Comments on: Player Freedom vs. Narrative Cohesion http://www.andremonserrat.com/2010/02/21/player-freedom-vs-narrative-cohesion/ Scattered pages from an apocryphal diary Sat, 03 Dec 2011 00:02:11 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Echo http://www.andremonserrat.com/2010/02/21/player-freedom-vs-narrative-cohesion/#comment-606 Echo Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:41:11 +0000 http://www.andremonserrat.com/?p=2098#comment-606 Though I haven't given it anywhere near this kind of thought, I agree with you. Another type of game is the type that has attempted to map a myriad of player choices into separate and distinct narratives. This, when well done, has phenomenal replay value; you need to go back and reply time after time to find out what happens when you make different choices. This seems like such a good idea, and yet I often find myself shying away from such games. Once I have felt the tension of the narrative and lived through its resolution, I don't necessarily WANT to experience it again. I want to move on. I want to find a new narrative. I'm not a big re-reader of books either :-p. Therefore, I tend to lean toward games that either have very shallow narratives and infinite freedom or games that are completely linear. I can play Oblivion until I get tired of it, and I don't have to feel as if I missed anything of importance in the narrative, even if I only explored a small fraction of my choices. OTOH, in a game like the Final Fantasy series, I'm perfectly fine with viewing it as a series of puzzles or quests rewarded by the next installment of a compelling story. What I don't want to face is the regret of my choices when I don't have the attention span to go play over again. Though I haven’t given it anywhere near this kind of thought, I agree with you. Another type of game is the type that has attempted to map a myriad of player choices into separate and distinct narratives. This, when well done, has phenomenal replay value; you need to go back and reply time after time to find out what happens when you make different choices.

This seems like such a good idea, and yet I often find myself shying away from such games. Once I have felt the tension of the narrative and lived through its resolution, I don’t necessarily WANT to experience it again. I want to move on. I want to find a new narrative. I’m not a big re-reader of books either :-p.

Therefore, I tend to lean toward games that either have very shallow narratives and infinite freedom or games that are completely linear. I can play Oblivion until I get tired of it, and I don’t have to feel as if I missed anything of importance in the narrative, even if I only explored a small fraction of my choices. OTOH, in a game like the Final Fantasy series, I’m perfectly fine with viewing it as a series of puzzles or quests rewarded by the next installment of a compelling story. What I don’t want to face is the regret of my choices when I don’t have the attention span to go play over again.

]]>