GOD OF WAR LEVEL

This level is inside the Midgard Realm in God of War.

OBJECTIVE

This level starts from the lower lake area with waterfalls, generally goes deep into the mountain, and finally towards the heart chamber inside the valley. Kratos and Atreus are heading toward the mountain, their goal is to defeat the monster lives there.

Level length: targeting 30 min to 45 min.

Main character: Kratos and Atreus. Player mainly controls Kratos.

Level location: In Midgard, the starting location is near the Lake of Nine, and then goes up into a mountain.

General Map

I split the cave area and forest area. I want the player to go through some open environment area and then go inside the cave area and then go back to the open area which constantly change the style of the environment, also changes the lighting. The player can always find some interesting in front of them to keep exploring the world.
The player will only have one big landmark in their view. They will see the next landmark after get to the previous one. Too many interesting landmark will cause distraction and also spoil what's coming next.

Flow and Structure Map

There are three major objective points. The straight line distance is about 400 meters between each two of them.
I marked all the possible combat encounter points and three puzzles on the map. The gear upgrade workshop is in the middle of the map. Combat requires large open spaces, puzzles are placed in places where the player has to solve it to continue traversing.
Inside area and outside area are almost half and a half and consecutively connected together. After exiting the previous cave, the player will see the next cave after some exploration in the open area, so there will always be something interesting and surprising in front of the player and keep the player in the flow state.

Map with screenshots

A breakdown of processing the level.

Player Metrics

PUZZLE AND COMBAT ENCOUNTERS

Puzzle 1

Using a loot box and lighting to guide the player to check the elevator.
The elevator got stuck, the player has to find out what happened. If the player can't find out, Atreus will provide the hint.
After pulling out the tree trunk, the player will lose control and trigger the cutscene. During the cutscene, the elevator will go up (this is also a good way to tell the player where to go) and then trigger the combat.
After the combat, the player may continue solving the puzzle and finally get to the top.

Puzzle 2

This puzzle is inspired by the elevator in Volunder Mines.
It's not hard to figure out how this puzzle works. Just need a few tries the player will know how to solve it.
The weight also can use as a platform to reach other treasure boxes in the future.
After getting to the other side, the combat will happen.

Puzzle 3

The final puzzle would be the hardest one.
The final elevator is a good way to take away the player's control and fade into a cutscene. The elevator can move very slowly and also plays a piece of scary background music that indicates something is going to happen.