I love episodic gaming. No, not the kind in which you buy games piecemeal via a download service, although that is an interesting approach to digital distribution. I'm referring more to the style that has a direct influence on the way a game is structured. Alan Wake and the more recent 3DS title, Resident Evil Revelations, are good examples of the structure that I am referring to. This design philosophy works better for some games than others but I feel that this kind of structure is also incredibly underused.

Handheld gaming certainly represents the area that could benefit most from an episodic structure, and I would argue that pacing through episodic content is the most important thing that developers who strive to create a console experience on a hand-held can do. By breaking a story down into bite-sized chunks through chapters or episodes, I find myself far more likely to let myself get absorbed into an experience, especially when I know that I only have a limited amount of time to play. Revelations broke down the story into well paced chunks without sacrificing or downplaying the presentation. Thanks to this structure, I was able to keep a constant tab on the story progression and plan my gaming sessions in terms of chapters rather than hours.

Storytelling represents a large portion of my motivations when gaming. A well written story, while a bit of a rarity, can be so much more impactful through interaction. On the other hand, staying focused and mindful of a story can be a real challenge when a game is anywhere between 10 and 100 hours long. The only other storytelling medium that can compare to an experience of that magnitude would be a television series...imagine that.

Alan Wake was among my favorite games of 2010 largely thanks to the ideas borrowed from television programming. In fact, I finished the game in two sittings thanks to some incredible pacing and carefully placed cliffhangers that kept me coming back for more. Like a good season of Dexter or Breaking Bad, I could not bring myself to stop. This addictive quality is essential to the storytelling but sadly absent from so many modern games. Something as simple as a previewing what's to come in the next episode and providing a brief refresher at the beginning of a session made games like Alan Wake and Resident Evil Revelations so much more enjoyable for me. Even Final Fantasy XIII, with all of its faults, introduced a similar structure that kept me going through that game far longer than I would have otherwise.

It doesn't work for everything but something like this does wonders for pacing and accessibility:


In this day in age when handheld gaming is struggling to remain relevant, and story-driven games are in constant competition for the attention of an impatient generation, I feel that an episodic design philosophy could be just what the doctor ordered. I only hope that more developers will begin to adopt this method and realize the creative doors that it can open in the interest of pacing and storytelling.

What do you think? What are some other games that make use of a similar episodic structure? What games do you feel could have benefitted from a structure like this?

**Alan Wake: American Nightmare releases tomorrow**

Comments

  • Avatar
    Jack Claxton
    12 years, 1 month ago

    I can see the advantages on say Resident Evil: Revelations where the player may be playing the game on-and-off and might need a brief recap. Games like Alan Wake executed it perfectly, but it felt rather unnecessary in my opinion. Speaking of which, I'm replaying it through on PC and damn, I forgot how great it was.

  • Avatar
    Aged Milk
    12 years, 1 month ago

    It can work with a lot of games. But personally I'd rather it not be too widespread, I like it more as artistic choice that's used sparingly, sort of like cell shading. My example being, it may work well in Borderlands but it'd be more of a distraction in say, a Bioshock title. Just the same, episodic recaps may work in A. Wake & Revelations, but may be less ideal in Uncharted or Arkham City.

    I do, however, think franchises such as Grand Theft Auto and Assassin's Creed could pull it off without disrupting their narrative.

  • Avatar
    Actionreplay
    12 years, 1 month ago

    You got to be careful if you're going to head into an episodic structure with a specific game. Much like with a tv show you need to keep the momentum going until the entire product is released. Otherwise you stall and end up tripping, the insane wait for the next Half Life? That's on the fact that Valve attempted this structure but they tripped and now the whole thing is stalled like a big train. But If you can grab the hammer and hit the nail perfectly then you got a fantastic structure to work with.

  • Avatar
    s1yfox
    12 years, 1 month ago

    I think episodic content is great if:

    a)the full retail experience feels like a full experience an

    B)a new experience different from what came before it is implemented.

    I think the gta episodic content was well done in terms of what it added after the game was said and done with.

    Things like gears 3 DLC in my opinion is a total was because it does the opposite of what I listed.

  • Avatar
    AdjacentKitten
    12 years, 1 month ago

    Episodic gaming... you make it sound like this is something relatively new. Barring the obvious difference in their names, 'episodes' and 'chapters' are essentially the same. Their objective is to fragment a game into relevant, believable portions. They get rid of all of the dead space in-between the ending of one section and the beginning of another. It's a very common thing to do when writing, but I was surprised to find that Alan Wake was the first game to seriously make it work. Maybe it is new...

  • Avatar
    pioshfd
    12 years, 1 month ago

    I've been playing through Alan Wake currently. Definitely having episodes makes it seem more like some television shows like Night springs and made me pace myself more seeing as I play one episode every night. Another great series that was in episodic form was the Sam & Max series (which I wish they would release a new one). With all the zany things that went on in the world, I think episodes were an easier and better way to transition onto the next crazy adventure that would eventually be tied up in the last episode of the season. It was always nice to see how all of the previous events are explained in some strange plot device, just like a real television series. :P

  • Avatar
    CrossOutlaw
    12 years, 1 month ago

    Ur gonna be sad to hear that american nightmare wont have the episodic feel in it. Mainly because its more like one big ass episode spinoff, than in the first alan wake...i heard the game wasnt that long though so it might be alright

  • Avatar
    Xander
    12 years, 1 month ago

    Good points, but I think this needs to be said: a "recap" should only be to catch the player/viewer up. The only thing that annoys me about this type of storytelling is that the recaps occur between chapters regardless of whether or not I just completed what is being recapped. I know what just happened, I was there 5 seconds ago! If more games are using this style, they should use it correctly, i.e. recap only between gameplay sessions. Also, Alone in the Dark had this same structure, but it sucked so it doesn't count.

  • Avatar
    DalishCassassin
    12 years, 1 month ago

    I agree, I find that when games use episodic structures well, I'm more likely to get through the game, and it presents a nice shift or transition that adds to the pacing.
    I know I said this on twitter to you, but I recently played the 1st Phoenix Wright game and the episode structure seperated the cases nicely, keeping the game organised which was important especially after the information you needed to hang onto during a single case.
    This type of structure isn't good for every game, but for some it works really well and improves the experience I think.