Hollow Knight: Silksong may have taken years to release (including some painfully quiet periods with no updates), but for most fans, the final product was well worth the wait. Critics adored the world, music, and challenging combat of the sequel, and while the runbacks were deemed a bit too tedious and punishing by some players, most loved Team Cherry’s return to its bug-focused world. And while the wait for Hollow Knight: Silksong DLC continues, these satisfied players may be craving something that scratches the same itch, which is exactly what the Steam game Solateria seems poised to do.
However, though Solateria may have a similar aesthetic and metroidvania gameplay loop, but Hollow Knight isn’t the only property that it seems to be directly inspired by. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice carved its own niche through parry-focused combat, standing out from FromSoftware’s other soulslikes because of it. Essentially a rhythm game, there are few game experiences more satisfying than nailing several parries and a mikiri counter in quick succession. Solateria offering Hollow Knight-like exploration and visuals alongside rewarding counter combat seems like a perfect mix, making this Steam title one to watch for fans of challenging singleplayer games.
The Solateria Steam page indicates that the game’s launch is right around the corner, with it dropping on March 12, 2026.
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Solateria Features at a Glance
- EXPERIENCE a gripping story about a fire warrior trying to find their king.
- MASTER enemy attack patterns through a rewarding, timing-focused parry mechanic.
- BATTLE bosses and basic enemies through the world of Solateria.
- EQUIP 40 different part combinations to refine your personal playstyle, and unlock major Heat Core upgrades.
- EXPLORE a hand-drawn world, tackling zones in any order you please.
- ENCOUNTER NPCs and memory fragments to take in new information, marking points of interest on the map.
…a hand-drawn action Metroidvania with parry-focused combat… defeat foes with stylish parries and explore mysterious realms to uncover the world’s secrets.
Who’s That Character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)
Come for the Sekiro Parrying, Stay for the Hollow Knight Vibes
Obviously, Solateria’s big draw is its parry combat, and it’s easy to see why. Developer Studio Doodal has clearly put a lot of work into making the mechanic look as good as it feels, with vibrant blue explosions and brief bouts of slow motion triggering when a parry is perfectly timed. In the trailer for this promising Steam game, the effectiveness of parrying is on full display. Just like Wolf in Sekiro, the nameless fire warrior players control in Solateria can parry just about anything, from a giant’s fists to a swordsman’s blades to a rock creature’s charge.
Yet as great as the combat looks, it’s the many, many similarities to Hollow Knight that could make Solateria feel like home to fans of Team Cherry’s indie classics. In terms of narratives, the similarities are plentiful, from the amnesiac protagonist to the Shadow Plague infecting the world to the “truth” that supposedly waits at the end of the adventure. The NPCs will offer side quests that unveil “hidden stories,” players will find shortcuts as they progress through the world, and the beautiful hand-drawn world of the game can be explored in any order. Even the map design is similar, with color-coded zones that look just like the maps of Team Cherry’s games.
Though there are many upgrade systems, like cooking, crafting, and refining, the Parts feature looks very similar to Charms in Hollow Knight. This goes for the movement mechanics as well, like dashes and double jumps, with even certain environmental details — like thorny areas players have to avoid at all costs — looking as if they came from Team Cherry itself. For anyone seeking a Hollow Knight-like, it’s hard to imagine a better match than Solateria, as it sometimes looks more like a spin-off of that franchise than an entirely new game.
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Solateria Standing Out From Hollow Knight Will Be Key
While Solateria’s deep Hollow Knight vibes could absolutely work in its favor, as there are far less great Hollow Knight-likes than there are great soulslikes, the game will have to do its own thing to truly stand out and make an impact. Immitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but Solateria hopefully won’t fall into the trap of just being a full-on Hollow Knight clone, as with two great games in that franchise, its fans could just replay them if they feel like Solateria doesn’t live up to the series that clearly inspired it. Fortunately, it does seem as if Solateria is doing enough to forge its own path thanks to a few distinct features of the game.
Solateria features a Steam demo that players can try before purchasing the game, allowing them to see if this particular metroidvania is right for them.
Alongside the aforementioned parry focus, which is a pretty drastic difference in moment-to-moment combat, Solateria offers a more vibrant world to explore, “50 beautiful story cutscenes that should make the narrative easy to follow, and colorful NPCs. Said NPCs could have special functions, like what seems to be a rideable mount, giving them a good deal of depth. Additionally, the game’s Core Stones resemble FromSoftware stat upgrades, with players leveling up their health, shields, attack power, stamina, and so on. Hopefully, all of these elements come together to help the game stand on its own two feet while having just enough Hollow Knight and Sekiro similarities to satisfy those two fan bases. It certainly seems like an incredible game on paper, and if it plays as good as it looks, it really could turn out to be an absolute gem.
