Feedback Player Movement Freedom

I'm making a 2D Metroidvania game that has the usual player movement: dash, wall-climb/jump, double jump, etc. I am considering giving the player access to most of these abilities from the beginning of the game instead of gaining them over time. I obviously don't expect the player to immediately know how to use them all but to instead discover them organically through playing (and maybe with some help from the level design). Therefore the progression of the gameplay comes less from a concrete layout of when/where new movement systems are introduced and more from the player themselves understanding the game.
Would this be too overwhelming?

 

As long as you don't force them to use all of the movement abilities right away, I think it would be fine. Players will likely just run and jump for a while. You'll probably want to include some kind of hint or nudge about how to use a movement ability when the player reaches a point where that ability is needed, such as double-jumping to reach a high ledge. Plan how to present this info, taking into consideration that players may be using different controllers (e.g., PS DualShock vs Xbox One) with different button icons, and they may also have remapped their controls in your options menu.

One of the defining characteristics of metroidvanias is being able to return to previous areas after you've unlocked new movement abilities so you can access areas that were hinted at but unreachable before. Are you going to drop this aspect in your metroidvania? How will that affect player expectations?

Also, be aware of exploits. I had a tester who figured out that if he timed air dashes just right, he could climb to a high ledge and "fly" across the level while only losing a little altitude, allowing him to reach an area that the designers hadn't intended.

 

It might be overwhelming if the gameplay demands that the player has to use so many different tools proficiently before they've had enough time to practice.

Usually I think the benefit of metering out skills is not just to avoid overwhelming player, but also it gives a sense of progression and suggest that there is going to keep being more new things to discover. So that is something you might be taking away, and it's an important thing you'd want to replace if you did take it away.

 

I'm thinking over how to still maintain backtracking when the player already has all the abilities required. I don't want to completely remove backtracking because that exploration is a key part of a metroidvania. Maybe instead of simply an ability check they could act as puzzles. Puzzle rooms to more advanced areas could require proficiency in several mechanics to execute correctly (more of a soft-gating approach). But this may still come at the loss of player confusion since they are used to explicitly being given an ability that has a clear use.

 

I was going to replace the discoverable abilities with weapons that impact both movement and exploration. Like a flare gun that lights up a dark room to scare off enemies or for easier navigation.

What I'm mostly trying to remedy is the kind of sluggish movement metroidvanias seem to start the game off with before the abilities have been obtained. I want there to be the option to go slow for new players but also the ability to zip around right out the gates if you've played metroidvanias before and understand the systems. But it's possible that I've contracted "veteran player bias" and see the starting movement as much more sluggish than it actually is now that I've experienced it with the abilities.

 

Yeah hard to know if its a good idea or not until lots of people have played I think.

I did similar thing in my project - mostly I start out playing it myself so I design more of the "end-game". Not literally the end game, but I am tailoring content more for a player who has the game mastered.

But almost everyone playing the game now is struggling with beginner level stuff, so I try to make that more robust now.

Maybe it is very different depending on your genre though. Probably you can do things the way you have, just make sure it balances out for both types of players.

 

I will reccomend you to not give the player all the abilities at the beggining, you will have to tell how to use them at the beggining, and, even if it isnt necessary they will try to use them (Typical of humans) causing frustration because they dont know how to use them and fail all time. Give them some time to learn the basic gameplay and give cool abilities later.

 

Super Metroid did this with a few moves and it worked well.

The crux is communicating it to players and watching out for game breaking stuff.