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double_u · 01/04/2013, 04:43 pm

There are choices to be made in this game, and they do affect the narrative within a certain scope. At the end of the day, this game is a narrative whose overall story is set with different variations in between. So yes, there's going to be a significant amount of railroading to keep the story manageable within the scope the writers had set for this story. And don't get me wrong, TTG gave us an AMAZING narrative.

At the same time, I think a lot more choices could be included to derail the narrative so to speak. One way is to have more opportunities to compound previous choices. For example, let's look at everyone's memorable scene outside the RV. Instead of having Lee being essentially powerless despite past choices, TTG missed an opportunity to include the impact of past choices. If Lee sided with Lilly in the meat locker or in different arguments against Kenny for example, Lee could be given an opportunity to say "Lilly, I've always trusted you before and I want you to trust me this one time!" to calm the situation down thus saving the day. Others would lose a team member. From that point on, there could be multiple ways leading to a varied ending that could still be grounded on similar backgrounds (i.e. Clem kidnapping, boat hunt, etc.). Right now, what we have is a railway that makes brief divergents before converging back at certain points. I mean most choices really just mattered at specific junctures and aren't necessarily continuous.

It's not like there's no precedent for this type of storytelling. A great example is Dragon Age Origins, where the player has so many choices that affect a great cast of different characters with deep backstories...many of them can be saved, abandoned, changed in moral beliefs, outright slaughtered etc with significant impact on the final conclusion.

Like I said, it's not like what we have isn't great or didn't always mattered. However, I won't be opposed to more choices that CONTINUOUSLY compound on previous ones that lead to branching stories. I think it might add more opportunities for TTG.

01/04/2013, 04:43 pm	#32
double_u Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Over the Hills and Far Away Posts: 316	There are choices to be made in this game, and they do affect the narrative within a certain scope. At the end of the day, this game is a narrative whose overall story is set with different variations in between. So yes, there's going to be a significant amount of railroading to keep the story manageable within the scope the writers had set for this story. And don't get me wrong, TTG gave us an AMAZING narrative. At the same time, I think a lot more choices could be included to derail the narrative so to speak. One way is to have more opportunities to compound previous choices. For example, let's look at everyone's memorable scene outside the RV. Instead of having Lee being essentially powerless despite past choices, TTG missed an opportunity to include the impact of past choices. If Lee sided with Lilly in the meat locker or in different arguments against Kenny for example, Lee could be given an opportunity to say "Lilly, I've always trusted you before and I want you to trust me this one time!" to calm the situation down thus saving the day. Others would lose a team member. From that point on, there could be multiple ways leading to a varied ending that could still be grounded on similar backgrounds (i.e. Clem kidnapping, boat hunt, etc.). Right now, what we have is a railway that makes brief divergents before converging back at certain points. I mean most choices really just mattered at specific junctures and aren't necessarily continuous. It's not like there's no precedent for this type of storytelling. A great example is Dragon Age Origins, where the player has so many choices that affect a great cast of different characters with deep backstories...many of them can be saved, abandoned, changed in moral beliefs, outright slaughtered etc with significant impact on the final conclusion. Like I said, it's not like what we have isn't great or didn't always mattered. However, I won't be opposed to more choices that CONTINUOUSLY compound on previous ones that lead to branching stories. I think it might add more opportunities for TTG.