Savior is a Metroidvania with animations good enough to impress the Prince of Persia

There are a lot of Metroidvanias around. Some are wonderful. Some not so much. But nowadays it's a space that's tough to stand out in. I can't see Savior having that problem though.

Savior is a 2D pixel art action adventure platformer like so many others, but its animation work for the playable character looks head and shoulders above that of its peers. There's silky-smooth parkour-like jumping here, which is great, but I just love the precision melee combat. You're able to slide under enemies, jump on their heads to use them as a platform, and parry attacks and dodge arrows in a fast fashion. It reminds me a bit of the Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace lightsaber battle between Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Sith lord Darth Maul, with a healthy dose of old-school Prince of Persia thrown in for good measure.

Savior is the work of Starsoft Entertainment, and Dan Adelman, who headed up Nintendo of America's indie effort before leaving to work with indie developers directly, is on board. There's no release date, but there is a Steam page.

One to watch.