Thirith on 9/6/2016 at 16:03
Especially in connection with the new Hitman, I've been thinking about episodic gaming, its pros and cons. I've read lots of posts by people who think that episodic gaming is evil, wrong and stupid regardless of how it's done or what kind of game it's applied to, and I've also been frustrated by episodic gaming where the episodes took way too long, especially with story-heavy games.
At the same time, with something like Hitman I don't see why the episodic format should be inherently bad. While there might be an overarching plot, it's not the game's main asset. People who want to power through all the missions without a wait in between can easily wait until the whole game is out. Also, I've seen too many companies produce fun, interesting games but still go under because each project is a massive investment, with long lulls in between where there isn't much money coming in, so I also see the economic appeal: I expect that cashflow is easier to handle if there are several smaller sums coming in earlier than if everyone's waiting and hoping for one big heap of income that arrives more than a year later.
What do people here think? Are episodic games the devil? Does it depend on what kind of game we're talking about? Or are you a patient person and can wait until the final instalment anyway, so it's no skin off your nose?
icemann on 9/6/2016 at 16:10
Not necessarily a bad thing. Wing Commander Prophesy's expansion did this to interesting effect, where you got an episode a week, then based on your choices within each would determine which you`d gain access to the following week. Loved that approach.
I look forward to seeing how the Final Fantasy 7 remake is done, since that's going the episodic route.
Renault on 9/6/2016 at 16:45
There's already a mini discussion about this over in ThiefGen, but yeah - Thief is kind of the perfect game for episodic content, if you look at the success of fan missions over the years. When you have a game with solid mechanics and systems in place, and then each episode is it's own all-inclusive story and setting, it would seem to work out perfectly.
I think where players get frustrated is when you have one continuous story broken up into smaller parts - by the time they return to the gameworld, they've forgotten some of what happened prior or forgotten how to play the game. Plus, you're completely out of the rhythm and flow of the story. This is where the "Previously on..." would come in naturally, but you have to ask yourself - why do it at all with an ongoing story? Does the method serve the story in any way? Sure, you can have cliffhangers and such, but often it's going to be more destructive than productive.
The only upside I can think of is that the devs can actually react to player feedback and make necessary changes and adjustments. Kind of the way that Lucas removed Jar Jar from the prequels (not that it helped them much). I would think it would be beneficial for devs to get feedback from actual players as opposed to just play testers.
Tbh, this is pretty much all conjecture by me, as I don't believe I've played any retail game that is considered episodic. This is just me rambling.
Found this article too:
(
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/1747/why_bother_with_episodic_games.php?print=1)
Renault on 9/6/2016 at 16:59
As an aside, I don't know if anyone has played the game Lost, based on and inspired by the TV show, but it had a kind of interesting "episodic content within a full game" format. The game featured 12 chapters, and after each one completed, there was kind of a mini cliffhanger, and then the next episode would start with a "Previously on..." montage summary, showing what had just happened, and then the new chapter would start. Obviously the format was just playing on the signature sequence from the show, and the game itself wasn't very good (and was only fun if you were a fan of the show), but it was interesting all the same. If done right, it could give you some of the pluses of episodic content without some of the frustration.
Starker on 9/6/2016 at 17:33
I don't even like to wait for TV show episodes. I usually watch a whole season in a row.
Quote Posted by Brethren
Kind of the way that Lucas removed Jar Jar from the prequels (not that it helped them much).
But on the other hand he replaced him with senator Binks: (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPJy0HTRD4s)
Quote Posted by Brethren
As an aside, I don't know if anyone has played the game Lost, based on and inspired by the TV show, but it had a kind of interesting "episodic content within a full game" format.
Yeah, Alan Wake tried to do something like this as well. It doesn't really work when you're playing it all at once, though.
icemann on 9/6/2016 at 17:39
I'm the opposite. With the knowing that you'll have to wait a week to find out happened, comes the "NOOOOOOOO" moment.
That happens to me after every episode of "Game of Thrones" these days and "Lost" a decade ago. Makes the arrival of the episode that much sweeter.
Pyrian on 9/6/2016 at 17:44
Episodic content has already given us several blatantly unfinished stories. That's my biggest gripe. At least when a full game is a commercial failure, you can still play the full game. When something episodic gets cancelled, it just sits like that forever.
froghawk on 9/6/2016 at 19:56
10 years after HL2 Episode 3 was announced...
I've never played a game episodically. I've gotten all the episodic games I've played on sale as a full thing (Alan Wake, Telltale stuff, etc.), and I think I prefer it that way both financially and story-wise. With episodic TV you're guaranteed a new episode every week so it's easy to keep track of that story... not so with games.
I'll never understood why they chopped off the end of Alan Wake and released it as 2 more DLC episodes in a game that was already episodic... or why they waited until then to cram all the new gameplay ideas in and stretched out the main game way too long with repetition. But was the main game actually released in episodes?
faetal on 9/6/2016 at 21:21
It's OK if the price is right and each episode is well-crafted. It might even be a good thing if each episode gets the same amount of time allocated to make it what it can be - like this, you avoid games like Dark Souls where the first half of the game feels lovingly wrought with the latter half feeling rushed and unfinished.
Yakoob on 10/6/2016 at 14:46
I think it's pretty much a case of "when it's done right." Structure the story right, don't take too long between the episodes, price them appropriately, use the feedback to influence development, and it could be a very good model.
It also depends on the genre. I think some types of games lend themselves to episodic content better than others. I think it works really well for TV-esque story games and Walking Dead or Life is Strange are a good example of it being done right. I see it making sense in mission-based games like Hitman, if it leads to bigger/richer episodes you would get in a single release and the story isn't such a huge factor.
I am curious how more action-heavy or RPG titles will tackle it (such as FF7). I think FPSes would feel weird if a level ended on a cliffhanger (iD kinda did the shareware thing but each episode was standalone so it didn't matter). For non-linear games like roguelikes (think Binding of Isaac or FTL) a DLC that adds content probably makes more sense than "linear" episodes.
So TL;DR, I don't mind episodes if they are done right, but I also kind of miss the old days of buying a whole complete game I could play to start to finish. And if there was more, it was a proper robust expansion pack, not just one of many episodes or a bite-sized DLC.
Quote Posted by Brethren
As an aside, I don't know if anyone has played the game Lost, based on and inspired by the TV show, but it had a kind of interesting "episodic content within a full game" format.
so just like playing Walking Dead after the whole thing released? I did that and playing one episode an evening, the "previously on..." wasn't too distracting. Maybe a bit unnecessary but it was good to know I could take a break and get a little refresher before continuing; it's always dauting going back to an involved game after a longer pause.
