Wednesday, 29 July 2015

Wolf Among us and The Banner Saga: Meaningful Outcome

2. Discuss the meaningful outcome of your choices on the story in your chosen games(s).

In "Wolf Among us", the choices the player makes feel meaningful in terms of story as the outcomes will change depending on what choices you make."Colin" asks "Bigby" if he can still be in Bigby's apartment when Snow said that he is to be send to the Farm. The player is given the following choices: "Sorry. Rules are Rules.", "I wouldn't do that to you.", "Snow will change her mind" or to say nothing at all. If the player chooses the second option, the game will notify you what decision you made: "You chose friendship over rules." The player can assume that from this, you will keep the friendship between "Bigby" and "Colin".
This choice feels meaningful because the morality/personality of the player is questioned and the result is reflected in the game. It depends on the player's personality whether they would "go by the rules" or to choose friendship.

In "The Banner Saga",the results of the choices the player makes feel micro towards the story but macro in terms of strategy. Further in the game, "Alette" is about to be struck by a "Dredge" and it is up to the player what to do next: if the player chooses either to shout her name or to shoot the arrow, the same result will happen: another character will jump between the "Dredge" and "Alette" and die.
This choice doesn't feel meaningful in terms of story because no matter what the player picks the end result will not change, whereas deciding how long you want to "rest" at a camp can change the strategic aspect of the game: it will improve the caravan's morale.

Overall, I feel that "The Wolf Among Us" feels more meaningful in terms of story as the story will change depending on what choice the player makes, while in "The Banner Saga" it will not.

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