$13.99 (−30%)Solateria Parry Everything, Remember Everything
A hand-drawn 2D metroidvania where parrying is everything. A small fire warrior with no memories crosses a land ruined by the Shadow Plague, learns enemies by heart, and turns their attacks back on them. Tough bosses, a big map to explore in any order, and a story that ends in choices.
Is Solateria worth it?
Solateria is worth it if…
- you like metroidvanias where the bosses, not the platforming, are the main event
- you enjoy learning an enemy's patterns until parrying feels like muscle memory
- you want a big, sad, hand-drawn world to explore in whatever order you please
Screenshots
Combat built around the parry
Every fight in Solateria starts with watching. Enemies telegraph their attacks, and a well-timed parry turns their own force back on them, chaining straight into a counterattack. There is no contact damage, and your dash carries invincibility from the start, so getting hit is always a decision you can trace back to. The rhythm takes learning: the timing is strict, especially later on, and some players find it leans on memorization more than reaction. When it clicks, though, it clicks hard.
Growing stronger in a broken land
Progression runs deep here. Absorb the power of fallen kings at King Statues scattered across the world, unlock Heat Cores with rare items, and pick up skills that make combat increasingly spectacular. Core Stones can be enhanced, and 40 different Parts can be equipped and combined, some of them built to synergize in specific ways. There is also cooking, refining and crafting, and a meal can leave a lasting effect on your warrior. You shape the build you want: more health for exploring, more firepower for bosses, and you can adjust it whenever you like.
A world that rewards looking closely
Solateria is vast, and you can explore it freely in any order. The map marks what you learn as you go: fragments of memory, things NPCs tell you, items you spot but cannot reach yet. Skills combine to open hidden locations and create shortcuts, so a wall that blocked you yesterday may be a door tomorrow. The hand-drawn art carries all of it, from characters to backgrounds, with a look closer to an animated film than a sprite sheet. It is a sad, shadowed place, and the emptiness is part of the point.
Stories the plague kept quiet
The Shadow Plague ruined Solateria, and everyone left in it is fighting their own battle for their own reasons, including the bosses you cut down. Over 50 cutscenes carry the tale of a small fire warrior sent to find the vanished King, the world's last hope, and the truth waiting at the end of that road. NPCs have side quests, and some of them end in final choices you witness rather than make. How it all resolves depends on you: there are multiple endings, and what you uncover along the way decides which one you earn.
Questions before you start?
Can you play it in short sessions?
Mostly. Exploration and side quests break into small chunks, and the map tracks your progress per area so you always know where you left off. Boss fights are the exception: some run long, and retries mean starting the encounter over. A pause option was added after launch, though the game was originally built without one, so plan your sessions around the fights rather than the map.
How hard is it really?
Hard, but adjustable. There are four difficulty levels, and the easiest is gentle enough that anyone can finish the story. The parry timing is strict, and on the higher settings some bosses demand precise memorization of long combos. The good news is you can lower the difficulty whenever a fight becomes a grind, and the upgrade systems let you tip the odds with health, firepower and Parts before you touch the settings.
Do you need to follow the story closely?
No, and that is part of the design. The world is lore-rich, and much of the story is optional: memory fragments, NPC conversations and side quests fill in what happened to Solateria, and how thoroughly you explore changes what you learn. You can charge for the King and let the mystery stay mysterious, or dig into every corner and piece the plague's history together. The multiple endings reward the second approach.
