1. Real Characters We Actually Care About
It is very very rare that I care about the lives of an in game virtual character. In fact, most of the time I wish the characters would die so that something interesting would actually happen. The reason I simply don't care is because most of the time the character was going to die whether I did anything to save them or not, and most of the time nothing the player does can really change the character's decisions all that much. There was a little of this I guess in the Mass Effect games, but nowhere near the amount I wanted. The plan of this game was to make Eve, the "alien" companion you spend the game trying to protect, a person you truly care for, and a character that would completely react and evolve depending on the decisions you make throughout the game, and how you treat her. She would also fight along side you using special energy powers, and knew things that you didn't, so could help you out and offer a you a different skill set. Sure, we have seen similar characters like this in games like Enslaved: Odyssey to the West or Half Life... but those characters would never change, and would never decide to betray you depending on whether they liked you or not. Those two games were awesome, but imagine how much more awesome they would be if they actually could make their own decisions that would vary completely every time you replayed the game. Though it sounds awfully ambitious and perhaps it could never have really been achieved, the game creators wanted to make Eve capable of learning and memory... in a sense like an adult female version of E.T. If you were playing the game too hesitantly for example, and weren't being enough of a leader, Eve would have gotten fed up, and would have started to take more of the control away from you until you played the game more confidently. If these kind of characters are even truly possible, imagine all the beneficial changes they could have on the game industry. If I actually could build a real emotional connection to an in game character I would actually want to replay the game, and would see the value in it. It would be like going in and visiting an old friend time and time again to relive the wonderful adventures we shared together... with the benefit that if things didn't turn out so well the first time, you could have as many more plays as you wanted to get it right. I am not ashamed to admit that I have never played a game more than once (accept for arcade games like Sonic the Hedgehog). Games are too long and usually once I've completed it, there really isn't that much more worth seeing. If games like this existed, I could really see myself putting away my box sets and films and turning off the TV to pick up my game console controller once again and spending an epic three hours playing a game like I would watch a movie. This is exactly the fresh new approach the industry in my opinion badly needs to prevent it from becoming stale and old. The upcoming game by Quantic Dream, Beyond: Two Souls, looks in many respects similar to this canceled game and I am eagerly anticipating this release. Though, if Heavy Rain is anything to go by (though I mostly enjoyed the game), this game won't be half as exciting as LMNO's potential was.