Folklore a.k.a How not to do linear narrative.

Ok, so this week it really is time for something different. However before we get to that I need to throw out a small disclaimer. Even in spite of all the mean things I'm going to say about Folklore it is still a game with an incredibly unique approach to world and character design such that it's still worth checking out on that basis alone. It's just a shame that the combat designers and writers couldn't measure up to the games art staff. Today we're going to be looking at the issues with the games writing (bad) and the presentation (inconsistent and lifeless) of aforementioned writing.

Pictured: Textbook linear gameplay.

Also here's one more disclaimer before we really get going: I never actually finished Folklore. The writing was too bad, the combat too repetitive and the overall story too linear. So while it shares an issue, shown above, with many other linear games in that most conversations with non-player characters (NPCs) are along the lines of go here, get this or vice versa. It exacerbates this issue through the methods it uses to communicate with the player.

Pictured: A character you will probably grow to dislike.

The first is the, thankfully rare, fully animated cinematic. The main reason for this is that the voice acting in this game could charitably be described as lacking and less charitably be described as bad. These are problems that tend to compound one another.

"I only asked you how your day was."

Pictured: It's like they're not even having the same conversation.

The two paper dolls talking to one another is a fairly common storytelling device in Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs). Modern JRPGs have, however, begun to add a voice-over to what is usually a pretty lifeless and non-interactive method of communicating information to the player. Here it's probably a good thing that there isn't a voice-over but that still doesn't make this an ideal way to have the player communicate with NPCs.

Pictured:  A character actually emoting. 

Now here's a genuinely creative and interesting way for the game to talk to the player. A partially animated comic strip. This mode really allows for the games artistic value to shine through while minimizing the impact of the writing (usually). It also allows the viewer to get a good look at the character designs.

Pictured:  The main problem with this game.

Now, at this point you might be thinking: Ok, so it's a badly written game, so what? There are plenty of those out there. Well the simple, seemingly innocuous screen above is what. The two characters don't really participate in different stories. Rather they're experiencing the same story from two different perspectives. You have a couple of choices about how to play this out but it's overall very linear regardless. You might now find yourself drifting back to the thoughts of “So what?”. Well the issue here is that the game enforces a dual playthrough. I was warned by a kindly reviewer on Amazon.com when I bought the game that you can only get so far with one character before you're forced to play catch up with the other one in order to continue with either. What this means is that if you played all the way up to the cutoff point with one character that the story elements of the character you'd been ignoring completely are already spoiled for you. Even going with alternating chapters you're going to find the story mostly spoiled for you when running a given chapter through for a second time. It was because of this forced dual playthrough and the combat (next week) that I decided to move on to other games. Check back next week for the issues with Folklore's combat.