Quote:
Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens
I was thinking it's story-AS-gameplay. That the story itself is the "puzzle", your emotional connection to the characters as the motivation to take on the challenges, and your gut reactions or instincts, influenced by your emotional connection to the characters, as the tools to try and solve the "puzzle".
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In a convuluted way that's what I was trying to say. If we break down Heavy Rain, just as a story - say it has no interactive elements and is simply a movie, it's not the greatest thing I've seen. I would likely consider parts derivative of certain 90s thrillers (Silence, Fatal, 7, etc...)
But what's unique is that it pulls you in and makes you part of the story - the gameplay functions as part of the story - the narrative suddenly becomes much more real because of the consequences the person playing makes, whether that's missing a key or deciding to ... well, you get the picture.
There is one big moral choice in the game which left me staring wide-eyed at the screen, and panicky, in that I knew either option would have huge repercussions, for the story, for how it would change the character -
and for the way I experienced it.
Riven, I would say, has a story that as a direct narrative would completely work, if of course, told in a different way. As a game, in the way the Millers presented it, flawless beauty. I still get shivers thinking about it.
Also,
Intrepid, can't believe you've been able to take a break. It was two gaming sessions for me, I couldn't handle not knowing.
