What Makes A Great Metroidvania?

Games like Hollow Knight, Super Metroid, and Ori are nestled deep into my memory as some of the best games that I have ever played. For a genre that has been evolving since the 80’s, a revolutionary experience only comes along once in a blue moon. That’s because there is a blueprint of what makes a good, modern Metroidvania and key elements or pillars that need to be present in order to rise above the competition. This isn’t a list about what defines a Metroidvania, which are things like ability gating and interconnected areas but instead here are the six crucial elements that take an average experience, turn it into something great and truly define what makes a great metroidvania.

ELEMENT ONE: LEVEL DESIGN

For better or worse, one of the largest aspects of a Metroidvania is the constant backtracking. Having great level design is probably the biggest factor that separates the good from the great. This is not to be confused with world design, which is more about atmosphere and art as opposed level design which is how the world is constructed by an architect.

By the end of most Metroidvanias, you will have to backtrack across many paths that lead you through all of the different areas that you have slowly unlocked one at a time. If the level design is laid out smartly and is aided by good art design then this will be a joy and not a nuisance. You will actually find enjoyment in retreading the same ares and not frustrated that you are lost yet again.

A good way to explain this is that the games in the genre with the best level design don’t require a map. They have maps, which can be good to see what door you haven’t tried in a while, but once you figure out where that is located, you should be able to get there just by memory alone. This isn’t due to the skill of the player but instead is created by a truly skilled craftsman that understands how the web is weaved. How all these areas are interconnected in a way that feels like the player has become fully immersed in the universe that has been created.

ELEMENT TWO: ABILITIES

There are two good ways to start a Metroidvania. The first is by giving the player every single ability and power up in the game and then take the taking them away or the alternative is by starting the player at their weakest.

These powers ups and abilities, which could be done either by finding an item in the world or by an ability tree upgrade allows you to do things that were impossible before. Areas that were extremely intriguing before because they were too high to jump or were across water that you could swim in can now be explored with the help of genre classics like double jump, water suit, wall climb and air dash.

All of these abilities not only keep your interest piqued as you feel the power ramp continue to go up but they unlock areas that were inaccessible before, which is basically the equivalent of a moving on to a new level. If done properly, abilities and power-ups should feel earned. If too much power is given to the player at once, it would remove the constant dopamine hit from gaining something new and revolutionary.

ELEMENT THREE: WORLD DESIGN/ATMOSPHERE

Creating a immersive world is challenging. Its a combination of art, art direction, score and more but the end result is that you immediately feel transported to another world. A world that feels living and breathing with you in the middle of it.

The best ones are even more than capable of doing it in the first few minutes and without any words. Super Metroid, for example, conveys a sense of isolation and hopelessness, which is done by showing your ship alone in the rain with no signs of life anywhere and an eerily ethereal score. It’s this atmosphere that transports you into the world of Samus, immersing you in the constant feeling of dread and hostility.

Another example of how world design can be integral is with Ori and The Blind Forest. The amount of detail in the background convey a sense of scale. The forest feels epic and Ori feels like such a small insignificant piece of this world. Moon Studios created a Tolkien like scale, that set the stage for the journey the protagonist is about to embark on. The amazing score by Gareth Coker, amplifies the atmosphere created by the art design, fully immersing the player on this monumental adventure.

ELEMENT FOUR: CONTROLS

A good metroidvania is about getting out of the way of the player as much as possible and letting them get lost in the world, free to explore every crevice. Remove frustration and allow the player to discover which areas they can go to and what they can't. Having tight and repsonsive controls allows the player to quickly understand what paths are to be traveled and what paths will need to wait until later in the journey.

If the controls feel as good as they should, the player will understand if there is a jump they can’t make because that area is ability gated until later. However, if the controls feel unresponsive in any way, then this will lead to frustration which will break immersion.

Instead of exploring the world, the player will become frustrated and unsure of where to proceed. What is obvious to the developers about where the player should go will be obtuse because rather than going where the player should, they might be convinced they can make a jump if they have the proper timing.

ELEMENT FIVE: STORY

All of the controls, art, abilities and level design mean nothing if there isn’t a good story that is also driving you to find the next area. In Hollow Knight, you are trying to figure out what happened to the the kingdom of Hallownest that is now mostly void of warmth, except for a few friendly NPC’s. In Super Metroid, Samus is on the search for the last Metroid, as it could save civilization, which has been stolen by Ridley. In Ori and The Blind Forest, you need to save the forest by restoring the elements that create balance.

You want to find the last Metroid, you want to restore balance to the forest, you want to figure out what happened to Hallownest.

ELEMENT SIX: WEAPONS

Gradually feeling stronger to the point of becoming almost becoming unstoppable is essential to Metroidvanias. They don’t all work the same way though, in Metroid for example, you are constantly adding different augments to your arm cannon, but in other games like Ori and Hollow Knight, you use the same weapon throughout the game but constantly upgrade it. The end result in both cases is that enemies that used to terrify you are now merely minor speed bumps in the road during your backtracking.

It’s the power fantasy fulfillment that makes this so rewarding. It’s a similar rewarding effect that is the reason why so many people are addicted to soulsborne games. It’s the climbing of the mountain that at one point seemed insurmountable and defeating foes that seemed unbeatable. There is a large sense of accomplishment that is achieved by slowly increasing the power of the characters weapons in Metroidvanias using the perfect drip feed.

Takeaway

Hollow Knight? Amazing World Design. Super Metroid? Great Weapons. Ori? Great Story. Guacamelee? Tight Controls. The list goes on and one when you look at the best the genre has ever seen in nearly four decades of existence, you will find that the elite have all six of these elements present to a certain degree