Well this explains why Uncharted is terrible
The team also re-imagined ways to bring color and drama to action sequences by investing the player with agency. For example, in a scene of Uncharted when Drake has to cross a waterfall by journeying across tall pillars, the team wanted to elevate the drama by adding an explosion – but rather than make it an automatic sequence, they instead implemented an enemy firing. Engaging with the enemy would cause the explosion that would create the desired color as well as an environmental bridge forward, and just putting that task in the player’s hand creates a greater sense of investment.
– Leigh Alexander interview with Richard Lemarchand, Co-Lead Designer, Naughty Dog (Gamasutra)
That’s about the most fucked definition of player agency I’ve seen.
It’s not written as a direct quote from Lemarchand, so it’s either Leigh Alexander paraphrasing, or plain making shit up.
Either way, it’s immensely disappointing. It barely passes as micro-agency, and if this ideoology gains traction, then video games haven’t a hope of steering away from this glut of Cinemmersive™ shit that’s forever being churned out by film school drop outs.
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