[Jannik]

Last year was a pretty good year for interactive storytelling, spawning games like To The Moon and L.A. Noire, and a decent amount of quality traditional adventure games. But it looks like, IMO, that 2012 could be the year of interactive storytelling - well, maybe a tie with some years in the 90s.

And this is only February - plenty of interesting games can still be announced and finished in 2012!

The only thing, IMO, that is missing, so far, is the prospect of at least one big-budget game that tries something new - last year it was L.A. Noire, and in 2010 we timed the events quickly in Heavy Rain.

Please note:
- All games included in the lists are chosen because they, IMO, stand out - usually because they use nontraditional storytelling methods and/or are highly anticipated because of the development team/designers.
- Since most of the games are adventure(-ish) games I've chosen to post in the adventure sub-forum.
- All included games have a good chance of a 2012 release, but not all have release dates yet.
- This is just my take, and I could easily have missed something - feel free to agree or disagree, add games, and discuss The Year Of Interactive Storytelling(TiM) in general!

Unreleased games:

Double Fine Adventure - Tim Schafer! Ron Gilbert! Double Fine!
I Am Alive - Interesting survival action-adventure
Cradle
The Last of Us - survival action-adventure from the peeps behind Uncharted
Toren - ICO-like puzzle-adventure
J.U.L.I.A.
Banner Saga - exploration-based RPG + turn-based strategy + choices + ex-Bioware developers
Karateka (remake/re-imagining) - platform game from Jordan Mechner (The Last Express)
The Witness - Jonathan Blow (Braid)
Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller - Jane Jensen is helping out
Dead State - interesting survival-RPG
Age of Decadence - RPG with elements of text adventure and Choose Your Own Adventure
Resonance
The Last Guardian - the team behind Ico and Shadow of the Colossus
Lifeless Planet - explore a (perhaps) lifeless planet
Lucius
Papo & Yo - a personal puzzle-adventure about addiction
The Testament of Sherlock Holmes
Drox Operative - RPG with dynamic, emergent storytelling
Leisure Suit Larry (remake) - Al Lowe is involved
Mass Effect 3
South Park: The Game - I'm serious
Dishonored - Harvey Smith (Deus Ex)
Botanicula

Released games:

Final Fantasy XIII-2
Dear Esther
AMY - sadly it turned out to be pretty bad, according to reviews, but it seemed unique
Enter The Story - partly released

EDIT: Enter The Story is a multiple-game project and will continue after 2012.

[zane]

lol, if all these were adventure titles id agree it was shaping up to be a monster year. But since by "interactive storytelling" you apparently mean any game that has a story in it (mass effect and final fantasy???).... the list isnt actually very big

[Fien]

- The Double Fine Adventure will not be released this year, you can be sure of that.
- J.U.L.I.A. had very bad reviews in Germany. The ones I read ranged from 29% to 50%.
- I'd like to add Deponia to the list (played it in German and loved it), and possibly Memento Mori 2.

[diego]

I believe that's Julia you're referring to, not J.U.L.I.A.

[Fien]

There are TWO Julias?
What are the chances of that happening?
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Clunk!

[diego]

Yeah, i too was confused for a while

This one is 1st person though

[inm8#2]

The heart of the current gaming industry is with the smaller and indie developers. I'm quite happy that adventure and story-centric games have found a nice home in the market.

[subbi]

I don't have particular high hopes for Adventure games to be released in 2012, at least not based on the list in this topic.

The main stand-outs are:

- Double Fine Adventure: Unlikely to be released in 2012, given the recent budget explosion

- Mass Effect 3: An RPG really, should not be counted as Adventure game, as it's too action oriented.

- The testament of Sherlock Holmes: This one is indeed really promising.

I don't expect that much from Erica Reed thriller (even if Jane Jensen is partially involved)....it looks too low budget to me to become a real master piece. I already cringe by the thought of Gray Matter style cutscene's and this one looks to be going in the same direction.
I mean I'm not against comic book style cutscene's, but at least do it in a professional style, like "a new beginning".

Interactive storytelling is a very very very broad categorization covering almost any game that is released. Most action games, even FPS, have quite decent stories woven into the action, which means they should all be counted.

[thejobloshow]

It's very satisfying because it appears the industry has reached a point where there's no stigma attached towards genre.

Of course, I'd like to see a game purely based on narrative and lateral thinking and problem solving with a AAA budget and marketing, but we'll get there.

[TimovieMan]

Mass Effect 3 is supposed to contain a "story-mode" where the action is simplified and the difficulty setting lowered, for those who are more interested in story than in the action.
That mode makes it practically an adventure game...

Also, the fact that BioWare included such a mode (and that they're actively lowering the difficulty of the easiest game modes on all their games) means that the mainstream market is definitely acknowledging the adventure gamers out there.

[TiAgUh]

Originally Posted by TimovieMan

Mass Effect 3 is supposed to contain a "story-mode" where the action is simplified and the difficulty setting lowered, for those who are more interested in story than in the action.

A bit off topic here but, speaking of that , have you guys seen this:

BioWare writer's vagina versus the Internet
http://www.destructoid.com/bioware-w...t-222206.phtml

Hepler is a BioWare writer and woke up one day to discover the entire Internet hated her. A number of online communities recently started dogpiling on the lady, accusing her of "ruining" BioWare games with her writing (...) By far her greatest "crime" was suggesting that games should let the player skip combat, stating: "Games almost always include a way to "button through" dialogue without paying attention, because they understand that some players don't enjoy listening to dialogue and they don't want to stop their fun. Yet they persist in practically coming into your living room and forcing you to play through the combats even if you're a player who only enjoys the dialogue" (...) Many choose to attack her writing and ability to craft characters. A staggering number focus on her physical appearance, choosing to call her such delightful names as "fat bitch" and "obese cunt." Some want to know why she's "obsessed with shoehorning homosexual relationships down gamer's throats" (...) Poor Hepler did not exactly help her case, publicly stating: "I just figure they're jealous that I get to have both a vagina AND a games industry job, and they can't get either."

I just found the whole damn thing so funny .

[Jannik]

I forgot an important game: The Secret World (Funcom/Ragnar Tørnquist). Seems like it could be an important addition to storytelling in multiplayer games.

Originally Posted by zane

But since by "interactive storytelling" you apparently mean any game that has a story in it (mass effect and final fantasy???).... the list isnt actually very big

No, I'm thinking of games where you use interactivity to progress the story - that way of telling stories is not exclusive to adventure games

While RPGs usually focus on combat, quite a few of them let you shape the story via "direct" choices and/or gameplay (gameplay-wise it's obviously less often than in adventure games, but still...). Games like Final Fantasy XIII-2, the Mass Effect series and the Fallout series let you do that

[Martin Gantefoehr]

Originally Posted by TiAgUh

I just found the whole damn thing so funny .

No offense, but I have to say that I find this whole thing disgusting and infuriating.

[kuze]

Originally Posted by Martin Gantefoehr

No offense, but I have to say that I find this whole thing disgusting and infuriating.

And I agree. Those recent witch-hunts (see also the Telltale jeep story) are horrible, and it's really disheartening that so many gamers take part in them.

[zane]

Originally Posted by Jannik

No, I'm thinking of games where you use interactivity to progress the story - that way of telling stories is not exclusive to adventure games

The problem is, it makes your list so broad that other years in the last decade probably have 5x plus more titles than that list. It pretty much includes any game that has more than one ending because the story is "interactive"
That just really isnt a high amount of releases when you say its from any game that has any kind of story you "progress through".
edit: Other games released/to be released this year that would fit a criteria that includes ff13 would be: devil survivor 2, final fantasy type 0, hakouki, xeno blade, last story, tales of graces f, growlanser 4, gungnir, katawa shoujo, kingdoms of amalur
and thats off the top of my head

[Fien]

Originally Posted by TiAgUh

I just found the whole damn thing so funny .

Please! The whole thing is sad.

[TiAgUh]

It's the interwebs people, and everyone was childish, so why take it seriously? I mean,

some want to know why she's "obsessed with shoehorning homosexual relationships down gamer's throats"

Come ooon, not even a smile? It's funny cause it's so true.

[zane]

Originally Posted by TiAgUh

Come ooon, not even a smile? It's funny cause it's so true.

I dunno, is including heterosexual relationships in writing "shoehorning" it down someones throat????

[kuze]

Originally Posted by TiAgUh

It's the interwebs people, and everyone was childish, so why take it seriously?

Because people are having nervous breakdowns because of this? Real people, you know? People with jobs, with names, with families, people behind tags like "TiAgUh". Being called "cancer" for doing what you like and are successful at, by thousands of people, and having your name plastered all over various news sites because of that -- I'd take that seriously.

[TiAgUh]

Originally Posted by zane

I dunno, is including heterosexual relationships in writing "shoehorning" it down someones throat????

If they're highly publicized and done for controversy purposes, sure. It isn't homophobia as much as you're hoping it sounds like, and, actually, it can be seen as bioware using homosexual relationships just to get a wider audience. Why the hell is there an option to screw elves and blue aliens, really? For what purpose beside achivements or getting on shows for even more publicity? Ha! But yeah thanks, now that you got me overanalyzing this stuff, you've ended up killing all the fun.

Originally Posted by kuze

Because people are having nervous breakdowns because of this? Real people, you know? People with jobs, with names, with families, people behind tags like "TiAgUh". Being called "cancer" for doing what you like and are successful at, by thousands of people, and having your name plastered all over various news sites because of that -- I'd take that seriously.

She stated her opinion, they've said theirs; they were childish, she had a childish response. Just cause she likes her job doesnt mean she isn't shitty at it. What's with all this sensitivity? They're stupid cause they've said stupid things; grab your popcorn and just watch them squabble -- in a week it's all forgotten.