Bluffer's Guide to Metroid vanias
The obvious thing to do when taking a deep dive into the rich world of Metroidvanias would be to start with the two games from which the genre borrows its name – Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night. While we wouldn’t underplay the colossal impact these games have had on the genre, to take these two titles and say “here are the two games that invented the template for the Metroidvania and which every game in that genre has followed since”, while containing a kernel of truth, would grossly simplify a history that is far more complex and contested than that narrative would have you believe. That becomes clear as soon as you start trying to define what a Metroidvania is.
For the most part, the developers we asked to tell us what ‘Metroidvania’ means to them gave us a similar answer. Graham Smith, co-founder and producer at Drinkbox Studios, the developer behind the Guacamelee games, cites “free-form open exploration, with parts of the world gated behind the unlocking of new powers/abilities/gear, requiring the player to re-explore through old areas”. Simon Andersen, art director at D-Pad Studios, the team that made Owlboy, tells us that, “The key aspects have always been a focus on open exploration within a confined set of rooms – metaphorical or literal – where new areas are gated off by a new power that functions as a key”, and also refers to an “emphasis on returning to older parts of the map”. Last but not least, Thomas Happ, the creator of Axiom Verge, says that, “A Metroidvania is generally any game where, as you explore, you encounter gated off areas which you later can unlock with items, abilities, or events.”
Clear and coherent as these definitions are, our interviewees nevertheless began gesturing to some of the complexities of determining exactly what is, or is not, a Metroidvania. Thomas says that there is a lot of variation in how the structure of a Metroidvania can be handled. “It could be that it’s just optional content that’s gated off or it could you to backtrack to access areas with new abilities doesn’t count as a Metroidvania. Simon suggests that while there are plenty of 3D games that could be considered Metroidvanias, “There’s still a somewhat unspoken agreement that the games should in some way mirror the namesake visually, if only in perspective.” And Jens Andersson, programmer on , says that side scrolling usually comes to mind when he thinks ‘Metroidvania’, though he has “decided that’s a bit too limiting”. Here we find ourselves butting up against a debate about the extent to which 3D games can be considered Metroidvanias. We’re not going to try and lay down the law here on what does and does not count as a Metroidvania; it’s just worth acknowledging that the tightly defined nature of the genre’s structure often results in games pushing up against those boundaries and complicating our conception of what a Metroidvania is.
