Been replaying SOTN/the DS Castlevanias and they reminded me why I don't like how metroidvania games tend to handle exploration. Their goal, intentionally or not, is to clog up your mental backlog with an endlessly expanding and changing checklist of small, effortless tasks. While the tasks are usually extremely boring IMO, consisting of the usual stuff like keeping a mental note of an unreachable platform for when you get a double jump, they are still really effective at creating compulsive play.
The fact that all of this is handled by the player, with no note systems (until DS) that'd let you mark rooms isn't a bug, it's a feature. It refuses to let you store information in the game and ease the burden of remembering random bs, with this they increase the cost of quitting. After all, you might remember where to go, but will you remember a random raised platform you can't reach? Or the location of a suspicious wall? The "best" metroidvanias from this compulsion driving perspective will then be ones which manage to work each micro-secret into each other, creating an endless feedback loop of ever changing tasks which feed into one another. This is the crux of metroidvania-style "secret" hunting (ability gating or key gating, both work) - completing one task instantly creates sub-tasks, and completing those subtasks can potentially branch out into even more tasks. This is the strength of various survival/crafting games as well from a compulsion-driving POV - each thing you craft creates subtasks. The more you clog those mental pipes up, the harder it will be for players to stop, even if they're not really enjoying themselves. It's a very lowkey kind of background stress, it taps into your hoarding instinct or into the feeling of forgetting if you locked your door when you went out. That "but what if...?" sensation that drives irrational compulsive behavior. It also masks the lackluster nature of what it is you're actually doing.
In contrast, Rain World is really pure and immediate. There's almost no character progression - damn near everything you need is available from the start, the only progression is the game's equivalent of lives/keys. Items are found lying in semi randomized spots on the levels and often used shortly after you find them. There's very little item persistence (or need for it) aside from the masks, troll toll checkpoints and a tiny handful of quest items. Your mental pipes are clean, stress is immediate, and it's remarkably easy to stop playing if you need a break.
It's surprising how vividly I feel the compulsion when playing CV, and frustrating that despite knowing all this and experiencing both the compulsion loops and the feeling of emptiness that comes after I finish the tasks & look back, THEY STILL WORK. I know the exploration isn't fun, I know that I don't need the levels/items to beat the game, I know that if anything they make the games less fun cause they make it easier, and yet I can feel the compulsion regardless. Truly lab rat type of stuff. If only my personal task lists were this effective...
