Post
Doing things the developers never intended you to do yet, going where you're not supposed to go, when you're not supposed to go there.
Sequence breaking means completing game objectives out of their intended order. Maybe you're supposed to get the grapple beam before reaching the upper levels, but a well-timed wall jump gets you there early. Metroidvania games are especially prone to this because their progression gates are item-based; if you can reach an area without the 'required' item, the game usually still works. Sequence breaks range from minor skips to completely reshuffling the entire game progression.
Example
In Super Metroid, players can perform the 'Mockball' technique to grab the Super Missiles before fighting Spore Spawn, skipping the intended boss fight entirely. The game's open-ended map design makes dozens of sequence breaks possible.
Why it matters
Sequence breaking reveals how much freedom a game's design actually allows versus how much it merely suggests. Developers who embrace sequence breaking, like the Metroid Prime team acknowledging speedrun routes, create games with incredible replay value.
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