One of the greatest action platformers of all time, though it might not be what Metroidvania fans in particular are looking for. While the game does follow Metroidvania progression, with an expansive and lovingly detailed world, exploration elements take a backseat to combat and especially platforming.

If you are confident in your gaming skills and seek a real platforming challenge, few games are more satisfying than Aeterna Noctis. As a platformer, it is endlessly creative and rewarding, challenging the player to master its mechanics and design language. The teleport arrow mechanic which serves as the core of its platforming design is almost comically overwhelming at first, and yet by the end of the game it will have become second nature; if you ask me, the appeal of difficult games is pushing past your limits, overcoming yourself, and this is something Aeterna Noctis facilitates brilliantly.

But again, this is not a game for people who desire an exploration-oriented experience or RPG-esque progression -- Hollow Knight and SotN this is not. Aeterna Noctis's framing as a Metroidvania perhaps does it a disservice, because there is a fairly significant portion of the Metroidvania fanbase that is never going to appreciate its approach; at the same time, "Metroidvania" is a very convenient descriptor, and the basic progression of the game largely adheres to genre conventions, so I'm not sure there's actually a better way to market it.

So I'll just say this: play Aeterna Noctis if you want a Metroidvania with gorgeous graphics and platforming harder than anything in Celeste.