MovieChat Forums > Until Dawn (2015) Discussion > Pretty linear plot

Pretty linear plot

posted 9 years ago by superherolu
2 replies | jump to latest

Even though there are supposed to be over 1000 endings, I don't see them being that different than each other. There are just many places you can fail and die accidentally, but it's not that hard to press four buttons and have people live most of the way through. There are only a couple of places where your decisions will have a huge impact on what happens, and it's mostly if a character will live or die, not what happens afterwards. It's not really the Butterfly Effect if the only thing that changes are character deaths, not big events that unlock new areas, or interact with characters you wouldn't have otherwise.

That's why this game seems to work better as an 'interactive' movie more than a game. There's not much you are doing. There are only certain paths you can take and the game pretty much forces you to take certain actions to move forward.

That doesn't mean it wasn't enjoyable to watch - but it's really lacking any sort of branching with decisions.

[–] Xevious550 9 years ago

The "butterfly effect" aspect of the game is really overstated. There's only a couple spots any particular character can die. And whether they die or survive, it changes very little going forward because that character will have almost no more playable sections.

So most of the in game choices do nothing other than increase or decrease their relationship status (changing their post-game interviews a little). As you said, having different areas open up to you, and maybe giving you the option between multiple characters to play (each with variable chances of success) would've been good.

While the game is fun (I enjoy Telltale games also), it was also a bit disappointing considering how hyped up the butterfly effect system was.

[–] QuartzQueen26 9 years ago

I consider most of these types of games as more of an "interactive movie." There is the illusion of choice because making them non-linear is too complicated to program. I do wish that someone will figure it out someday because I would love to play a game where choices truly do matter. I think Quantic Dream comes the closest but is still pretty linear.

Most of the choices in this game determined who lived and died, and that was pretty fun, but I wish it had more final outcomes. The ending is the same no matter what give or take a character or two.