Best 2025 Video Games for level design

#1

Level design is strongly praised for seamless area flow, purposeful rooms, thoughtful platform placement, and dense Metroidvania structure.

#2

Level design was widely admired for dense, layered spaces, fresh ideas, and challenge variety, especially once the game opens up.

#3

Level design stood out for memorable finales, strong set pieces, and mechanics that could sustain larger ideas.

#4

Level design was praised for verticality, density, handcrafted routes, and spaces that felt larger than their footprint.

#5

Level and environment design is praised for being more thoughtful and confident in how it leverages traversal.

#6

Level design was praised for compact, meaningful areas and strong map layout, especially when supporting exploration, puzzles, and atmosphere.

#7

Level and map design remained a major strength because verticality and terrain created memorable tactical spaces.

#8

Stage and level design earn praise for evolving Power Stone arenas and thoughtful layouts that support strategy and spectacle.

#9

Level design is praised for distinct areas, route variety, and region-specific mechanics that add structure beyond simple room chains.

#10

Maps received strong praise for flow, density, varied spaces, and strategic layouts across multiple reviews.

#11

The roguelike dungeon rooms are praised for turning gentle life activities into timed, tense challenges.

#12

One reviewer praised the way locations were recontextualized into memorable set-pieces that rewarded planning and awareness.

#13

Cost of Hope’s added regions are praised as strong pieces of world design, with distinct hostile spaces that make exploration feel fresh and memorable.

#14

Biomes introduce shields, hazards, and other small mechanical changes that make positioning matter. The best received stages offer more than a new backdrop.

#15

Track design was usually praised for style, branching, and spectacle, with only a few complaints about cramped layouts or visual overload.

#16

Reviewers praised level design for its handcrafted worlds, co-op readability, and sense of wonder, with a few comments on unclear routes.

#17

Map design improves noticeably as the game opens up, with Outpost and Cryo Archive earning especially strong praise for verticality, secrets, and combat flow. The earliest maps are more divisive...

#18

Level design was broadly positive, especially THPS3 classics and the new Waterpark/Pinball/Movie Studio stages, though some THPS4 conversions drew criticism.

#19

Dense openings and dungeon spaces earned strong praise, with reviewers singling out alternate routes and thoughtful layouts.

#20

Thoughtful enemy placement and stages built around the movement toolkit make the campaign a major strength. Complaints focus on occasional overlong routes, repetitive stretches, and timed sections that interrupt otherwise...

#21

The main facilities drew praise for set-piece design and atmosphere, while linearity and the connective hub lowered scores for some critics.

#22

Level design was praised when interiors, rooftops, and compact city layouts felt purposeful, even as repeated streets limited variety.

#23

Level and map design were praised for dense, hand-crafted layouts and well-crafted act-specific maps.

#24

Large, layered maps offer tunnels, towers, rooftops, and multiple routes that reward tactical planning. Some consider them exceptional, while others miss the previous game’s standout locations or object to restricted...

#25

Level design was praised for world spaces with nooks, crannies, verticality, and useful layouts.

#26

Fort Lyndon's combat spaces mix sightlines, cover, and destructible structures effectively. A few chokepoints can create messy third-party fights, but the layouts are usually praised.

#27

Level design is usually praised for scale, variety, secrets, and challenge structure, but some reviewers criticize flow, pacing, or underused combat spaces.

#28

Multiplayer map design is one of the strongest areas, with frequent praise for flow, verticality, three-lane structure, and wall-jump integration. Campaign spaces are far less consistent.

#29

Dedicated courses earned broad praise, especially standout tracks and Rainbow Road, but route-driven structure and wide connecting roads reduced enthusiasm for some.

#30

Level design was usually praised for shortcuts, layout, and environmental flow, but a few reviewers noted padding, repetition, or a lack of meaningful puzzle-like structure.

#31

Level design earned praise for criss-crossing paths and route variety rather than a purely linear brawler flow.

#32

Level design ranged from hard-to-navigate areas to extravagant maps with rewarding side paths.

#33

Level design split reviewers between praise for purposeful terrain and criticism of copy-pasted or repetitive layouts, with later updates improving map mutations.

#34

Level design received mixed praise for larger arenas, secrets and vistas, but some reviewers found open spaces flatter, bland or less tightly paced.

#35

Level and dungeon design improves as the adventure opens up, with later areas becoming more elaborate, though some early dungeons were criticized as basic.

#36

Level design is highly divisive: some reviews praise memorable layouts and shortcuts, while others call the levels basic, boring, recycled, or even terrible.

#37

campaign level design had occasional barriers and spawn issues that limited otherwise solid encounters.

#38

Level design was mixed, with praise for standout locations and fair layouts offset by criticism that some design felt lacking or overly linear.

#39

Level design split opinion, with some praising comfort or scenery and others criticizing railroading, strict linearity, or repetitive structure.

#40

The themed worlds provide memorable scenery and set pieces, but several stages are quite linear and a few stretches feel generic or overlong. Stronger chapters such as the hellish Vegas...

#41

Level design received limited criticism, mainly that some repeated tower-style spaces could feel tedious.

#42

Level design was mixed: some linear interiors were interesting to explore, but others felt empty, shallow, or short on curated encounters.

#43

The two-line stage concept is treated as a nostalgic extra, but one reviewer says swapping planes feels odd rather than core to the experience.

#44

Level design is the most obvious old-game seam: reviewers praised the contained structure less than the stealth, citing small zones and dated foundations.

#45

Dungeon design drew criticism from one reviewer for feeling visually varied but structurally uninspired and light on distinctive traits.

#46

The only scored level-design evidence is critical, describing certain mission spaces as single-route and overly linear.

#47

Level design was a repeated weakness, with corridors, boxes, bland routes, and underused depths/sky spaces criticized.

#48

Level design is one of the most consistent weak points. Reviewers repeatedly call dungeons and field areas linear, samey, or visually repetitive, even when individual locations or gimmicks work well.

#49

Level design was a recurring weak point, with multiple reviewers calling dungeons linear, basic, repetitive, or hallway-like despite stronger worlds around them.

#50

Level and city design drew criticism where locations blurred together or felt artificial rather than fully reactive playgrounds.