Alic0004 said:
It's not surprising that a playthrough in which you input almost nothing gives you the least feeling that you're affecting the story -- because no one actually plays a game that way, that would be the least tested/polished type of playthrough.
I think you're just looking for something in the game which isn't there, Stephen. Or at least, it isn't the main focus of the game.
Take a look at this article on Kotaku, by the consistently awesome Leigh Alexander:
http://kotaku.com/5479966/why-we-play-games-and-why-we-grumble-about-them?skyline=true&s=i
Basically, it sounds like you're looking for a game that lets you break the rules and mess with the overall structure of the game as much as possible. You would fit into the above article's third category of what you're looking for in a game, in this case at least.
As a gamer who usually is most engaged by storytelling and exploration in games, I really enjoyed Heavy Rain. I think this is because the game managed to make me feel like I was making the choices in the characters' shoes, and then gave me choices which I would find difficult/interesting/horrifying in my own life. It doesn't matter to me whether or not having a certain body part, for example, affects the game by allowing a character to take some action which changes the course of the plot and leads to a completely different ending. What matters to me is that the game made me think about the choice as I was making it with an immediacy and agency which wouldn't have been possible in a movie or book. As Riachu said, while that choice and many others have a rubberband structure in terms of how they affect the overall flow of the game, often only having aesthetic effects on the rest of the game, they leave lasting emtional impressions. It's the emotional payoff that I think the game is going for, not the "we just blew your mind, look how structurally malleable this piece of entertainment is" moment that you would get by testing the game out in every possible playthrough, and seeing more branching plotlines than any other game ever made.
Anyway, just some thoughts.
|
