An idea on how to make choices matter more in Telltale games
So I think I've thought of a pretty cool way to make choices feel like they matter more by the end of a Telltale game instead of just being some sort of binary choice.
For example, in Telltale's Batman the game ends with you either embracing the Batman persona or Bruce Wayne.
This choice then leads to small bits of dialogue and another big choice. If you choose to play the remainder of the game as Bruce you are given the choice to help make the GCPD stronger or improve Arkham Asylum.
I think what should have happened is that the remainder of the game will be based completely off of how many times you chose to play as the Bat or Bruce, how brutal you were, how nice you were, etc. So instead of picking whether to play and Batman or Bruce for the last time, the game chooses for you based on your previous choices. The remaining dialogue and choices would also be chosen based on your past choices.
Essentially this means that the rest of the game would play like a movie. Just sit there and watch as your choices culminate. Then when you get a look at the choices you've made it'll show you the which of the endings you ended up getting. There could also be a notification that tells you that from this point on the game will play out based on your choices.
Another example would be The Wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead Season 2.
For The Wolf Among Us, depending on how brutal you were, how much of a dick you were, etc. The second you get to the Crooked Man after beating Bloody Mary, everything is now out of your control. It's all up to everything you did before this moment that will change the rest of the game.
This is a bit more of a problem though considering this section is about 30 minutes. But they could have it so that once the trial ends with either Fabletown rooting for or fearing Bigby, the controls are handed back to you.
Either that or depending on your previous choices and the Crooked man lives/dies, you are given control for the rest of the trial and if the Crooked man and then attacks you, his fate (decapitation, Witching well, bird cage) will again be based on your past choices.
Again the same goes for Season 2 of The Walking Dead when Kenny and Jane are fighting and Clem has to choose who lives and dies, have the rest of the game play out based on how nice you were, who you sided with the most, etc. Then have the remaining 10 minutes be based on past choices.
So if you played as a hardass you could have Clem shoot Kenny, go with Jane to Howe's, turn the family away.
You could do the same with the other Telltale games except Tales, MC: Storymode and Michonne as these all end pretty much the exact same and have considerably less variation towards the end compared to the previous aforementioned games.
I know the idea of having the last 5 to 10 minutes just straight up being a movie sounds a little boring but I feel like this would be the best way to make us feel like our choices actually mattered in the long run. Not only that but it would also give you more of a reason to replay these games.
If you made it all the way to the end, thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought about my idea and whether or not it's a good idea.
Comments
So you'd make choices matter by taking our choice away?
Lol what? No.
I'm saying that the endings shouldn't be something we pick out ourselves but something that is based on the past 8-10 hours we spent.
I'm curious if the new Mass Effect will go this route. As is pretty common knowledge by now, Mass Effect 3 had the straight up choose-your-ending. However, their next/last effort, Dragon Age: Inquisition, had the majority of the extended ending(and especially the Divine choice) play out just as you suggest. You have no direct options and the game just tells you what happens and how it played out based on your decisions and conversation throughout the game.
While I disagreed with the game after my first play through, it encouraged me to play it again and be more mindful of the conversation and decisions the second time to try and get the ending I wanted. Maybe some companies are more hesitant because of that initial bad taste I experienced after my first game and are afraid I would never play it again, down vote it, and write off the developer? Where I knew my choices effected the ending, perhaps some people didn't and just thought the game had an ending they didn't like.
It's a slippery slope, but I agree with you and like that direction better than the choose-your-ending.
Thanks! People often are annoyed with Telltale do it considering they regularly boast about how your choices matter and will effect the ending. So I thought that this'd be a pretty good way to make you feel like your choices really mattered.
But honestly I would also be worried about people not realising that there would be more than one ending if Telltale were to take this route. Which is why I suggested some sort of notification be implemented just before the climax or just outright say "you got this ending" based on your choices after the credits.
Yeah, I actually thought we'd get an ending in TWD Season 2 based on our previous choices. With all that #MyClementine stuff..
Especially with all the different variations between endings, I feel like this is what should have happened.
The only problem would be that we would lose some of the tense feeling some of us got when picking some of the final choices like hurriedly deciding between Kenny and Jane.
It's only about the endings, our choices should also proceed to next seasons. Because it's really annoying how Clementina in ANF is nothing like my Clementine
This is a horrible idea as you're just assuming what choices I'd make and taking away my choice, this just sounds really annoying
It's not?
It's culminating all the choices you made in the span of 8-10 hours to give you your own personalised ending. People are always complaining about how choices don't matter by the end and how the endings feel very binary so why not do this.
All of those are in the last episode, near the end of the episode. And as we all know after Walking Dead Season 3, those choices still didnt do anything in the long run.
No you're just giving taking away what I want to choose because you want a extremely forced way for choices to matter
My idea is just a way to make choices in a singular game feel like they matter by the end of said game. Never said anything about the choices carrying forward in future seasons.
Well, that would be a good way to add some effect to our choices, but for me? Nah.
I make my character's decisions based on situation not on "I am evil. Death To ALL!" Having the game assume the choice I make wouldn't be fair for me. Having choices be [Effect A, Effect B], essentially putting a label on what I do rather than why I do it takes more away than it gives.
An example could be The Wolf Among Us: Throughout most of the game, I was the Big Bad Cop. I was mostly brutal in my investigation, trashing places, getting into rough fights, using rough tactics, but in the end I didn't kill the Crooked Man. I felt that for a man like him, he didn't deserve death, he deserved an eternity alone, drifting through the Wishing Well. If there were this "Culmination Effect" of choices, the game would set my game to kill the Crooked Man, not giving me the choice I wanted.
I think the only direct choice that's being "taken away" is the choice that comes at the very end, because the ending you get is dependent on every action taken beforehand. I'm not convinced that it's the best solution, but it's worthy of experimentation.
Yeah you're right. I can see that being another issue. Never said it was perfect :P
Thanks for the explanation!