Standalone, Episodic Video Games - Thoughts

[Terramax]

I got thinking that, if you look at the great majority of games made nowadays, they almost exclusively have these, 'epic' plots that span for a ridiculous number of hours, and usually end by the end of the game, or expand to sequels.

What I notice is that, besides episodic adventure games from Telltale, and tacked on expansion packs, there are very few games out there where you have multiple, standalone stories all rolled into a single package i.e. like a television show, or book series.

I recall playing earlier Tenchu games, where some missions where standalone, that didn't have any relation to the main plot, but this is pretty much it.

Would I be the only one here that would be more interested in games with smaller, episodic plots, rather than one big epic campaign that takes up the whole game (or a few)?

Imagine something like Cowboy Bebop, where you play missions that all bare little to no relation to one another. Or Star Trek, where you're literally play short 1-2 hour episode stories. That sort of game structure for famous franchises like Halo, Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, etc. What about smaller missions staring Solid Snake or Big Boss?

And I'm not talking sub-quests. I mean, games that are completely devoid of any major plot, period. Would you guys buy something like that?

 

[Doom972]

It works well in the Japanese market, but not so much elsewhere. Personally, I don't see the point of it.
When a game I'm interested in gets released in episodes, I prefer to wait until the season ends and then get it.

 

[Terramax]

No, I don't mean the game gets released in episodes. I mean, a single game that consists of multiple episodes, rather than one single story arc ;>.>

 

[Gatx]

No, I don't mean the game gets released in episodes. I mean, a single game that consists of multiple episodes, rather than one single story arc ;>.>

So something like Resonance of Fate? Or so I heard, haven't tried it myself. In a lot of ways you already have that with every Elder Scrolls game if you just ignore the main quest.

 

[The_Scrivener]

I always wait until the end when they do this anyway. I don't actually like it. Especially since TV is moving more away from the old model since lots of people buy an entire season or watch an entire season on Netflix all at once now. Binge TV is a better model. Week-to-week cliffhangers are hilarious now because they look absurd.

 

[Rose and Thorn]

When a game I'm interested in gets released in episodes, I prefer to wait until the season ends and then get it.

Yeah this is what I did with The Walking Dead. I think that is the only episodic game I have played though. I don't hate the idea I guess, better than small little DLC crap.

I wouldn't be against that notion Terramax, that is kind of what L.A Noire was right? A game with a lot of little stories in it. Each new case was a new mystery.

*Oh Also, Halo 4 has the Spartan OPs thing, which is an episodic campaign of sorts. I haven't played it, but that is what I have been led to believe it is. Maybe more developers will try this out in the future? Like I said, I am not against the idea, as long as we still get big epic games too.

 

[Terramax]

Yeah, L.A. Noire is what I'm thinking of.

 

[fibchopkin]

I am... not sure if I'd like this or not. I suppose it depends on context. I think that this mechanic worked well enough in L.A. Noire (though so many others fell flat), since we were playing a detective, but typically speaking, I'm not sure that such a game would ever hold as much interest for me as, say Baldur's Gate, The Witcher, or Bioshock. I like epic and sweeping- in both my books and my video games, and I'm not certain how much an episodic experience would appeal to me.