An Interesting Plot That Unfolds in an Interesting Way

It sounds obvious that a plot should be interesting, right? However, Metal Gear Solid 2 sold about a million less units in America than its predecessor, despite greatly enhanced visuals. Many people felt this was in no small part due to problems with the plot. Quite a few American players regarded it as silly.[4]

[4] To be fair, there were probably other contributing factors, such as the fact that the game came out near the beginning of PlayStation 2's lifecycle, so that the console hadn't reached a high saturation point yet. But problems with the plot, as well as the character you play, were big contributing factors.

There's no shortage of boring, cliché plots out there, and plots with no emotional engagement. I and The Freeman Group have been called upon to handle these problems on more than one occasion.

The truth is that coming up with a great plot, whether it be in a film or in a game, usually takes a tremendous amount of time, thought, creativity, and work.

Furthermore, the plot should unfold in interesting ways, with plot twists, unexpected revelations, causing the player to reassess what's going on or adapt to changing circumstances. You want the player to always be dying to see what happens next.[5]

[5] In fact, one of the ways I test writers who wish to join The Freeman Group is to give them a boring game plot, and see how they'd change it to make it both more riveting as well as more emotionally gripping.



Creating Emotion in Games. The Craft and Art of Emotioneering
Creating Emotion in Games: The Craft and Art of Emotioneering
ISBN: 1592730078
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 394

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