Does Choice Allow for Sequels?
Bioware has announced that only Mass Effect 2 saves in which Shepard survives the ending can be imported into Mass Effect 3. Considering the trilogy is Shepard’s story, this is understandable.
Will restrictions like these eventually cripple the breadth of choice available in a game like Mass Effect 2? Choose your own adventure novels are frequently crap because it’s hard to develop a compelling multi-thread storyline, after all.
Freedom of choice
Bioware has set the bar pretty high for other developers in terms of freedom in their games. When gamers discuss the end of Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2 with their friends, they will find that they had completely different experiences. Sure, the broad strokes of the game are usually the same, but who is in their party, who lived and who died and how the ending was resolved can be diametrically opposed.
This is a clear evolution on the part of Bioware, from their branching ending in KotoR which was essentially binary, to the complicated twists of Mass Effect 2. It is clear that unlike most developers, they are focusing on story and content depth rather than technological proficiency. Dragon Age is a huge, if technically average, game.
KotoR was the first game where your choice seriously impacted the ending. Revolutionary at the time, it now seems binary and dated
Developers currently complain about the labor required to complete a HD game with advanced graphics and massive textures, but will they soon be complaining about how their stories are too involved and complicated? How long until the choices allowed are too numerous to keep track of and contain?
Encouraging the canon?
It seems tempting for Bioware to make their canon choices more attractive. Some of the brilliance of their recent games are how the choices aren’t black and white, and the ‘correct’ decision isn’t always obvious; sometimes there is no correct decision and it’s simply the lesser of all evils or a stylistic choice. Will this change in order to create continuity? Will Bioware try to lead players down the path they’re using for the sequel?
Once branching storylines become complicated enough, players might have the option of ditching their main character, or simply ignoring the main plot and still coming to a satisfying conclusion to a game. How would a sequel progress from such an eventuality?
This guy chose to stick a fork in an outlet. While it's a choice available to him, our panel of choice experts suggest different choices might be preferable
Maybe Shepard wants to retire to a peaceful planet and farm and sell goods, and he lets his companions go to save the world. While this seems ridiculous to today’s gamers, so would the notion that a game could have as many endings as Mass Effect 2 and with such breadth to gamers from the early 1990’s. Who knows what the future holds?
Cinematic vs. Interactive
Any who read my review of Uncharted 2 would know that I found its linearity to be a little disappointing. It was an interactive theme park ride, with various spectacular events along the way to the finish. Nobody who played that game would have had an experience different from mine.
MGS4 was one of the most 'cinematic' games of all time with multiple hours of cutscenes. This design decision sacrificed any semblance of choice. Is there a happy balance?
That is part of the allure of Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2: it is not just a great story, it is my story. Mediums should focus on what they’re best at, and while a great book or film can tell a story, only games can be interactive. It is by focusing on this design element that games will grow into a mature entertainment product.
Hopefully we are not approaching the point at which choice must be sacrificed in the name of story continuity. I don’t believe we’re there yet, and Bioware at least seems to agree.
