Endingtron 3000: Video games that struggle to end branching narratives
If anyone ever gets around to creating a video game hall of fame, the first name on the ballot for the video game criticism wing should be Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw. For the unfamiliar, search up your favorite video game along with Zero Punctuation. You’ll get the idea.
Yahtzee’s game criticism career is not only prolific in style or longevity, but that Yahtzee has inadvertently added to gaming culture. (see the “PC master race” colloquialism)
It’s important to acknowledge Yahtzee’s influence because he’s the originator of the term I used in the title. The “Endingtron 3000" is his term for video games that end by making a final choice followed by an epilogue that tells you the consequences of said choice.
In a past article, I recall mentioning that it’s hard to find spectacular video game writers. The best writers are already putting their effort into writing books, essays, journalism, movies, and television shows. Effective story writing in a video game is also a different animal because it’s a different immersive medium for storytelling. Gameplay can add to or take away from story elements depending on how…
