YOU MUST FREE YOURSELF FROM THE TYRANNY OF "MEANINGFUL CHOICES"

So as I start writing this piece, I have just finished (remotely) watching Nicholas O'Brien's talk at Narrascope, "I know narrative designers who use branching dialog and they’re all cowards". I'm not going to get into summarizing the exact contents of the talk itself, I think Nicholas can do that in his own words, but here's the summary as given on the conference schedule: Branching narrative is widely used in indies and AAA games, but does it inherently increase player agency? I argue that if employed too casually, it can create a wedge between user and story. I propose that contemporary games overuses choice-based dialog as a crutch, off-loading storytelling onto the player. “Flavor paths” – low/no-stakes choice-based narrative – have neutered the power that choice-based mechanics can have within narrative gameplay. Games that forgo flavor paths in favor of linear story or “consequential design” will hopefully inspire narrative designers to reclaim their stories from the (cowardly)…