Choice VS Narrative: Why Didn’t I Ever Get Into WRPGs?

One question I’ve asked myself a lot, and that some of my fellow gamers have been simply incredulous about, is why I don’t enjoy playing the Western Role Playing Games that have become increasingly popular over the years. And, honestly, I really didn’t have an answer for a while. It’s true that I do enjoy the gameplay style of the Japanese variety, but that’s largely because I grew up playing games like Pokemon and Final Fantasy, and that’s no real reason as to why I couldn’t enjoy this particular type of game. It was while reading about the recent fan backlash against Mass Effect 3 that I started to put together what it is about WRPGs that just doesn’t appeal to me. It got me thinking, and in order to figure it out, I looked back to the first WRPG I ever played: Knights of the Old Republic 2.

            When I picked up KOTOR 2 from my local game store, I really didn’t know what to expect from it. I enjoyed what little of the game I played to an extent, but there was something about the experience that didn’t quite sit well with me, and I wasn’t too perturbed when moving on to other games before making it off of KOTOR 2’s second planet. Over time, as I gained much more experience with RPGs, I finally figured out what it was about this game that pushed me away, and that was how I experienced the narrative. For all of the interesting characters in the game- Anton Rand, Darth Nihilus, Kreia, et cetera- the character I controlled was a boring blank slate that I created at the start of the game, which made pointless dialogue decisions in order to gain more dark side points. KOTOR 2, in short, lacked a strong and well-developed main character to support its story, and for me this really hurt the narrative. I realize, though, that my problem isn’t with blank slate characters; characters such as Crono in Chrono Trigger, or the Hero in Dragon Quest V have made it clear that one can get invested in a story through these types of characters. Therefore, there’s a bit more to my problem than this.

            WRPG diehards will insist that their games contain ‘roleplaying’ by including choices in their games and allowing the player a small degree of freedom by doing so. I’ve elaborated before on why this is a ludicrous idea, so there’s no need to say it again. To me, all WRPGs are doing is trying to have things both ways- they want to have player choice to maintain their quotient of ‘roleplaying’, but they also want to tell character-driven narratives, and the way they’ve gone about it just doesn’t do anything for me. Now, I stress that there are exceptions to this idea; for example, while I don’t like the game, Skyrim is a game that places the utmost emphasis on giving the player a great open world to explore and involving the player through their interactions with the world, rather than focusing on narrative. Still, for a great deal of story-focused WRPGs, I feel as though the insistence of including player choice contradicts the narratives they’re trying to weave. Take, for instance, the famous plot twist from the original KOTOR (spoiler incoming): that your Player Character is in fact the mysterious Darth Revan. Now, imagine if you will that KOTOR was being played as a Star Wars themed pen-and-paper game. After spending a great deal of time with this Jedi character that you created, and after you developed his personality and his history, your GM suddenly told you that, no, everything you know about your character was wrong and that he was really the GM’s villain. Not only would the GM not be allowed to do this, you’d rightfully be pissed off if he was. Now, obviously Knights of the Old Republic is not a pen-and-paper game, but if WRPG fans insist on labeling their genre as ‘real RPGs’, wouldn’t it be nice if they actually had what it took to live up to them? WRPGs may claim to be ‘roleplaying’ games because of their element of player choice, but in actuality they offer epic narratives that are hamstrung by their insistence on accommodating the player, and especially when they do it so clumsily. Shoehorning the PC into a plot twist, for example, isn’t roleplaying. It’s just bad storytelling.

            A more recent game I’ve been thinking about is the much maligned Dragon Age 2. Now, let it be known that I have nothing against DA2; I honestly don’t care about it one way or the other. Still, one of the major complaints levied against the game by Bioware’s ever-rabid fan base is that the story’s ending is ultimately not affected by the player’s choices. I wonder… would people still be so angry at Dragon Age 2 if it hadn’t implemented poorly done choices? If DA2 had simply been an epic, character-driven narrative starring Hawke, champion of Kirkwall, would it have been received better? Same goes for the ongoing drama over the ending of Mass Effect 3- if the Mass Effect games had simply been an epic trilogy, one whose narrative naturally led to the conclusions that people are so angry about, would there be less whining about it? Perhaps not, but if they had I’d actually be interested in them.

            As I mentioned before, there are exceptions to the rule, and I’ve found several RPGs I enjoy that have implemented player choice very well (and they’re JRPGs. Weird, eh? Not really). For example, Persona 3 and Persona 4 both use their choices to develop social links with the characters and develop them further, while still telling a very deep and focused story. In fact, the entire Shin Megami Tensei series in general has done a great job with implementing player choice into their narratives, using it to explore philosophical concepts and the personalities of the characters. Another example, of course, would be the game I just played, Radiant Historia, which uses its choices to flesh out the character of Stocke and invest the player in his situations. These, in my opinion, are examples of how player choice should be implemented in games.

            In conclusion, I guess what I’m saying is this: the reason I’m not a fan of WRPGs is because I prefer it when choice, if it’s in the game at all, supports the narrative. Not so much if it defines it.