[Intrepid Homoludens]

Fahrenheit is currently enjoying the top of the charts across Europe, and receiving high praise there and in North America as Indigo Prophecy. In fact, I've been seeing gamers in general (not just adventure gamers, but all kinds) expressing a renewed interest in adventure games (according to general gaming forums like Blues News and Gamespy), something we haven't seen in years. Many of them are veterans who played such classics as Myst, the Monkey Island series, Grim Fandango, and Gabriel Knight. But then they said the quality of adventure games went down and that they started to look too much like each other and innovation was lost, prompting them to search elsewhere for their adventuring - RPGs, FPSs, and Action/Adventures. And now they seem to be collectively saying that it's about time the adventure genre got this badly needed spark that is Fahrenheit and that hopefully it'll see more games like this.

And yet Fahrenheit is vastly different from those games other than the story being the central focus. What do you think differentiates it from those games? And how is it connected to them so that many gamers who abandoned adventure games are suddenly drawn to these kinds of games again?

[David Cage]

I think that adventure games came to a dead end with obscure puzzles and endless inventories. They showed their unability to make the story the core element of the game play, so they had to rely on mini-games to stuck the player.

Indigo dares to break with a lot of game conventions (which could be really disturbing for some gamers) and puts the story at the center of the experience. Offering a challenge is not what is important, the only thing that really matters is the experience itself and the player's journey. The game does not have to stuck him or offer a difficult challenge : the journey is a reward by itself. It is a very different approach. In that sense, I don't think that Indigo is really a video game anymore. It is something else based on a set of different rules.

[BoyToy]

Originally Posted by David Cage

Offering a challenge is not what is important [...]
the journey is a reward by itself.

I strongly disagree! For a game, challanges are essential (though hitting the right difficultiy level is always walking a fine line). Otherwise you'd be making a movie.

the only thing that really matters is the experience itself and the player's journey

Yes, the player's journey, not the director's journey.
So, how did you achieve that? By interactivity, I'd say. (And I guess, you'd agree.)
So ask yoursef, how did you achieve that interactivity? And isn't the answer: By reactive real-time thumbstick-tapping, Track & Field finger-killing and the solving conversation puzzles, in effect?
Well, all those things are challenges!

In that sense, I don't think that Indigo is really a video game anymore. It is something else based on a set of different rules.

Agreed. It's kind of a game/movie-hybrid.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by BoyToy

I strongly disagree! For a game, challanges are essential (though hitting the right difficultiy level is always walking a fine line). Otherwise you'd be making a movie.

If I undersand this correctly, I think at this point what David meant by 'challenge' is typical puzzles or action sequences that seem artificially inseminated in the story. To me the journey itself is the challenge - the conflicts inherent in that journey - with the little twitch games offering a more direct emotional connection to moments where the character is experiencing tension. A good example is the NYPD basement sequence where you must take care of Carla's breathing as she searches for that file. Other challenges may not have worked well for you in execution, though.

Yes, the player's journey, not the director's journey.
So, how did you achieve that? By interactivity, I'd say. (And I guess, you'd agree.)
So ask yoursef, how did you achieve that interactivity? And isn't the answer: By reactive real-time thumbstick-tapping, Track & Field finger-killing and the solving conversation puzzles, in effect?
Well, all those things are challenges!

Well yeah, that's what I meant above.

[BoyToy]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

If I undersand this correctly, I think at this point what David meant by 'challenge' is [...]

Yeah, that might be the case. Maybe I just jumped on the single term 'challenge' too much.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Which is perhaps why I decided to take on your 'challenge'.

[avatar_58]

Originally Posted by David Cage

I think that adventure games came to a dead end with obscure puzzles and endless inventories. They showed their unability to make the story the core element of the game play, so they had to rely on mini-games to stuck the player.

Indigo dares to break with a lot of game conventions (which could be really disturbing for some gamers) and puts the story at the center of the experience. Offering a challenge is not what is important, the only thing that really matters is the experience itself and the player's journey. The game does not have to stuck him or offer a difficult challenge : the journey is a reward by itself. It is a very different approach. In that sense, I don't think that Indigo is really a video game anymore. It is something else based on a set of different rules.

Its funny, awhile ago I might have disagreed with you...and yet I enjoyed Indigo Prophecy to a great degree. Looking back, the games which I replay the most tend to be the good experiences....not the frustrating or difficult ones. I think you made a good point here.

In fact, in general if you look back the best adventures of all time they aren't very difficult at all. Its the experience that matters.

[BoyToy]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

Which is perhaps why I decided to take on your 'challenge'.

Maybe... perhaps...