How Revenge of the Savage Planet caters to player choice

Savage Planet's Revenge follows in its predecessor's footsteps as a slapstick, exploration-heavy Metroidvania full of humorous gags and tricky, off-the-beaten-track secrets. Developed by Raccoon Logic, a studio formed by The journey to the wild planet developers following Google Stadia's shutdown, this sequel aims to deliver much of the same humor and satisfying exploration that made the original a sleeper hit.

Game Rant sat down with Raccoon Logic's co-founder and creative director Alex Hutchinson along with game design director Steven Masters to discuss the team's approach to Savage Planet's Revenges Metroidvania elements. Like the first game, players can choose to head straight for primary objectives and complete the game quickly, or they can explore every nook and cranny to find additional secrets and upgrades. In their mind, both approaches are perfectly correct.

Revenge of the Savage Planet responds to player choices like the Stanley Parable

Like any good Metroidvania, Savage Planet's Revenge constantly offering players multiple paths forward and plenty of choices in between. Masters points out that it's not only important to give players choices, but also to recognize and celebrate them. This is widely appreciated in gaming, especially noticeable in choice-driven RPGs such as Dragon Ageso expanding it into the Metroidvania genre seems like a wise move. Giving players choices is good, but it's most effective when the game responds to those choices. As Masters said,

One of the things I find most enjoyable about that design challenge is responding to and acknowledging the player's path through the world. Take scanning as an example. One of the first things you find is a health plant, right? You start off a little damaged and there's a health facility nearby so you can replenish yourself. Your robot friend will say something like, “Hey, you should probably check out what that plant is and see if it's useful for you.”

If you choose to scan it or not, you will get different results from the bot. It's just a simple example. If you eat the plant without scanning it first, the bot might recognize that you're being a bit adventurous and say something like, “You probably should have scanned it first!” Then you take that idea and apply it to the rest of the game.

Savage Planet's Revenges particular blend of comedy also lends itself well to acknowledging these player choices. Cautious players can scan an unfamiliar plant before eating it, while adventurous ones can dive in and take a bite immediately. These are both recognized approaches and the robot companion may have a humorous comment in store depending on that choice. This connects to what made players love The Stanley Parable so much: the feeling that the game reacts to the player's actions.

There is no wrong way to play Revenge of the Savage Planet, say the developers

Hutchinson believes it is important that these recognitions are always encouraging. While some developers may not be happy about a player quickly running through carefully crafted levels and missing out on countless hours of dialogue writing, Raccoon Logic sees these as valid practices and that the game is enriched by validating these players. A player quickly passes through Savage Planet's Revenge may receive a cheer from the robot companion who admires their laser focus on the primary target. As Hutchinson explained,

It's about making them feel like they always did the right thing. Whichever path they chose is the right one; it's just the flavor they choose. If someone is very careful and scans everything, we recognize it. Or, if someone is in a hurry, we celebrate that too – Wow, no time to lose!

At the same time, Hutchinson notes that this also helps inform players of other opportunities. When feedback from the game suggests to players that they did something unusual, it can inspire them to consider new ways to tackle problems. This back and forth between the game and the player must do Savage Planet's Revenge a particularly replayable Metroidvania as players come back to explore all the alternate outcomes. As Hutchinson said,

It's all about recognizing the player's decision. I think, especially when we're trying to be a little systemic—even though it's obviously not a fully systemic game—we want to have enough systemic breadth that you can solve a problem in different ways. We want to celebrate that for the player.

If they realize, “Oh, I could have done it differently,” it encourages them to think about the environment differently. It's a lot more fun than just going from point A to point B and pressing X when you're told to press X.