THE FAULT WITH CHOICE-DRIVEN GAMES
The concept of choice-driven games is not entirely new but there has been a significant rise in the number of such games. So much so that even FIFA is introducing a decision-based story mode, starting this year. While I absolutely adore the concept, I cannot help but feel like these games have some shortcomings that they are being unable to get rid of.
Having to Hold On to the Saves
Choice-driven games usually have multiple endings. Consequently, their sequels have multiple beginnings. Besides, other choices made throughout the course of one game tend to make some sort of impact on the events of the sequel. While this mechanic is laudable, it is generally accompanied by the mild inconvenience of having to hold on to the save files of the previous game until the next one comes out.
Lack of Challenge
A common issue with decision-based games is that often they do not provide any challenge to the gamer. For example, in Rockstar's crime thriller L.A. Noire, failing to solve each and every case will still let the players finish the game, albeit the ending will not be a very good one. On the other hand, the first season of Telltale's The Walking Dead did have sequences where the wrong choices would get you killed and you would have to restart from the latest checkpoint.
Obvious Choices
Choices provided in videogames can be quite obvious at times. If the game makes you choose between saving one of two characters and one of them is not as likeable as the other, the decision becomes a no-brainer. In Until Dawn, the chase sequences provide the choice between taking the shortcut and the long way; the redundancy of such choices are reflected in the stats with over 80% of gamers always taking the shortcut.
Lack of Content
Choice-driven games require longer development times, mainly because of how the story branches out in many different ways. As a consequence, it often becomes difficult for the developers to make the games content-heavy. Heavy Rain (4 years of development time) and Until Dawn (3 years of development time) are only 10 hours and 8 hours in length respectively. Gameplay is also apparently affected by this, since most choice-driven games seem to have close to no gameplay and are riddled with repetitive QTE sections.
Lack of Replay Value
On pen and paper, it may feel like choice-driven games offer lots of replay value since there are multiple ways to explore the game. Sadly, that is never the case in reality. Most gamers do not have the patience to play through the entire game once again just to notice some minor changes and they opt to watch the alternate choices on YouTube instead.
Binary Endings
Probably the worst possible thing in a videogame is if it ends with a binary decision, disregarding all the choices made throughout the course of the game. Mass Effect, despite being a rollercoaster ride throughout its three games, ended with such a binary choice that it really did not do justice to the rest of the franchise.
With the popularity of decision-based games being ever on the rise, these are some of the factors I feel developers should seriously take into consideration for their future projects.
Nony Khondaker is an introvert with immense passion for tech and music. Feel free to send your constructive feedback at nonykhondaker@live.com or follow him on twitter.com/NonyKhondaker
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