What’s The Next Silksong? It’s The Eternal Life of Goldman

What’s the next Silksong, the next indie metroidvania that should be on the top of everyone’s watch-list? After playing The Eternal Life of Goldman, this is without a doubt, the pure metroidvania to watch.

I use the word “pure” because there are actually three incredible metroidvania’s to watch, all with slightly different reasons why, but let’s save those til later. Bringing the focus back to The Eternal Life of Goldman, it features all of the exact same elements and same reasoning as to why Hollow Knight is beloved and might even outdo it in some aspects. So let’s go line by line and see how we get to this conclusion.

The Eternal Life of Goldman PREVIEW

ART AND ANIMATION

Starting on the surface, the visuals of The Eternal Life of Goldman have been meticulously drawn, colored and animated by hand using a classic frame by frame method. When actually playing the game and seeing it in action, the only logical comparison is a game like Cuphead. A distinct visual style exploding with color and featuring the imagination of a fever dream. It’s not just background and foreground, the archipelago feels like exploring a Saturday morning cartoon.

In the words of the developers, no two landscapes or rooms are alike. Everything in Goldman is intentional and purposeful. Their goal was to remind the player of the disbelief in their eyes the first time they experienced a 16-bit platformer. Goldman executes on this promise as you can’t possibly process everything that your eyes are seeing. Even the map is overflowing with creativity and imagination .

ATMOSPHERE

The visuals combined with a story inspired by ancient fables, that is meta-narrated to the player by a mother reading to her son in a manner that felt reminiscent of The Princess Bride, instantly created a very strong atmosphere. The world that Goldman explores is bursting with life and ingenuity, but I'm heavily invested because of the storytelling technique. Obviously, there have been minimal examples that use the same framing device as The Princess Bride, but there are indications given through great vocal performances that these two worlds are connected and I want to know more.

MOVEMENT

The movement of Goldman is not only about tight controls, but more-so about the unique traversal system. Moving from platform to platform features a very familiar level of precision, which gives the player full autonomy as you receive instant response allowing for micro adjustments. This is important because it provides the player accountability for their actions.

Platforming requires precision, but it also requires brains thanks to the unique cane mechanic. Goldman’s movement is heavily based around his cane, which he uses to bounce higher, grab things and attack enemies by pogo-ing them from above. There are three sections of the cane that are interchangeable as you will find new sections of the cane throughout your exploration, but you will need to know which one is best for each situation. The aluminum shaft gives Goldman a lot more height, but that can pose a problem when the ceiling is covered in spikes and requires the wooden shaft for the right amount of bounce. This unique system asks the player to use their intelligence more often throughout the experience.

DIFFICULTY

After playing for a little over an hour, there were some tough sections and strong indications that the Goldman is going to push the player to their limits, but the developer said the difficulty will be demanding, but will never devolve into unfair territory where memorization and persistence will take precedence. They want the player to improvise throughout the adventure.

BOSSES

Finally, the bosses not only presented a glorious visual feast that encapsulated the experience of each biome, but they also offered a unique challenge as you needed to learn the pattern and wait for the opportunity. Bossess aren’t damage sponges, but lessons in timing and patience, as they echo the ethos of how combat in Goldman is more centred around movement.

The Eternal Life of Goldman vs Hollow Knight

These are the exact reasons why Hollow Knight and its sequel Silksong became a critical, commercial and cult success. When you compare Goldman to Hollow Knight in each of these categories, the winner is unclear in many of them.

The Eternal Life of Goldman is the logical choice to be the Hollow Knight successor, but it also has the potential to be nominated at The Game Awards in numerous categories. If this sounds hyperbolic, I understand because I had the same reservations after reading the words of the developer about how Goldman is different. At least until I played The Eternal Life of Goldman.

The Top 3 Metroidvania’s to Watch in 2026

Heading into 2026, End of Abyss was my most anticipated metroidvania as it seems to be taking the genre in a different direction but with recent developments, it’s now a 1a, 1b and 1c situation. The Eternal Life of Goldman is exciting because of how it might evolve the genre. Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse needs to be on the list because the franchise is the godfather of the genre and how consistent Evil Empire have been with quality from their beginnings as a support studio on Dead Cells to their exceptional work on Return To Castelvania as well as their collaboration with Ubisoft for The Rogue Prince of Persia.