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Interactive Storytelling for Video Games Chapter 8: Multiple-Ending Stories. Josiah Lebowitz Chris Klug. What is a multiple-ending story?. Multiple-ending stories are the most basic type of player-driven story. They’re similar in many ways to interactive traditional stories.
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Interactive Storytelling for Video GamesChapter 8: Multiple-Ending Stories Josiah Lebowitz Chris Klug
What is a multiple-ending story? • Multiple-ending stories are the most basic type of player-driven story. • They’re similar in many ways to interactive traditional stories. • They allow the player to consciously or unconsciously choose between two or more possible endings. • They’re used in a large number of video games.
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain • Released by Silicon Knights in 1996 (PS, PC). • Has a very dark and mature story. • The hero, Kain, is given the choice between ruling over a dying world or sacrificing himself to save it. • It’s up to the player to chose which path Kain takes.
Ending Types and Where to Put Them • Many games have a good ending, bad ending, and maybe a neutral ending. • Some games’ endings focus on what-if scenarios or the different possible outcomes of an important choice. • Adding additional endings just for the sake of having multiple endings is a bad idea. • It’s important to consider whether or not having multiple endings will enhance a given story. • Each ending should fit naturally into and support the story and gameplay. • Depending on the nature of the different endings, it may make sense to place them throughout the game, instead of putting them all at the very end.
CHRONO TRIGGER • Released by Square in 1995 (SNES). • Tells the tale of a group of friends traveling through time to save the future. • Features a New Game+ mode. • On New Game+, players can challenge the final boss at almost any time. • Defeating the final boss at different points in the story will yield a variety of different endings. • There are several joke endings but the majority are what-if scenarios showing what would have happened if the adventure had ended early.
How many endings does a game need? • Most multiple-ending games have two or three endings. • CHRONO TRIGGER has 12 or 13 (depending on the version). Other games have even more. • Think about what you want your endings to show (the possible outcomes of a choice, what-if scenarios, etc) then work out how many endings are needed to achieve that goal. • Keep in mind that every additional ending takes time and effort to create (and money to pay the people putting in that time and effort).
STAR OCEAN: Second Evolution • Released by tri-Ace and SqaureEnix in 2009 (PSP). • An updated port of STAR OCEAN: Second Story (PS). • Contains over 100 endings based on the heroes’ relationships with each other. • Most of the endings are very short. • Even with multiple save files and a strategy guide, seeing every ending would require playing through the entire game many times.
Determining Which Ending the Player Sees • There are many different ways to determine which ending the player receives. • Many games give the player a straight up choice at or near the end of the game (as in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain). • Some games automatically choose the ending based on the player’s actions or performance over the course of the game (as in STAR OCEAN: Second Evolution). • Other games end early if the player makes a wrong choice or fails to meet certain criteria at various points in the game (as in Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow). • Different types of endings tend to work best with a specific system, often making the decision a rather easy one.
Multiple-Ending Stories and Sequels • If a game with multiple-endings has a sequel, which ending should the sequel be based on? • Most often, sequels follow the previous game’s best or most popular ending. This is easy, but can upset fans who liked a different ending better. • Some sequels don’t follow any single ending, but combine elements of all of them to form a new non-existent ending to follow. This can be very confusing for players. • Other games dodge the issue by having the sequel feature different characters or take place in a different location.
Mass Effect • Released by Bioware in 2007 (360, PC). • The start of an epic sci-fi trilogy following the adventures of Commander Shepard. • Players can import their save data into Mass Effect 2, with the story changing based on their actions in the first game. • This is an excellent way of showing players that their choices really mattered, but required a lot of extra design and writing
The Strengths of Multiple-Ending Stories • They give the player a degree of control over the outcome of the story. • The more endings there are, the greater the chance that the player will find at least one he likes. • They increase a game’s replay value. • They encourage the player to approach the game in different ways every time he plays. • They can be used to expand the story by showing alternate outcomes and what-if scenarios.
Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness • Released by Nippon Ichi in 2008 (PSP). • A port of the PS2 orignal. • Follows the misadventures of the demon Laharl as he works to become the Overlord of Hell. • Contains numerous endings, some based on what-if scenarios and others playing off of how well Laharl (and the player) have followed the story’s key themes. • The requirements for the best ending make it rather tricky to obtain with careful planning.
The Weaknesses of Multiple-Ending Stories • At the end of the day, players want an ending that provides a satisfying conclusion to the story. Players can become upset if they finish with a bad ending and can’t easily go back and get a better one. • Many players only complete a game once and will therefor only see one of the possible endings. • If the best ending is hidden behind a difficult and/or obscure set of requirements most players will never see it or even realize it exists. • Highly shocking and/or emotional endings lose much of their impact when the player knows he can load his last save and get a different outcome. • Due to time and budget constraints, the endings in multiple-ending stories tend to be shorter than those in interactive traditional stories.
Bioshock • Released by Irrational Games and 2K Games in 2007 (360, PS3, PC). • Has a very unique story set in the underwater city of rapture. • Features three different endings based on how the player treats the Little Sisters. • The bad and neutral endings are nearly identical. • Harvesting a single little sister prevents the player from obtaining the good ending without restarting the entire game.
Things to Consider • List five games you’ve played which use multiple-ending stories. • Pick two of the games from your list. How many endings do they have? How do they determine which ending the player receives? • In both games, were you happy with the first ending you received? Why or why not? • Did you want to replay one or both games in order to see the other endings? Why or why not? • Do you think that the additional endings enhanced or detracted from the games’ stories? Write a short explanation of your reasoning.