The Need for Linearity in RPGs

by Arpad Korossy 

A big issue right now is the over the linearity of RPGs. People complain that games just go from point A to point B, and that nothing you do can significantly change the ending or the course you take to get there. They complain that this decreases replay value and is unrealistic. Well let me ask you then: How much of the great literature of the world is composed of choose your own adventure books? In fact, no one to the best of my knowledge has even written a choose your own adventure book that had a length over 40 pages and more depth than, uh, something really thin. This is because non-linearity simply does not lend itself to plot or character development.

For example, take a look at Daggerfall from Bethesda Softworks. Being a computer RPG, it isn't covered here on RPGamer, but it illustrates my point perfectly. Daggerfall is very close to being a totally non-linear RPG. You start a point A, but from there on you can be a good guy or a bad guy, fulfill your quest or not, kill innocent people or be a defender of Truth, Justice, and the American Way. You can choose the race of your character from a wide variety of fantasy beings, and can even buy your own house or ship. I hated this game. I would rather play Robotrek, that wretched, wretched game, rather than Daggerfall. Daggerfall was certainly interesting at first. I got out of the first dungeon, and then got to the outside world, and found nothing but more tasks, guilds, and missions. After killing my umpteenth, Orc, rat, bat, thief, or rogue, I wanted to go throw my computer off a high building. That game was chronically depressing. There was no character development and no plot. After I had my fill of Daggerfall in about two hours, I found myself longing for the linearity of Final Fantasy VI.

Final Fantasy VI had something that Daggerfall sorely missed: heart. The touching moments that make FFVI a special memory for me were not possible in Daggerfall. Daggerfall had no scene at the opera house, where Celes sings so that Maria won't get captured by Setzer, only to have all their plans almost foiled by a large purple octopus with a five ton weight. It didn't have the touching scene where Cyan loses his family, and then has a last chance to say goodbye when he and his companions come across a strange train in a phantom forest. Final Fantasy VI made me laugh and made me cry; Daggerfall just depressed me until I felt like blowing my brains out with a shotgun (no, I really don't have suicidal tendencies, don't worry). This is not because the folks at Bethesda Softworks have some bad writers working for them, it's because non-linearity renders that kind of stuff impossible. When working with a linear plot, a good writer can give us characters that we care about and a powerful plot that leaves us in awe as the credits roll by. With a totally open ended game like the accursed Daggerfall, the best of writers couldn't make it into a game I'd care about. Right now I couldn't care less if someone dropped an imaginary nuclear weapon right into the middle of the imaginary world of Daggerfall.

So the next time you find yourself whining about how linear a game is, consider the alternative. You can have good plot and good characters, or you can have non-linearity, but you can't have both. If you honestly prefer the latter, that's your decision, but aren't the characters what an RPG is supposed to be about?