Mystroidvanias: open world games where progression is gated by knowledge
games that feel like metroidvanias but instead of being gated by items, you're gated by acquiring knowledge about how the game works. also known as "mystroidvanias", "metroidbrainias" and "brainvanias".
open to suggestions.
open to suggestions.
17 Games
bit of an outlier since progression is also gated by weapon upgrades, but knowledge is still a core gate in progression
4 Comments
thanks for the comment. i haven't played heaven's vault myself (i own it, have yet to get around it) but from both suggestions and my own understanding of it, the "gating" itself being unlocked is the story in this case, which can be taken on non-linearly. that's stretching out the meaning behind the term being used, and can be certainly argued whether or not it really belongs with the rest here, but i don't think it falls too far from the tree so as to remove it yet.
i'll give it a good thought once i eventually get to it, since i want this list to focus purely on myst-likes, or at least games where new learnings can recontextualize previous findings ingame. that's the exact feeling i'm chasing.
i'll give it a good thought once i eventually get to it, since i want this list to focus purely on myst-likes, or at least games where new learnings can recontextualize previous findings ingame. that's the exact feeling i'm chasing.
Hey this list looks really great! I’m looking to do a video on this genre and this list is really helpful to get it started. What are the top 5 you would recommend looking at? I’m currently playing Outer Wilds and have played Tunic.
I did some digging from the title of this list and found a community on Reddit dedicated to these types of game just wanted to leave it here to help anyone else looking around.
https://www.reddit.com/r/metroidbrainia/s/wFgOObbPyB
I did some digging from the title of this list and found a community on Reddit dedicated to these types of game just wanted to leave it here to help anyone else looking around.
https://www.reddit.com/r/metroidbrainia/s/wFgOObbPyB
hey there, thanks for the link. i'll keep an eye out for some of the games sugegsted in that subreddit.
my top 5 might be a bit controversial since i haven't played all of the games in the genre and also some of them might not fit the definition to its full extent, but honestly the main enjoyment i get out of these games is the "eureka" moment of figuring out stuff that can be applied in stuff you've seen before. as such, out of this list my faves would be:
-void stranger
-outer wilds
-taiji
-obra dinn
-fez
there's a few entries in the genre that are more "classic" metroidbrainia but i didn't enjoy them as much, like la-mulana or tunic. also, i haven't tried out some of the newest hot entries (i heard animal well can fit this category quite "well", heh). as usual, your own criteria can be valid as well. try them out and see which ones you like best!
my top 5 might be a bit controversial since i haven't played all of the games in the genre and also some of them might not fit the definition to its full extent, but honestly the main enjoyment i get out of these games is the "eureka" moment of figuring out stuff that can be applied in stuff you've seen before. as such, out of this list my faves would be:
-void stranger
-outer wilds
-taiji
-obra dinn
-fez
there's a few entries in the genre that are more "classic" metroidbrainia but i didn't enjoy them as much, like la-mulana or tunic. also, i haven't tried out some of the newest hot entries (i heard animal well can fit this category quite "well", heh). as usual, your own criteria can be valid as well. try them out and see which ones you like best!
Ephemeris
5 months ago
I'm not sure Heaven's Vault quite qualifies -- it hurdles you towards the ending regardless of how much or little you learn. Of course, what you know of the plot and the characters varies wildly based on this metric, but I would not say the game is "gated."