Is it possible to capture the isolation and expansive, interconnected exploration of games like Super Metroid and Metroid Prime in a tabletop #RPG like #dnd?

I think D&D's "megadungeon" style of play is perfect for it, but IMO D&D's level-based advancement system is at odds with the playstyle. One of the coolest parts of Metroid is backtracking old areas after finding new powers, not leveling up and gaining new powers.

Put another way, D&D rewards advancement abstractly through leveling. Metroid rewards advancement concretely through finding new power-ups in the world, hidden within the world or guarded by a boss. In both games, these rewards can come from combat or exploration.

The great advantage that concrete, power-up based rewards has for this style of play is that the character slowly feels more and more like a master of the world, as each new power-up gradually unlocks access to more and more of the dungeon.

I think spells could fill a similar niche, but the incredible breadth of a spell list (in addition to many classes being able to change up their spell loadout daily) totally changes the vibe. It's also too abstract. Consider this:

When you gain the Varia Suit in Metroid, it immediately makes you think of all the areas in the world where your progress was halted by extreme heat that you can now access. When you gain new spells in D&D... what do you think of? I'd say it's my character's "build."

The first approach prioritizes the world, the second approach prioritizes you. "What challenges can I overcome now" versus "What stuff can I do now". The former seems better for a game with an exploration focus, while the latter seems better for a game with a combat focus.

Anyway, a Metroid-style megadungeon full of interconnected levels with multiple points of connection sounds super fun to me. But I think I'd need a non-D&D system—or at least a party of all non-spellcasters who gain powers by finding magic items—to make it work.