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
- Developer(s)
- P-Studio
- Genre(s)
- JRPG, RPG, Life Simulation, Strategy
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, PC
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: Definitive Edition
- Released
- May 29, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Monolith Soft
- Genre(s)
- RPG
- Platform(s)
- Switch
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 II: Heroes of Lagaard
- Released
- February 21, 2008
WHERE TO PLAY
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo DS
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.
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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.
Grow Home
Robot And The Beanstalk
Grow Home was a little indie darling from within Ubisoft from about a decade ago that, like the beanstalk in the game, slowly started to grow on people. BUD the robot gets dropped onto a foreign planet, and all players have to do is grow vines between the base plant and floating nutrients strewn throughout the vertical sky to reach their spaceship.
It’s not that simple since BUD has awkward controls akin to something like Baby Steps, making the game a challenging endeavor, but also, it fits the idea of verticality well. Reaching the top of any peak and then gliding down below on a flower can be fun to see the work players accomplished. Its sequel, Grow Up, is also worth checking out.
Jusant
A Less Scary Way To Live Out Your Dreams
Anyone trying to get into Cairn but is struggling with the mechanics may want to check out Jusant instead. The ideas are similar as players are mountain climbers yearning for adventure. The big difference is that controls are a lot more user-friendly, so that players can enjoy the ride and views with a little challenge and not scream in frustration every time a foot goes in the wrong direction.
Jusant is certainly a lot safer than mountain climbing in real life, but players could still think about trying to climb a mountain after completing its many challenges and viewing the breathtaking vistas it has to offer.
Pandora’s Tower
Feed Her Heart
Pandora’s Tower takes place in an interconnected dungeon called The Thirteen Towers. Players control Aeron, who has taken a woman named Elena to this deadly place to fight a disease. Elena is cursed, and to save her life, players must slay deadly foes and give her their hearts to replenish her body. It’s a bit disgusting, but love is a powerful thing.
This Wii exclusive is a bit like Metroid meets a Zelda game, as players use their chain weapon to explore the interconnected dungeon, fight monsters, and solve puzzles. Between the views and the swinging action, Pandora’s Tower puts the idea of verticality to good use, and it’s a shame it hasn’t been remastered yet.
The Deadly Tower Of Monsters
A B-Movie Parody
The Deadly Tower of Monsters has one of the coolest concepts for an indie game that a lot of people missed initially in 2016. The game is framed as if players are watching an old B-Movie with a commentary going on. Frames will stutter, the director will talk about what's wrong with scenes, and so on.
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The plot of the film/game finds the playable heroes having to climb an ever-expanding tower to the sky, fighting dinosaurs, aliens, monsters, and so much more. The mixed reality elements are what help this game stand out, such as using low frames to mirror stop-motion animation. B-Movie fans will dig the absurd nature of this top-down action game that breaks the fourth wall.
Let It Die
Beware The Towers Of Barbs
- Developer(s)
- Grasshopper Manufacture
- Genre(s)
- Hack and Slash, Fighting, Survival, Shooter
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows
The original Let It Die’s concept featured The Towers of Barbs, a mysterious dungeon that appeared outside of Japan one day, with adventurers heading inside to claim its treasure. Players could create their avatar and find various weapons, gear, and power-ups on their dungeon run, with the full knowledge going in that the game supported permadeath.
The permadeath factor, the free-to-play model, and the sheer Soulslike difficulty of the game seemingly made it impossible to finish without forking over cash. That said, those who finished Let It Die and made it to the top of The Towers of Barbs must have felt pretty happy.