I am generally enamored with the idea of Katabasis/Catabasis. It’s such a culturally, psychologically loaded concept that can encompass so many things. You can even see it today in things like “the story circle” beginning at 12 o’clock.
I am not aware of a word/concept similar to Catabasis that applies to upward travel, but would love to hear about it if you do.
The first game I can remember playing that had this idea of descent was 1989’s VGA Miner. A game that launched a tiny genre that still pops up today from time to time.
When I try to think about a game about ascension my first thought is actually about Journey, a game that is mostly about lateral transversal, since your ultimate goal is to reach the peak of a mountain in the far off distance.
