Blog: "Why Trial and Error will Doom Games"

[Thomas]

If the game can incorporate let's say some powerful moments where the player must decide between something, and that you actually care what the outcome might be, then the feeling one gets out of making a "wrong" choice could be equally as frustrating as dying.

This is a very hard problem indeed. It is a bit up to the players to face the consequences of their action, which is something not everyone can. I think it is something one perhaps must learn and I think that it can make games feel more special. There are some Interactive Fiction games where I have reloaded because something strange happened and then done according to walkthrough, but suddenly, it did not feel like MY adventure, and if I had just stuck to my choice it would have been better for me.

However, it is also up to the designer to make outcomes that are in some degree equally "compelling". If an NPC dies, then it does not feels like you lost them, but like she sacrificed herself for you, thus creating a movement of strong emotions. This is very hard though and it will probably never work for all players. Also, it is important that it does not feel random, due to bad controls, etc. In those cases death and restart is to prefer because if you have the feeling of "Hey! I did not intend to do that!!!", then that huge immersion breaker.

I love playing through challenging games because the fulfillment one gets from beating a tough section is very nice, although I also love more cinematic type games, based in story and atmosphere more than gameplay.

Apart from not liking the term "cinematic", I totally agree! And I hope it is possible to have both Just not always both in the same game....