Let's imagine a game

It was still where we energized

A while ago I penned a blog wherein I covered a few of the features that I would like to see present in more games out there, from the little to the big. After which I proposed an blog of what would happen if we smashed some of those concepts together into a game that would, at least by my own standards, be something close to 'the perfect game'. Given time to let it grow, I've settled on the idea and think it's a thought experiment worth having a little fun with and watching what comes of it, as such I implore you to try out the same with any of your own internal 'features that should be in every game' lists. Firstly, however, I want to set myself a few ground rules. This will be an outline of what the game is rather than a specific list of everything which makes it work, because then we'd literally just be writing a game pitch. Also, in order to get the most out of the results I'm going to operate under the guise that we're talking about a game with an infinite budget under an unlimited time constraint. (So we won't have to factor in logistics when just going over what could be.) The limiting factor for me will be in that I want to create a game idea that is coherent and focused, and seeing if I can juggle the ingredients to make that work. Remember; this is an exercise in fantasy, not a blueprint.

So going through my little cherry picked list I note that I've landed on quite a few concepts that don't exactly slide together with ease, however I'm resolved to stick as many of them together as I can. Following this, that would mean that straight away we're looking at this 'perfect game' being an Immersive Sim; a style of game built with player choice intrinsic in it's very soul and baked into the gameplay and level design. I would see this being realised someway similar to Dishonored or the recently released Deathloop; a First person adventure game with systems built to manage a stealth approach and an action one. This would, of course, require that any levels (or active gameplay areas) be designed both with multiple options for entry and with enough spice to entertain a shooter's angle. (verticality, dynamic action stages, varying enemy type) Pushing that a little further, most serious objectives should have multiple paths for dealing with them. (Typically this plays out as multiple ways to kill or subdue a man, but I don't see why you couldn't have something like a ticking bomb that can either be defused or moved from harm's way. Get creative with it.)

That's our basis of the game we're working with here. A first person (to lean into the 'immersive' aspect) mission based action game with stealth and action mechanics for the player to choose between at their leisure, and an emphasis on multiple paths to the same objective. Well the first problem with a story like this would be how Companions would end up in this sort of game because that's something I pushed rather strongly in my blog. Typically these games are all about empowering the player and leaving the power of how a scene plays out largely in their hands. No one wants to mount a stealthy mission only to have some idiot AI companion screw it all up for them, and it's not really realistic to say "Code good stealthing AI", because no such example exists on the market to point to. (That I'm aware of) However, I think I may still have a model for which companions can fit into this game.

Do you remember 'Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain'? That was a stealth based action adventure game which included it's very own version of companions in these special characters that you could recruit and call up to accompany you in missions. What made them special is that each of these characters (or 'buddies') wouldn't just follow you around like a lost puppy and attack what you attacked, rather they would add their own benefits to whatever it was you were doing, usually doing so either from afar or at your explicit direction. (As as Quiet sniping enemies from a hill away or D-Dog marking people on your HUD) If we take this concept and export it over to a game genre such as a Sci-Fi futuristic setting, maybe even a Cyberpunk one, you could envision a hacker companion who doesn't 'join you', but instead follows you around by Netrunning and conducts high-level hack jobs for you as you command it. Or maybe a police confidant who could show up in an area with an escort when called in order to draw attention and open up infiltration access to places otherwise highly guarded. Sure, this method of implementing 'companions' makes them feel a bit more like powerups than ride-or-die heroes who stand by you, but I think we can build them up as we greater explore the role of companions.

Expanding on this idea, the idea of companions, will allow us to touch on the Social simulation feature I wanted to bring into this fictional game idea. Persona introduces to us the concept of 'confidants' (or as they're known to the uninitiated: 'friends') who are a group of companions whom the player can get closer to by spending time with them inbetween main quests. Now I don't expect this immersive Sim to be as 'on-the-rails' in narrative as Persona is (those games stringently follow the in-game calendar) but we could still envision opportunities to hang-out with and get to know companion characters at certain points within the critical story, particularly when large plotthreads aren't looming too closely over you so that the player feels like they have time to kill. These substories can play out as scripted little events with some characterisation and conversational choices built into them so that the writers can easily map out a personality, backstory and character arc for each companion. (Maybe a little too easily. Might want to integrate some limited coreplot interaction with the companions too in order to keep things from feeling too monotonous and stale.) The incentive to interact with them, much like in Persona, would be to improve their abilities by reaching relationship milestones, allowing them to more effective in action. (Whilst remaining an optional pursuit because this is an Immersive Sim and 'player choice' must touch everything) Alongside having an effect on their character and changing their ultimate fate in the credits.

Putting a safe house into this concept seems pretty simple, and it is, but I think for the best implementation of such a place we'd have to find a way to make this safehouse somewhere the player wants to return to without being forced to do so. (So no throwing in some lazy 'sleep meter' or restricting saving to 'safehouse only') Luckily with the somewhat tight narrative constraints we've placed around this game, being mission based, it wouldn't be too hard to set the odd objective leading the player back home. Deus Ex Human Revolution did just this and fitted the apartment with enough intractability and detail for it to feel somewhat homely. Were I in charge I'd slightly add upon this, throwing in a stash-box, (if this is the sort of game that would even require that) maybe a TV news channel that reports on events around the game world; ones which touch on the main story but from a wider perspective, subtly detailing the reactionary narrative. Most importantly, however, I'd wind in the companions, by having this safehouse be a Hub from which the the player can interact with them and activate those hang-out sessions I mentioned above. (That way people would have to go home)

The last point I left would be the most abstract to 'plot out' in broad strokes like I have done all the other features. And that's because this is when I spoke about meaningful environmental storytelling that works to impart the heart and emotion of the plot and world. That's hard to nail down before even deciding if this is an open world or what's going on with this fake game. (Immersive Sims are usually made up of expansive open Hub areas that then branch out into highly functional mission worlds, so I'd go for that set-up for this game.) Still, I've managed to conjure up yet another archetype to follow for this aspect too, and it's one of the Thief games. Thief famously tells the story of a character who's kind of a side character in a grand narrative of a world which is happening around him. Character conversations, scarps of notes, and even the places you traverse all tell this underlying progression of the world space with this overarching progression, but not directly related to your motives for most of the series. (It's quite clever in that way) We don't need to go quite that subtle in order to breathe this game world into existence, but the model of a game world which changes in ways you have to pay attention to in order to notice is the ticket. Have ambient conversation shift from meaningless frivolities to worried discourse, increasingly relevant to player actions. Maybe the player Hub will become more rundown and full of graffiti and trash bags as the fortunes of the neighbourhood sour throughout the story. Perhaps people start going out less at night as things become more dangerous, or authority figures start patrolling more often to enact curfews. Heck, maybe the sky just starts turning blood red, Oblivion style, to let you know that something's up and you should probably get on that. There really is a million directions you could take this concept, but whilst we're penning a false outline it'd be best to leave things with these vague guidelines.

All that's left is the Baldur's Gate power creep system, but that's more relevant to sequels anyway. I suppose we can take from that how I'd want some RPG system tied in, but the kettle of worms that suggestion even stirs makes me want to exorcize the thought from my mind immediately. So no dedicated RPG system, but an largely equipment based point mechanic might assist core progression. (Something which makes people feel more powerful without resorting to those flimsy faux-levelling trees that so many games are doing nowdays.) And that would be it: a basic outline for this fake game. It's funny, despite throwing all of these systems together in an outline that I, at least, perceive to be coherent; this still doesn't sound like exactly the building blocks of the 'greatest game ever' to me. (Although were these concepts each bought together in the way I described, that would definitely be a game right up my alley.) It just goes to show how even in broad strokes, painting the balance of what makes a great game isn't exactly simple. You can see how powerful and big personalities can clash in the planning room for some of these massive games out there. (especially as the game we just designed an outline for isn't particularly small itself) Maybe next time I hear about development woes right out of the planning room, I'll think back on this as evidence that even the right ingredients doesn't equal the perfect dish. Or maybe I just haven't picked out all the right ingredients yet! Time to gather more game features I want to see more of!