Hello everyone

I recently played Detroit: Become Human, from Quantic Dream (PS4 exclusive) and that game really impressed me for a number of reasons: the environments, the characters, the impressive graphics, the acting. Technically, I believe QD did an excellent job.

I have played very few games of this genre over the years, but I know they don´t change much regarding gameplay. Still, the gameplay on D:BH pleased me with its pacing. I feel that QD may have found a good balance between the investigations, dialogue and QTE that does not make me feel bored. Add the fact that this game actually has many different outcomes, I believe David Cage and his team achieved something really special this time, even if the story has lots of plot holes or may seem cliché.

Still, I´ve seen so much criticism towards this game and I feel most of the negativity comes from people who simply don´t appreciate this kind of game or, worse, say that this genre should not even exist or be considered a "game". Probably interactive drama is the most divisive videogame genre so far...

I´m an old-school gamer, but I´m having lots of fun with this game, so much that I already picked up previous QD games to try (Beyond and Heavy Rain). And it seems that this genre has an audience and it is commercially viable

I would like to know the opinions of VGChartz community on this... Do you appreciate interactive dramas? If not, what makes it uninteresting for you? Do you believe this genre has a future in the industry?

I appreciate them in the same way I do visual novels.

If they don't at least have an engaging story or characters, they're a hard drop.

Detroit grew on me which is always better than getting enough of a game long before the end. It grew on me so much I got all the trophies except for the magazine collection. It was fun trying different things in a lot of the chapters and go for two completely different outcomes.

I'm currently banging my head against the totally restrictive story missions in RDR2 where the player has no choice at all and the action (in story missions) doesn't feel much more interactive than a qte sequence anyway (stand here, shoot what pops up). While in a game like Detroit your actions actually matter and you get to make real choices deciding the fate of many of the key characters.

An open world game with an interactive drama instead of linear story would be something to behold!

Have you played Life is strange? If you like QD games you'll like that as well.

I need a definition of "interactive drama".

I'm playing The Shapeshifting Detective right now. I don't know if it's a true Interactive Drama, but I'm enjoying it so far.

Agreed!  In certain parts of Detroit, I was so amazed by the settings, the backgrounds, the art style that I wanted so hard to wander around to see more things or find small pieces of story, even it they were just NPCs dialogues or magazines. 

I have yet to try Life is Strange. Thanks for the recommendation.

Those type of games where you don´t have complete control of your character actions (like moving, jumping, shooting etc.) but rather take decisions and interact with objects while uncovering the story, which is told through long cutscenes instead of just plain text (then it would be an interactive novel)

I think "interactive drama" is the most popular way to describe this genre, but I´ve seen people naming it "interactive adventure" or  just "adventure game". I personally think that the latter is a concept that may includes many types of games.. so I prefer to say "interactive drama"

Never heard about that game before. May well try it. It´s on Steam right?

Yes, it's an FMV game.

All games are interactive of course, yet for games the term is used mostly to describe games with a pre-made story where your actions and choices decide the outcome of that story and often the fate of key characters. QD games apply, and also more adventure type games like the walking dead or more action oriented games like quantum break. Interactive here means that you actually influence the story rather than simply participate in it. Interactive dramas avoid fail states and let you carry on with your screw ups.