Enforced Play Order – An Anatomy of Visual Novels
Entry posted by Pallas_Raven in Analysis
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This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.
Directions From On High
The player is a wild and chaotic beast prone to doing what you least expect and are both the joy and bane of developers. This is especially true for any game which focuses on narrative as its core element since there is no guarantee the player will experience the story in the way the designers intended and even more so if there is any form of freedom offered. Visual novels fall into this category and since their narratives form the backbone of the experience it is vital for many of them to ensure the player never gets lost or confused as to the intentions of the story or finds a major plot point before they should. The solution which many visual novels have developed is the Enforced Play Order. This is a restricting of what parts of the game the player has access to at one time and acts to control their progress while ensuring a smoother transition from one route to another. However, there is no unified approach to how this Enforced Play Order should be implemented. There are instead three main ways it implemented, a completely rigid play order, only having the finale locked and moving in and out of controlling the player’s progress. It is these which will form the basis of discussion in this article and will be explored to see the pros and cons of each method. So let’s follow the path laid out before us and dive into the Enforced Play Order.
Rigid Play Order
Sometimes the best approach is to give the player no freedom at all, why risk them misunderstanding something when you can take them by the hand and make sure they experience everything correctly? This is the idea at the core of the Rigid Play Order and it is the realm of the plot heavy visual novel which would suffer the worse from the possible confusion of the player. Being rigid does have its advantages and does not necessarily exclude them from the benefits of the more flexible approaches.
Controlling the player’s approach to the game provides the developer with a rigid framework to shape their visual novel around as they do not have to account for any discrepancies which might occur due to the order a player experiences it in. In other words they have control over the pacing and plot progression in a way which is simple for both them and the player. Having a tightly paced game makes sure the player is on the same page as the game and forges a more memorable journey as the highs and lows are presented to the player in a way that feels natural. A more free-form visual novel risks becoming more lumpy with sections of good and bad content showing unevenly throughout and leaving an inconsistent taste in the player’s mouth. Rigid Play Order avoids this pitfall through the smooth direction it can give the player and the way it can ensure that they are given the best content at the right moment to leave them with an overall positive impression while communicating its ideas.
If there is one game which embodies this approach it is Wonderful Everyday. Each route exists in a linear order with a distinct segregation to make it clear when the narrative has moved on and ensures the player knows exacts the direction to go next. Despite this there is a strong flow throughout the entire experience as the different character perspectives on the same events slowly fill out the player’s understanding in a rewarding way that makes sure they have exact amount of new information to be engaged while keeping the mystery thick. This would not be possible without the exacting control offered by the Rigid Play Order since without this backbone it would not be possible to know what the player would do first and so be forced to spread the content thin across the game while not giving the larger nuggets present in the actual game.
It might be tempting to paint the entire approach to Rigid Play Order as one that comes at the cost of player freedom but, while there is some truth to this idea, many visual novels which follow this method have a flexibility that becomes available upon repeated playthroughs. Most games using this technique do so through a series of unlocking routes and these extend from a common route like most other visual novels. So once all have been unlocked what remains is a standard free-form narrative many expect from the medium and this makes the next playthrough one tailored by the player as they can pick and choose which parts to replay. This freedom is fine for the Rigid Play Order since it is mainly interested in ensuring the first experience is as strong as possible and as these games often rely major plot elements not being spoiled there is no reason to constrict the player after the curtain has been pulled back.
Finale Only Lock
Not every game wants to tell a complicated story but many still want to have the sense of conclusion and cohesion offered by a more rigid narrative. To answer this need the approach of the Finale Lock was born. This method gives the player freedom within the main narrative but prevents them from accessing the final route or section until all other content has been completed. As such this leans heavily into the more free-form nature of visual novels.
Placing characters front and centre is what this approach to Enforced Play Order thrives on. As the visual novel cannot rely on the order a player experiences the game outside of the final route, it instead has to make the thrust of its themes through each routes’ main heroine and have the final heroine acts as the thread that ties the emotional core of the game together. This leads to a style of narrative favouring a resonance with the player over engaging their minds and by extension is free-form due to not being constrained by a need to tell a story in a set order as it relys on the feelings of the player to form its identity. The final route is provides a means to bring the character beats together into something more cohesive rather than the soup of emotion it would be otherwise. Clannad is a good example of this character emphasis and its role within a final route. For the vast majority of the playtime it gives the player free rein over its many different parts but once these are completed the After Story final route is unlocked. This brings together the emotional heart of Clannad which was spread out over the game into a place where it can be easily viewed and player can come to appreciate the journey to this point. It also works to pay off the feelings built up in each route and gives the player a place to come to terms with them in a structured manner.
Of course not every visual novel using this approach is interested in anything as complicated as emotional resonance, for many it is simply a means to give a conclusive feeling to the game and reward the player for getting through the rest of it. They achieve this by packing the majority of the plot and action into the final route to create a sense of escalation after the relatively static structure of the heroine routes. This contrast acts as a type of reward with everything that came before being a strong form of catharsis and this works to encourage a tired player to continue to the end. Once a conclusion is reached to the final route, the release of coming out of the high of the climax gives it a sense of finality which leaves the player with a wave of satisfaction. When looking at Date A Live: Rinne Utopia this approach can be clearly seen. The final route belongs to the titular Rinne and is a distinctive deviation from the standard structure present in all the other routes. Coupled with the general sense that everything is falling apart at the seams and the route take on a unique identity that immediately grabs the player and revitalises their interest in the game. It is in many ways the carrot dangled in front of the player throughout the game given Rinne’s obvious importance and this adds to the sense of finality present as the climax of this final route arrives.
Mixing Control and Freedom
Of course between these two extremes are the visual novels who want to merge control and freedom in order to best fit their narratives. For these the approach of moving in and out of controlling the player’s options was formed to suit their needs. To achieve this these games will open with freedom or control and shift into the opposite one and back again as the story they are telling demands. What results is an experience formed around the narrative but it is a delicate balancing act with many points where the player could lose interest.
This approach to the Enforced Play Order is a delicate balancing act between freedom and control and runs the risks of both extremes. If the game leans too much into control it could lead to the player feeling restricted, but too much freedom and it could confuse the themes and ideas it is attempting to show. Just enough of each end of the spectrum must be shown to the player to achieve the desired effect before switching to the other end in order to prevent either from outstaying its welcome. Should the equilibrium be struck then the visual novel can have the best of both worlds, gaining the clarity of one and the openness of the other. A good example of this is I/O which starts out with an extremely rigid series of sections before opening up for a time and then closing up again for the finale. Having this space in the middle allows the game to provide room for the player to contemplate the mysteries the previous sections set up and tackle the part they want more information about. This is directed by how the rigid sections controlled their presentation of its mysteries and so even in a free-form space the player still have a concise direction to follow with their curiosity.
Just like with Rigid Play Order, this mixture of freedom and control is a matter of emphasis and pacing within the game’s structure. Switching between such vastly different feeling structures creates a distinctive divide that highlights each section through the peaks and troughs provided by changing between them. What results is a mechanism via which the visual novel can shape how the player views certain parts with the use of contrast to create a looser form version of what Rigid Play Order aims to achieve. Perhaps the strongest example of this can be seen in Virtue's Last Reward which subtly weaves in and out of a free-form structure as the player makes their choices and hits locked sections they need to complete another part to access. These locks funnel the player down set paths but in such a way that does not immediately feel restrictive and instead fuels the player’s curiosity as to what is hidden behind them. On top this it ensures the player can never stumble upon anything important without proper context which in a narrative focused game like Virtue's Last Reward is critical for its success.
Conclusion
Exercising control over the player is something which offers visual novels a lot of options when it comes to tailoring the experience they are presenting. An absolutely rigid approach give the game the means to pace itself to the player’s benefit for a smoother and even structure. On the other hand just having a single unlockable final route provides a sense of closure the game might otherwise lack. If you mix these two methods together the result is a flexible ebb and flow to the game but at the risk of gaining the negatives of both. Overall the Enforced Play Order is an interesting tool in the visual novel developer’s pocket and offers an opposing design space to the more kitchen skin approach for a healthier spread of constructions. It is definitely something to keep in the back of your mind as your game comes together as even a small amount of it can significantly change the perception of its narrative.
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