fantastic, and is pretty much pure action, and incredibly brutal all the way through.

Environmental Station Alpha was just released like last year, and is very similar. It is a lot like AUS, in that a lot of it is non-requiered, but you get loads of great gadgets and abilities if you do pull off the rediculous parts, making the normal parts of the game easy.

Alwa's Revenge was just released, and is metroidvania in the style of a NES game. It's hard.

Guacamelee! Seems to go out of its way a lot to leave an easy route open, if I remember correctly, but if you find yourself improving it also contains bonus insane difficulty sections. Really fun game, and a similar platformer/action mix.

[VEF215]

http://store.steampowered.com/app/387290/

http://store.steampowered.com/app/283640/

http://store.steampowered.com/app/356650/

http://store.steampowered.com/app/535480/

[Wisnoskij]

Originally posted by Andrew:

Where can I find IJI?

http://www.remar.se/daniel/games.php
Its one of the classic old school indie games, same developer as Hero Core. It's famous, but I cannot remember anything about playing it (it's no Cave Story).

[Wisnoskij]

Originally posted by VEF215:

...

Salt and Sanctuary is supposed to be very similar to Hollow Knight, in that they both seem stylistically related to Dark Souls. By Salt and Sanctuary is very complex, and probably requires a controller to play. I gave up on it because the controls were completely ♥♥♥♥ on my keyboard and just way too many buttons you need to learn all at once.

[Alpha]

This game gave me a lot of the same vibes I got from Aquaria. I would certainly recommend that. There was also a freeware game called Umbrella Adventure. The premise was silly but the atmosphere and gameplay was good.

[Aletheia]

Ori and the Blind Forest, Cave Story+, Dust: An Elysian Tail, Valdis Story, Rabi-Ribi.

[chili]

Like some other guy said. Environmental Station Alpha is the only metroidvania game that is third to this. Obv super metroid is first tho