Why You Didn't Get Lost in Metroid Dread

There’s something a bit strange about Metroid
Dread.

This is a full on Metroidvania. It takes place
in a sprawling, interconnected, ant farm of

a world. You’ll need to scour the map to
find Samus’s various abilities - and then

backtrack through the world to use those powers
to unlock new areas.

This is a game where you explore and navigate.
And unlike some games in the franchise, there’s

no one telling you where to go - you need
to figure it out for yourself.

And yet - I’m not sure I really figured
out anything for myself. When I played Metroid

Dread I seemed to just magically end up in
the right place. And I don’t think I ever

got lost for more than a few minutes.

How on earth does that happen? How is this
game both linear and non-linear… at the

exact same time? Something fishy’s happening
here.

So I decided to play through the game again.

This time, in true Boss Keys style, I did
it with a pen and paper and an analytical

eye. And what I realised was pretty interesting.

You see, behind the scenes, developer Mercury
Steam is using all sorts of clever tricks

and techniques to - essentially - guide you
through the game. To pull you through the

world of planet ZDR, like you’re tied to an invisible
rope.

And so in this video, I want to show you these
techniques - these tricks that make it easy

to find the way forward, and hard to get lost.
I’m Mark Brown, this is Boss Keys, and this

is why you didn’t get lost in Metroid Dread.

Check out this tiny bit of level design. Samus
can squeeze through this gap by using her

basic, built-in slide move. But at the other
end, she pops out of a hole that’s slightly

above the ground. That means she can’t slide
back through - and whatever’s on the left

side of this gap will be completely inaccessible
until much later on, when she finds the morph ball.

Until then, it’s a point of no return.

Now, Metroid Dread is absolutely full of these.
You’ll drop down into places where you can’t

jump back up, slide down hills that are too
steep to climb, plop into water that’s too

deep to swim out of, step on giant fidget
spinners that close off reverse access, walk

through giant doors that lock tight behind
you, and so on. And so on.

So what’s the point? Well, I think it’s
about combatting a Metroidvania problem that

I call the “ever expanding explorable area”.
And it’s basically this: at the start of

a Metroid game, you are restricted, by your
abilities, to a tiny part of the map. Which

means it’s not too difficult to find the
path forward. Like, after you get the missiles

in Super Metroid - even if you can’t figure
out where to go next, there’s literally

only 13 rooms to check.

But as the game goes on, and you uncover more
and more of the map, the explorable space

grows and grows. Once you find the power bomb
in that game, there are well over 100 rooms

accessible to you. Finding the path forward
can be an overwhelming prospect.

That's why it's called an EEEA.
That's the sound you make when you

realise the scale of the task ahead of you.
EEEA!!

But now look at Metroid Dread. We start the
game in Artaria - and travel through a whole

bunch of different areas - including a large,
maze-like EMMI zone. And a semi-submerged

cave system to the west. Then we get the Phantom
Cloak. And if we’re not sure where to use

it, do we need to check every single room
in Artaria?

No - because if you travel in the wrong direction,
you’ll find that this whole section of the

map is actually, completely inaccessible.
Three passageways are too tight to squeeze

through until you have the morph ball. And
in one room - a fiery plant has inexplicably

appeared, and it can’t be pruned without
the ice missiles.

So it means your explorable space is
actually pretty small.

And this is something that happens throughout
the game - at many, many points throughout

Metroid Dread, the designers temporarily lock
you into a small segment of the world map.

This makes it easier to find the way forward,
because you only need to keep a small part

of the map in mind at one time - your cognitive
load is pretty small. But it also makes it

very difficult to get lost because, when Metroid
Dread wants to - it can physically stop you

from going too far in the wrong direction.

For the most part, though, you’ll never
even know its happening as these points of

no return seamlessly appear behind you.

Okay, so Metroidvanias are about finding abilities
- the game’s keys, so to speak. And then

finding the place where those abilities are
needed to make progress - as in, the locks.

Now, most games in the genre sprinkle the
locks and keys all over the map, forcing you

to zig zag back and forth across the world.
You might find the Boost Ball in Phendrana

Drifts, but it’s used to unlock an area
all the way back in Chozo Ruins.

Now. Here’s the world map of Metroid Dread’s
planet ZDR.

I’m going to put the location of 13 of the
game’s 22 abilities on the map. And now,

I’m going to put the location of the rooms
where those abilities are needed to make progress.

And what you’ll see is that in all of these
cases, the lock is just around the corner

from the key. Literally, in the same biome.
So, you get the bomb in this part of Dairon,

and use it a few rooms over, also in Dairon.
You get the ice missiles on the west side

of Ghavoran, giving you access to a room on
the east side of Ghavoran. Get the cross bombs,

and they’re essentially needed next door.

This is surely intended to help with memory.
Because if the lock is somewhere you’ve

visited very recently - it’s still in your
working memory. Meanwhile, all those rooms

you visited at the beginning of the game?
They’re long forgotten. So, placing the

locks close to the keys makes it much, much
easier to make progress.

But it goes a bit further than that. In most
Metroidvanias, there are usually many locks

for each key - you get the Desolate Dive in
Hollow Knight, and now you can smash through

a whole bunch of floors, all over the world.
Typically, only one actually provides the

way forward - while the rest will lead to
optional pick-ups, secret bosses, or just

another locked door that you can’t open
yet.

That’s not always the case in Metroid Dread,
though. Like, once you get the Plasma Beam,

it’s not like you can now open loads of
locked doors all over ZDR. In fact, once you

get back out of Elun, you can only reach one
door in the entire world that’s locked behind

a plasma shield. Which is, yes,
the place you need to go next.

By reducing the number of locks you need to
remember, the game makes it easier to find

the correct path.

Now, I should state this is definitely not
true for every power-up in the game. The grapple

beam is a good counter example - the world
is full of places to use it, and once you

have the ability you can now find handy pick
ups, collect stuff you can’t use right now

- like this power bomb resource in Cataris,
and even get very early access to the game’s

optional power up, the pulse radar.

So, that’s technique two - Metroid Dread
makes it easier to find the correct path by

reducing the number of locks for each key
- and putting the most important lock, the

one that will push you further along the critical
path - close by.

But, I did say that this is for 13 of the
game’s 22 abilities - what about the other nine?

So, you get the morph ball in Cataris. You
need it to squeeze through here, back in Artaria

- which lets you find the Varia suit. And
then, the Varia suit is needed back in Cataris,

to withstand this superheated room.

That’s more like classic Metroid, right?
Bouncing back and forth around the world.

And it’s not the only time that happens.
You get the space jump in the north of Ferenia,

and need to use it in the depths of Burenia.
You get the screw attack in Artaria, and need

it to smash through blocks in Ghavoran. These
locks and keys are spread out across the world,

sending you zig-zagging across the planet.

That is, if it wasn’t for the game’s fast
travel system.

So when you get the morph ball in Cataris,
the most obvious place to use it is here - just

around the corner, in the same biome.

On the other side is a teleporter, which sends
you to Artaria - right next to the Varia suit.

You’re then led back to the same teleporter
- which sends you back to Cataris. And - wouldn’t

you know it, you’re just round the corner
from the superheated room that requires the

Varia suit. How fortuitous!

So, sure - the morph ball and Varia suit may
be miles apart from one another, but this

teleporter essentially puts them right next
door. And it’s the same for those other

lock and key pair ups I mentioned: the space
jump unlocks a teleporter to

Burenia. And the screw attack gives you access
to a nearby teleporter that will warp you

to Ghavoran.

So even if the lock is far away from the key,
Metroid Dread still makes it easy to make

progress by giving you a a teleporter that
will zap you to the right spot.

Plus this also has a nice, additional consequence
- that makes it even harder to get lost.

So as I said, after you get the morph ball
you can go left and find a teleporter to the

Varia suit area. But let’s say you go the
other way. You go right. You travel, by foot,

all the way through Cataris, take the elevator
down, and travel all across Artaria. Eventually,

you’ll end up in this room - which is the
other end of the teleporter, and the location

of the Varia suit.

As I said in the Hollow Knight episode, having
multiple routes to the next part of the critical

path can be a really good idea - it makes
it much easier to make progress because you’ve

now doubled the chances of the player finding
their way. And that’s what happens in Dread

- if you go left after finding the morph ball,
you’ll get to the Varia suit. If you go

right, you’ll get to the Varia suit. Same
either way.

You know the bananas in the Donkey Kong games?
Those tiny collectible items that you want

to pick up. Well, the level designers know
you want to pick them up, so they can use

them in all sorts of ways - like showing you
the right route to take, or teasing you to

stumble into shortcuts and secrets.

This is a technique I like to call “breadcrumbing”
- as in, providing little treats that lead

you wherever the designers want you to go.
And Metroid Dread does this a lot.

After you get the morph ball, you’ll be
tempted to go through here, to get a missile

upgrade. Then drawn up here, with another
missile upgrade. And then up here, to get

this energy tank - which leads up to the Varia
suit room.

Once you get the speed booster, you’ll want
to smash through this wall, to get an energy

tank part. And once you get the Flash Shift,
you’ll want to come back to this room to

get this Energy Tank - which happens to be
right under the door to the next part of the game.

After you get the screw attack, you may be
tempted to head left to blast through these

screw attack blocks and get a missile upgrade.
Which guides you to the elevator back to Burenia.

Here, you’re tempted to head left by more
screw attack blocks and another treat. And

then pulled upwards by more screw attack blocks
and yet another treat. All of which leads

you to a teleporter - and the place where
you need to use the screw attack to progress

the game.

So even though the screw attack is found in
Artaria and is needed all the way up in Ghavoran

- you are led there by a bunch of breadcrumbs.

Breadcrumbs don’t have to be upgrades, mind
you. Enemies on the other side of a wall can

encourage you to blast through hidden blocks.
And these small fireflies are just a visual

effect, but happen to hang around the doors
you need to enter to make forward progress.

Anything the game can do to grab your attention
and pull you in the direction of the critical

path - it will do it.

So I think those are the four main techniques
that Metroid Dread uses to make it easy to

find the path forward, and hard to get lost.

Points of no return trap you in small sections
of the map, to reduce your cognitive load

and stop you going in the wrong direction.

Putting the locks near the keys means the
way forward should always be in your working

memory. And if the lock isn’t nearby, there’s
probably a fast travel teleporter to get there.

And tempting breadcrumbs are used to guide
you through the world, from one ability to

another.

There are some other techniques too, of course.
Like, how these lights form a design language

to suggest where you should use the spin boost
and space jump. Or how memorable landmarks

lodge in your brain and tempt you to return
later. But those are the big ones.

And, for the most part, these techniques are
very effective at guiding you through the

game. I can watch back the footage of me playing
through Dread for the first time, and see

me falling into every trick and trap that’s
been engineered by the designers. It’s hilarious.

Of course, it’s not going to work 100% of
the time. You can still get turned around.

Not know where to go. Get stuck in a room
and proclaim it a crime against game design.

And, contrary to the clickbait title, yes
- you can get lost.

While the points of no return often lock you
into small areas, there are other parts of

the game where the world is much more open.
And tricks like breadcrumbs may not work on

every single player, every single time.

But, by and large, these techniques do work
to help you stay on track. The question, then,

is - are they a force for good? Do they make
the experience of playing Metroid Dread better

or worse?

Now, first, I should state that all Metroidvanias
use techniques like these to help you find

your way. Even Dread’s perhaps naughtiest
trick - the point of no return - can be found

in multiple places in Super Metroid - such
as this one-way door in Brinstar, and this

massive drop down into Norfair.

Subtle clues and directions stop Metroidvania
games from being tedious and annoying. So,

ultimately, it’s more down to their frequency
and intensity. And yes, Dread uses them often,

and quite aggressively.

But, ultimately, what you think of these techniques
will come to how - and why - you play Metroid

games.

There are those who play Metroid games primarily
for the action and atmosphere - and are less

interested in the exploration aspect.

If that’s the case, then Metroid Dread gives
you the feeling of exploring a large, interconnected

world - but with less risk of getting lost,
and without the need to get bogged down in

tedious backtracking and map-reading.

And, on top of that, you’ll find a game
that is alarmingly well paced - a whirlwind

tour of different abilities, biomes, and bitchin’
boss fights, where you’re always making

forward progress.

Then, there are those who play Metroid games
primarily for the joy of exploring and navigating

a complex spaghetti mess of a world.

If that’s the case, then Metroid Dread can
feel rather patronising.

At some point you’ll realise that you don’t
need to think too hard about navigation, because

the way forward is always pretty obvious.
So you can stop thinking so hard about this

stuff and just let the game whisk you off
to the next stop on its guided tour. And if

you care about navigation, that’s not much
fun.

Plus, when it comes to exploration, you may
find yourself attempting to break out from

the critical path to find items - only to
be rebuffed by points of no return. So you

may not bother to hunt down optional goodies
and secrets, even when the game does open

back up. You’ll just stick to the critical
path.

And then, there are those who play Metroid
games multiple times.

If that’s the case, then - sure, your first
go at Dread may be guided by an invisible

hand - but subsequent adventures are about
deliberately fighting against that hand. Using

the movement tech and bugs to break out of
the game’s sequence, and do things in a

better, faster way.

And its not like the developers are unaware
- if you manage to get the bombs before you’re

supposed to, you can insta-kill Kraid in a
special, secret cutscene.

For me, personally, I’m not really into
sequence breaking or speed-running. And while

I really dig the action and atmosphere of
Metroid games, my favourite bit has always

been navigation and exploration. So, as much
as I loved Dread’s combat and controls,

I did feel a bit let down by the game’s
world design.

I wanted to figure things out for myself - but
just stopped trying and let myself be guided

to the end. I wanted to explore - but, felt
trapped by points of no return, so ended up

with a paltry 39% completion rate. And I wanted
to feel deeply connected with this world - the

same way I feel about Hallownest, Zebes, and
Lordran - but that didn’t really happen.

So that’s me. What about you? What was your
experience on planet ZDR? And what sort of

Metroid player are you? Let me know, in the
comments down below. Thanks for watching.