I’ve heard that people play Borderlands for the shooting. The stories have always just facilitated that. I have a very shallow knowledge of the series, as I have never played Borderlands 1, 2 or the Pre-Sequel. Now, I am a huge fan of Telltale’s games, but I often hear complaints that the choices they offer are illusory at best. This is true, to a degree.
There are two basic kinds of narrative structures in non-linear games. The first – and the one that some gamers clamor for – is called a “branching” narrative, so named because it starts at a singular point a spreads out from there. There aren’t actually all that many games that have true branching storylines. You only really see the concept executed fully in visual novels and adventure games, as well as a select few RPGs. These are typically titles with no expectations for a direct sequel, like the Westwood Studios Blade Runner game (remember that one?). When games like this do get a sequel, one ending is usually selected as “canon” while the rest are disregarded. In an age where saves carry over across series, this solution is no longer viable.
Most supposedly branching games have what’s colloquially referred to as a “string of beads” structure – the story “spreads out” every once in a while, but always comes back to a single track before too long. Countless developers use this structure, from Bioware to Rockstar to – naturally – Telltale. It’s this structure that makes their series-spanning story arcs possible in the first place. Because each episode and season of Telltale’s games ends on a more-or-less fixed point of reference, they don’t have to change much about the opening of the next part.
Having played the PAX demo, ‘Tales From The Borderlands” strikes me as a slightly more irreverent take on a standard bead string. The various protagonists’ lies might create bigger beads than we’re used to, but it’s clear that it’s all heading toward the same conclusion. By the very nature of being told in flashback, it has to. Once the characters are done regaling each other, there’s a possibility that their story could have multiple possible outcomes, but that seems unlikely given that this is meant to be part of the (mostly linear) Borderlands canon. Like the alternate scenes in The Wolf Among Us, their embelishments will give the game replay value, but I doubt players have the control over causality that they seem to crave. However, I could be wrong.
As cool as branching narratives are, they’re simply not feasible for most companies, especially not those trying to build or flesh-out a series. Voice acting and animation make wide branches even more prohibitively expensive, so if you’re looking for something that gives you that degree of control, you’ll need to look at games where that’s the sole focus of the writing.
Telltale aims to release Tales from the Borderlands starting in late 2014.
-Dagobot
Get at me on twitter: @markdago
Like me on THE Facebook: facebook.com/markdagoraps
Download my latest EP for free: markdago.bandcamp.com
Listen to MY podcast http: http://poppundits.libsyn.com