Emberbane Could Be 2026's Best Metroidvania

February has already given us Mewgenics, and Slay the Spire 2 arrives in March. Now another heavy hitter enters the ring. Emberbane, the elemental metroidvania from Hamlet Games, launches on Steam on February 24.

The pitch is simple: what if Avatar: The Last Airbender was a precision platformer? The execution looks anything but simple.

Four Elements, One Combat System

You play as Ophelia, a Fire Sage on a quest through the ruined kingdom of Elsinore. The hook is the elemental system. Fire, Ice, Earth, and Storm each come with their own moveset and traversal abilities. You are not locked into one element. You chain them together mid-combo.

That design philosophy sets Emberbane apart from most metroidvanias. Where Hollow Knight built its combat around nail arts and charms, Emberbane asks you to improvise with four interlocking toolkits. Launch an enemy with an earth pillar, freeze them in place, then slam them with a fire dash. The trailers show a combat system closer to Devil May Cry than anything in the genre.

Relics add another layer. These artifacts modify your abilities and let you customize your playstyle. Think of them as the charm system from Hollow Knight, but applied across four elemental trees instead of one.

Handcrafted World Design

Elsinore is built from haunted forests, drowned citadels, frozen palaces, and forgotten deserts. Each region serves a different elemental god, and the pixel art reflects that. The screenshots show environments dense with detail. Layered parallax backgrounds, animated flora, and atmospheric lighting make every area feel distinct.

Hamlet Games has confirmed six main boss encounters with unique mechanics, plus mini-bosses scattered throughout. The game also features four different endings based on player choices, which is unusual for the genre.

From Kickstarter to Launch

Emberbane started as a Kickstarter project and hit its funding goal with 1,154 backers pledging over $32,000. Stretch goals unlocked a Boss Rush mode and the ability to pet animals. Priorities in order.

The game ships on PC (Windows, Mac, and Linux) on February 24, with console versions planned for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch. It supports 11 languages out of the box, including full English voice acting.

Why You Should Watch This One

The metroidvania genre is crowded. That is the reality of 2026. But Emberbane brings a genuine mechanical twist with its elemental chaining system, and the pixel art production values look well above the Kickstarter average. The combat design is ambitious, pulling from action games rather than relying on the standard attack-dodge-heal loop.

If you are tracking what is coming to Steam this month, put Emberbane on your wishlist. February 24 is the date. We will have a full review once we have spent time with the final build.