Most video game worlds take place on horizontal planes and are typically filled with a lot of features, depending on the game type. For example, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild features an expansive open-world to explore, encompassing various landmasses, towns, and even cliffs to climb. It’s not exactly a vertical world, even with the climbing aspect.
For anyone looking for a niche set of games that are centered around the idea of either climbing or descending a vertical space, these are the ones to check out. They include everything from platformers to action RPGs to roguelikes, and can be played on a plethora of consoles. So, prepare to get lost in these dizzying heights.
Donkey Kong Bananza
Traverse The Sub-Layers
Donkey Kong Bananza is one of the most recent examples of a game taking place in a vertical world, albeit the opposite of the norm. As Donkey Kong, accompanied by Pauline, players will have to traverse each Sub-Layer, solve some problems, and then they can dive deeper, descending further and further into the planet’s core.
What awaits them at the bottom? It’s well worth the ride. Surprises aside, the destructibility in the environment is addictive, and in each layer, DK can climb tall structures or hills, adding to the vertical nature of exploration.
Persona 3 Reload
Ascending Terminus
Persona 3 Reload, a remake of the PS2 original game, is about a group of teens who possess supernatural powers to withstand a hidden hour when everyone else falls asleep in Japan.
At this time, their school is transformed into a large tower called Tartarus, and in each major chapter of the game, players have to make it to the base floor of each section, fight a boss, and then the story can continue. Floors are randomized with monsters and loot, akin to a roguelike, while battles are turn-based. Everything is inside, so there is no physical climbing involved within Tartarus.
Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition
Traveling Across Bionis And Mechonis
Xenoblade Chronicles, the first game in the Xenoblade series, has one of the coolest ideas for a setting. Humanity is fighting an all-out war with robots, and each side lives on the backs of one of two titans that stopped moving ages ago: Bionis and Mechonis.
To stop the war, players will start in Bionis, make their way up its body, and then transfer over to Mechonis and descend into its depths. Combat is akin to an MMO, and players have a huge open-world to explore between these titans, with the Switch remaster, Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, serving as the next way to experience the game.
Etrian Odyssey 2: Heroes Of Lagaard
Going Into Yggdrasil’s Trunk
Etrian Odyssey 2: Heroes of Lagaard is a challenging turn-based RPG that lets players fully create their class-based party from melee fighters to magical users. The game is themed around the life tree, Yggdrasil, wherein lies a labyrinth that starts at the base city, and players have to make their way to the top and reach a mythical keep.
Dungeon exploration is in first-person, and players have to map out the area themselves from resource spots to hidden pathways. It’s definitely one of the hardest entries in the series, which was eased up a bit for the 2023 remaster.
Kid Icarus
Pit’s Challenge
Kid Icarus was released after Metroid on the NES, but in the same year in Japan. Both games have similar gameplay mechanics, with Kid Icarus having more verticality to its design. Pit, the hero, had a bit more flexibility than Samus from Metroid since he had wings.
Armed with a bow initially, players could get various power-ups as they tried to inch ever closer to Medusa, the big boss of the game. It’s an archaic adventure that is more challenging than it needs to be, like so many NES games, but those wishing to find out the origins of Pit in his first adventure can easily access the game on Switch with the NES digital library.
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This article originally appeared on GameRant and is republished here with permission.
