A Little Less Conversation, A Little More Action: Don't Delay Player Agency

February 20, 2024

Recently I've been picking games I play not just because they seem like they'll be fun, but also as something to mine for ideas and inspiration. I've been teaching myself Godot, and while I'm a ways off from making any game that's ready for a market release, I'm approaching them more from the perspective I've always approached music with as a musician; not just a work in a medium that I enjoy, but as something to analyze for ideas and inspiration for my own work.

Consequently, I've been playing a lot of older, retro games, as well as a lot of handheld GBA games and indie games. Part of this is for their charm, but part of it is also because those are much closer to what I can accomplish singlehandedly; where modern AAA hits like Baldur's Gate 3 and Elden Ring notch thousands of dev team credits, older NES/SNES games, as well as GBA games and indie titles, rarely have staffs above 50, and typically cap out just past 100 at their absolute largest. Those AAA hits are great games, but if I want something I can use as a reasonable estimation of the targets I can hit solo, they're not where to look.

Two of the games that I've been playing on this old-school kick are two highly touted JRPGs: Golden Sun for the GBA, and Chrono Trigger for the SNES. While both are very good and I'm enjoying both, there's a contrast that's hard not to notice, and it's one where Chrono Trigger is a clear winner. (Yes, I know comparing any JRPG to Chrono Trigger is totally unfair. I'm not using this to take shots at Golden Sun, I'm just using it to explain my point. Again, I'm enjoying both, please do not be unfair to Golden Sun and read "Chrono Trigger did it better" as "This is a bad game" because "Chrono Trigger did it better" applies to 90% of the genre!)

In Chrono Trigger, you almost immediately gain control of Crono. You are somewhat on-rails, the game is clearly directing you to the fairgrounds, but you have the control to decide where you go. Want to run off to the forest before you even know the game's mechanics? You can do that! Even once you go to the fairgrounds, you have control over what you do, where, and when. That's good! Giving the player immediate control is a good thing! Letting them immediately be in control of the player character, and immediately having a say over what happens, gives the player instant agency and engagement. You're not sitting and waiting for the game to start, the game has begun the moment you hit "New game."

Golden Sun, on the other hand, is extremely on-rails for the start of the game. Your home town is flooding, and every time you try to head in a different direction, your previously open pathway is immediately blocked by a falling rock. There's one way for you to go, and all other options are walled off. Even once the flood is over, you're still going down a linear path with no real say in what happens, because there are multiple conversations you need to have, multiple encounters and confrontations you're required to engage with no matter what, and while this is understandable for the very start, it's this way for well over 45 minutes. You're approaching an hour into the game before you can make any kind of meaningful decision, and that kills so much of the draw of RPGs. Story is a staple of the genre, but if I feel like I'm not actually getting any say in the story, I don't feel like I'm playing an RPG. I feel like I'm watching a TV show. And while I like TV shows, that's not what I play a video game to experience.

This isn't to say you can't have a tutorial or an opening cutscene to draw players in, but the sooner the player is making the decisions, the better. People play video games to experience something interactive, whether it's something story-heavy like a visual novel or something gameplay-intensive like a puzzle game. If you're giving the player a full 30-60 minute saga they have to sit and watch before they can make any choices, you've done it wrong. It doesn't need to be any big choice either; "Do you want to fight the combat cat bot or try to hit the bell at the faire?" is enough. "Do you want to go recover Harry's shoes or not?" is enough. "Do you want to check the Mind Flayer nursery for any clues or press onward?" is enough. It's not about immediately being in a position to change the world, it's about having agency and control as soon as possible. Being the active participant driving the events, not just a passive passenger.

You don't have to send the player into immediately engaging with life-or-death without any preparation or preamble. That would be almost as dangerous as giving them a feature film before they get to make any decisions. But as soon as you've established the basic fundamentals, get them engaged and making decisions. The sooner the player has agency and is able to make decisions, no matter how small they may be, the better for both your game and their experience.