Rather than waiting impatiently for Hollow Knight: Silksong, you should play Nine Sols, a Taiwanese Metroidvania that just got ported over to PS5. It beautifully blends the philosophy of Taosim and the styles of East Asia with a sci-fi flair to deliver a thoughtful story told in a vibrant and deadly world.
The plot follows Yi, a cyborg humanoid cat who belongs to a species called the Solarians, as he fights through the stunning but decaying remains of his once-great civilisation. He’s up against the council of Sols, nine powerful Solarians he had an ideological falling out with.
These are the most formidable bosses in the game, and no two are the same. With Sekiro-like combat, you have to carefully time Yi’s dodges, parries, and attacks. Even simple enemies can best you if you’re not careful.
It’s simple at first but the wide variety of enemies and bosses mean it’s tough to master the timing needed to beat the game. Overcoming challenging foes is incredibly satisfying because the fights never feel unfair, and the wonderful sound design and music give each battle a real rhythm that you’ll often lose yourself in.
The world you explore is a classic 2D Metroidvania with plenty of branching paths and obstacles you’ll have to return to once you gain the skills necessary to get through them. It can be very hard to figure out where the story wants you to go next, though. Some of the cutscenes are delivered via manga-esque comic strips, and in-game animations are so beautiful, you can almost feel them.
The platforming sections ramp up in difficulty steadily over the course of the game, but are very forgiving when you fall, simply placing you at the last safe spot you stood and only taking a small chunk of health as payment. All the areas feel unique, with different scores and environments, but the overall aesthetic and feel is consistent and high quality throughout.
You can improve Yi’s abilities via the skill tree, by buying equipment upgrades, and finding jades; modules that get added to his internal computing system. There’s also a solid range of well-written characters to interact with in a safe hub world, and they offer some exciting side quests that flesh out the setting.
Nine Sols will test you, but the atmosphere is stunning, the combat is thrilling, and the story is a fascinating mix of mysticism and sci-fi — so you’ll meet the challenge happily. This is the best Metroidvania out there right now. Don’t miss it.
