DECONSTRUCTING #002: Level Design Construction of Odallus: The Dark Call

DECONSTRUCTING: Level Design Construction of Odallus: The Dark Call

INTRO

Odallus: The Dark Call (referred as Odallus from now on) is one of my favourite games of late. Like Joymasher’s previous game, Oniken, it’s a true homage – a love letter – to the action platformers of the golden era of the genre, the 8-bit home console/computer era. It has a great gameplay and all around level design, but what really reeled me in, was the high level part of their level design, the way they constructed the main progression in their game.

NOTE: This article has mild spoilers. Nothing, that I personally think will ruin the game for anyone, but still, it’s something I’d like to mention before anyone reads further.

THE CONSTRUCTION

When you first start Odallus, it plays pretty much like your standard classic 8-bit action platformer: pretty linearly. Sure, you can do some non-linear stuff in the early levels too, but in the start of the game there isn’t that many reasons for doing so, other than few minor alternative paths and secrets. As Odallus can be quite a challenging game, this is a kind of a good way to keep the focus tightly in the basic game mechanics during the early parts of the game, as the exploration hasn’t yet kicked in. Let the player get familiar with the core mechanics, action, movement and so on.

In the start of the game there is also only one level unlocked. Beating the first level unlocks the next one in a traditional style. The levels are not connected to each other in any real way, but you can see from the map screen, that there are more levels to unlock than the “next in line”. For example you can see right after you beat the first level, that you now have also a path to another level, which locates kind of in underground, but you can’t reach that place yet, no matter how you try. So, even though it might remind you of for example Castlevania III, where you have branching choices what path to follow – which level to tackle next – in Odallus it’s not quite so.

There seems to be a path into underground too, but the player can't reach it yet.

If you have any experience over 2D platformers with exploration and secret areas, the game starts to tease and give hints quite early, about the possibilities for exploration, which mostly can’t be missed by an experienced eye. But, as the levels aren’t really connected as an open world-like manner, you’ll always start the level from the same starting point, like in any classic action platformers. (Note: when you start to unlock the 4 underground levels, you’ll get a shortcut-teleport [if you find it] near to the mini-boss fight, to make it more tolerable to try again, as the mini-bosses can be tough).

Yeah, pretty strong hint, that some ability might allow you to reach the platform.

After you beat more levels, especially the first 4, it’ll become more and more clear, that you have to find some new abilities and upgrades, which could open routes into the “underground” levels, as well as opening routes for more exploration and secrets. This point in the game starts to make it more and more non-linear affair. You’ll start to naturally visit the early levels again, as you’ll probably remember some places you can use the new abilities. Pretty standard stuff in any exploration game.

The player can get abilities, which make it possible to pursue new routes.

So, what’s the idea here then? Why write about it, when the linearity and exploration is “pretty standard stuff”? Well, the brilliance here comes from that high level design choice of making a kind of a hybrid level design solution, that mashes up the traditional linear 2D level design and the more Metroid-like exploration. It still firmly retains the classic linear level based way of approaching though, where every level is their own entity, in which you always enter the level from the same point, mostly progressing “from left to right” every time. But gradually adding a lot of exploration on top of that.

THE BENEFITS

What makes this design decision so good in terms of level design, lies strongly in the way it handles restrictions. Whereas I LOVE the exploration action genre, 2D and 3D, the thing that usually bugs me a bit, is the in-coherency of the level design, when approached from two (or more) directions. In most of the exploration games you’re approaching the same challenges from different directions, in a more open world manner, thus forcing the level designers to usually do a LOT of compromises. It usually also shows, more or less, even in the games, that are widely considered classics and are also praised level design-wise. And even IF the level designers are able to nail it, it sure isn’t an easy affair to design a level that has to work well, when approached from several directions, thus eating a lot of development resources.

Many traditional exploration games also sometimes fail a bit, especially in the near end-game, in keeping the level challenges interesting per minute basis, as there are sometimes a lot of backtracking. This is the point where the pitfalls of the traditional, more open world-like connected approach start to show. Players might go rather long trips from A to B, or to a teleport (which of course can make the trip more manageable). But, as I said above, this is the weak part, when the player has already tackled the challenges many times – It would benefit a LOT to have as good level design as possible to make this more enjoyable part in the game. The “2 or more directions to approach the challenge” doesn’t give the best deck of cards for executing that.

Then again, for some players, totally linear levels don’t always encourage that much to play them again, other than “just” becoming better at them – which I personally love – or collecting something, like coins in the newer Super Mario games. Linear games like for example Völgarr the Viking (note: actually in Völgarr mastering the level opens new challenges) are my favourite kind of games. BUT I’m confident in claiming, that there are a lot of players, who beat the challenge once - maybe 2^nd time sometime later, when the nostalgic vibe kicks in – and then just leave it there, as there isn’t that many other reasons for doing so from the game’s side.

How Odallus does it, gets the best parts from the both worlds. On the other hand it is able to keep a VERY tight level design, especially enemy placement, thorough the whole game, as you’re almost always tackling the challenges from the same direction – level designers don’t need to worry about players entering the challenge from a whole different direction every time they’re planning the challenges. This does not make the level design more boring, quite the contrary: it allows the player to really become better and better, thus realizing his/her own playing skill progression and REALLY enjoy the fruits of a great level design in a meaningful way. It also makes the players to get familiar with the levels in a fashion, that they can start naturally think out of the box, when trying to find the secrets and such. And of course it allows the player ultimately learn to speedrun the levels with skill, tackling well executed challenges, and thus live a true power fantasy in a more satisfactory way.

As Odallus treats the levels as their own entities, it also keeps the stuff the player has to remember, in terms of exploration, neatly organized, and thus less frustrating. It also makes the need of the aforementioned not-so-fruitful backtracking and teleporting a less dominant part in the gameplay. This doesn’t inflate the exploration part in any way. There are still neat puzzles to solve, a LOT of secrets and paths to find - some of those really requiring skill and problem solving and careful exploration.

Exploration in Odallus is very rewarding, literally.

Treating levels as their own entities have also given the level designers good tools to put secrets and such on the player’s path in a more controlled way, not worrying about the player getting lost in a huge connected world, not remembering where to go, or entering (or trying to enter) places at a “wrong” moment of their progression.

CLOSING WORDS

I’m not trying to say, that the traditionally linear level design or the Metroid-like more open connected design is necessarily worse than this hybrid way of doing it. I’ve just personally REALLY enjoyed the way Odallus managed to execute this kind of approach. I don’t claim, that no other game hasn’t done similar structure before. Demon’s Crest for example had quite similar structure already back in the 90s. Odallus just did it so well, that it made me start to think about this kind of level design a lot – why it works so well.

Like I already mentioned in the intro, on top of the great level design choices, Odallus is also otherwise a very well executed game. That’s why I’d recommend Odallus without hesitation to anyone who loves a good 2D action platformer or an exploration game, especially if one is even remotely a fan of aforementioned games Castlevania I – IV and/or Demon’s Crest.