PicoBlog

“Metroidvania” is a term than encompasses specific gameplay terms, a mindset, a vibe if you will. Born of Castlevania and Metroid, a metroidvania game is one that has you exploring various complex maze-like levels, only to discover dead ends that need certain skills to open up. A metroidvania game throws you in a large world, many times an inhospitable, alien planet, and leaves you to find your way step by step, fighting bosses, backtracking to previously closed gates with a newfound skill at hand to open them. A metroidvania game is about non-linear exploration, or about the illusion of it. It’s a type of open world really, just tightly structured and usually 2D.

This is important, really, because we mostly tend to call a game “metroidvania” when it is played in two dimensions. But is this fair? As we see games that bend their genre definitions more and more, how can we use a term like “metroidvania” correctly? Does a game have to be played in 2D to be a metroidvania? Does it need skills that open gates, or are items and bosses enough too? For instance: Metroid, yes, it is Metroid. But is it metroidvania? Is a Zelda or a Zelda-like a metroidvania game? Is Dark Souls a metroidvania? Is Resident Evil Village? Well, I would have to argue that yes, indeed, they all are.

Metroid Prime is a metroidvania game, and a Metroid one too. The dimensions are not gameplay mechanics and should not be treated as such -except when they actually are, like in FEZ, but that’s a different matter. Metroid Prime is just a Metroid in 3D. If we say it’s not a metroidvania game, one can go further and argue that a 3D platformer is not as much a platformer as a 2D platformer. Let’s not get too meta: it is, indeed, a 3D platformer is a platformer, in any and all cases.

So, is (any) The Legend of Zelda a metroidvania game? Well, yes and no. The fundamentals are there, for sure, but there are differences in approach. While you do indeed explore a complex world, and while this world is indeed made of separate “zones”, in Zelda games you don’t fight using your keys. There’s gated progression in Zelda, but not so much a need to backtrack. Zelda games are designed differently to metroidvanias, and don’t share all their principles. In Zelda you go to a dungeon, use a specific skill to open the door, and then use said skill in this specific stage. After finishing, you don’t use it as much. Also, most doors open with keys and not with a skill you acquire.

There are enough features in a Zelda game (not BOTW) to have us consider them metroidvania experiences, but the feeling is not quite the same. Then, there are some variations. There are games like the recent (and excellent) Unsighted, that’s like a mix of Zelda-like principles with a metroidvania approach. Also, Dark Souls throws us in an interconnected, complex world full of secrets, shortcuts and dead ends that open up later. Well, not exactly, because Souls games don’t gate progression, that’s not their focus, but the difficult challenges do halt progress and force backtracking and non-linear exploration. Dark Souls is an open world game, in a sense.

But if I say “Dark Souls is open world” a person might think of it as a gothic Far Cry or something. So, we should be able to make a distinction, using a few -or just one- words. What kind of an open world do we explore in Dark Souls? Well, a metroidvania one. It’s not a metroidvania game per se, but this term can describe the game’s world and progression system pretty accurately. The same can be said, mostly, for Resident Evil Village. And what are terms, if not a way to describe something in just a few words, a way to give information quickly?

So, as I understand it, “metroidvania” is now a term that describes a unique progression and world design approach, and not a whole gaming experience. Language is evolving for sure, words tend to shift and have new meanings, why shouldn’t the same be true of gaming terms? It’s different, for example, to describe a pop artist’s music as “pop”, “hyperpop” or “bubblegum pop”. These are words that have specific meanings and help you understand exactly what music you’re going to listen to if you buy the album.

Categorizing entertainment can be helpful. As such, we cannot say that a game is “open world” and leave it at that. Far Cry is open world, Metal Gear Solid V is open world, Skyrim too and No Man’s Sky also. “Action” is not enough, too, in some cases. Neither is “action-adventure”. That’s why there’s a growing need for terms like “narrative driven”, “linear”, or “walking simulator”, to go next to standard ones like “action-adventure” and describe an experience as accurately as possible. An “action” game can be linear, open world, roguelike, narrative focused, or, for sure, it can be metroidvania too.

I think we should and will start to understand “metroidvania” as an identifying feature and not the main aspect of a game’s approach, and I think that’s fine.

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