Games which, like novels, have a primary purpose of simply making you
think. Take for example, Planescape: Torment. A cult classic, with very little emphasis on combat and much ultimately on a simple question:
"What can change the nature of a man?"A question with so many answers that reveal so much about the person creating the answer. Take me for example, ask me this question and my answer would be profit. What can change the nature of a man? What he stands to gain from making that change. Others would come up which so many different answers, age, time, death, belief, hope, fear, regret, so many possibilities. These kinds of games are, ultimately fascinating. They offer insights into the human condition, and our own depravities.
Knights of the Old Republic 2, Fallout 2, Planescape: Torment, all of these were story based in my opinion. It was the story that interested me, the story that kept me playing, and the choices that story provided that made me play again.
These are the games that we replay because we want to see real differences in our choices, they are highly character based, highly plot heavy, and I think we need more of them. I am interested in what you all think of almost entirely story-driven games, to the point of being almost if not entirely interactive fiction. From a game development point of view, the pros and cons of such games would be a fascinating discussion.
So, what is your opinion on low-action, high-narrative games? What do you think can change the nature of a man?
