Cage Defends Heavy Rain Striptease Scene

[SimuLord]

So what Cage says he's trying to do here is make the player uncomfortable by making a character they have a personal connection to do something objectionable, like in Modern Warfare 2 in the No Russian level. On the other hand, I think this will only succeed if the player has some sort of an option, no matter how negative it might be. If the only way to proceed in the game is this striptease, then all it will do is drive a barrier between the player and the character. Still, judging by how Heavy Rain has marketed itself so far, I bet there is a choice, which makes the scene far more meaningful.

This has all been said before and better by Anthony Burch in his Rev Rant about character empathy, but I agree.

That would be a genuine innovation...if instead of a positive/negative choice, there was a genuine Morton's Fork (contrast a Hobson's choice, which basically boils down to "but thou must") or two in there. That would only be evident upon replaying the game (or reading a guide) but the writing could explore WHY it's given as a choice. Two equally interesting ways to follow the same linear set of plot points.

(y'know, except for the whole Uncanny Valley constant breaking of emotional immersion.)