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Wil, for shame. You should know games like Oddworld aren't meant to just be plowed through in a straight line. I think all games, especially ones with hidden challenges and gorgeous scenery, should be explored as freely as programming will permit. Even looking at it from a linear perspective, there's no good reason in my mind to make previous paths totally off-limits.
Take a page from the first Rayman game; you couldn't progress to the final level until you rescued all of the Electoons. You had to be able to revisit previous levels so you could find them all. Obviously, you can't do that in Oddworld, but you should at least allow the player a chance at perfect Quarma without being prevented by something as stupid as "whoops cant go back, door closed".
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I think that’s a fairly narrow way of looking at things. The possibility of revisiting areas has a major effect on the pacing and flow of a game, especially one which relies strongly on a storyline and a grounding in realism.
For your example, backtracking works for Rayman because it’s a non-serious, cartoony kind of game. The levels are relatively short and mainly focus on platforming, and the world is broken up into levels which can be navigated around quickly via an overworld map.
The reverse is true for AO/AE. The story is linear, serious and has a fairly dark streak through it, with a focus on moral choices and Abe’s personal journey. The divide between levels is often muddied but they are typically fairly involved, and focus on navigating around friendly and enemy NPCs as well as traps and hazards. The overall game world is treated as a single flowing journey to match the plot, as Abe visits each area without intending to return, sometimes even closing down or outright destroying locations.
AO and AE simply do not lend themselves to backtracking, not without some serious structural changes.