Recently I've been thinking about the philosophy of writing an "experience", which is essentially what a game with any narrative progression is - AN EXPERIENCE.
But what is the best approach?
Daisuke Amaya famously stated at GDC 2011 the following:
"Let the player enjoy the game -- if he enjoys the game he will be playing the game, and that's the time he wants to know the story. Start with the game, not with the story." - Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya
But what does that mean?
In Cave Story, the plot, characters and setting flow so effortlessly it is easy to overlook the dynamics of what has taken place with this game's writing in conjunction to play.
A few things to consider:
1. Play is never told to take a overlong break(a matter of seconds in which you can't move or simply aren't central to a scene)or backseat for the sake of plot development.
2. The player character is a mute who is essential to the plot moving forward but not central to it. Somehow player ego or purpose is not compromised despite these facts. How?
3. Multiple endings and further plot awarded based on play decision rather than arcade achievement or explicit narrative choice.
I've thought about what sorts of currently existing literary forms create a play situation similar to Cave Story and have come to the conclusion that it is not screenwriting or novels, but playwriting (seems kinda obvious, right?)
Anyway, more on this later.
Gotta go back to work
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