Interactive Narrative - Week 4

This week, I had decided to try the tactic game "The Banner Saga" due to being a fan of the Final Fantasy Tactics games. While doing so, the game had made it extremely clear regarding when the player encountered "choice situations" while the consequences were left uncertain. This meant that as the player, I would have to consider different outcomes and the current status of my clansmen while trying to get them to safety.

The game involves a different variety of choice situations, the most prominent game play situation being the tactical battle system. The player must control different characters with different strengths and weaknesses as they try to take down the main villains who go by the name Dreads in a turn based battle. This in itself, can be seen as a choice situation because the player must make wise decisions in an attempt to defeat the enemies with the least deaths as possible: characters falling in battle would leave them injured for the next one, making it more difficult. However, while poor choices could lead to defeats, the game had times where I found it quite forgiving as your main fighters would be injured along with a few casualties of clansmen who never play any role towards the actual narrative. Some battles appeared important for the storyline, but because I never received an actual "game over", I didn't find it too devastating apart from feeling guilty about the death of my clansmen, so it was quite surprising when I actually "died." Initially confused, I realised that it was the same in other tactical games I had played in the past. Sebastian Domsch mentioned, "Depending on the extent of information about the consequences of a given choice, the nature of that choice will differ..."(2013) Not knowing when the game would announce a "game over" made my decisions a lot more careful rather than just clicking whatever I wanted to for the sake of hitting something. "Would I need to replay the level? Even if I don't, will I have enough supplies now for my men to survive?"

More important moments of choice situations are included when the player chooses how the characters interact with each other. When controlling leaders Hakon or Rook, the player has the choice to either make the characters try to maintain peace within their respective caravans, or make them treat the other members in a hostile manner. This is done through conversations with other important characters where the player physically picks which piece of dialogue their character shall speak. Along with this, the player will also have to make decisions that would affect the morale of the caravan during their journey, meaning that they will encounter different events along the way - an example being the option to save dying bandits. I personally saved them despite being low on supplies and their backgrounds: I wanted to build my character as a hero. The impact of my decision was told a day later, as the bandits had taken a portion of the supplies and disappeared. The game gives you interactive choices to build your character into who you want them to be. Some choices aren't too relevant like a drunk clan member, while other ones could lead to major consequences such as having a strong fighter actually die. A lot of choices actually seemed to determine whether people lived or not, even during the least expected moments.

After playing the game, I concluded that player choice - no matter how little impact it may have - personally makes games feel immersive. The player gets to "craft" their character through the story, as well as having to rack their brains regarding what kinds of conclusions could await their decisions. The mysteries created from my morales were what held my attention throughout the game.

References
Domsch, S. (Author). (2013). Storyplay [Book]. Germany: Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Stoic. (Developer). (2014). The Banner Saga [Game]. Austin: Texas, Stoic