HOW IMPORTANT ARE: PLOT TWISTS?

1) Whether a plot twist is good or not depends on whether or not the writing is good.

Final Fantasy VI's "plot twist" was that KEFKA TOOK OVER THE WORLD....to call that a twist would be pretty laughable. Its not like we didn't see that he was going to be the villain, but it was a little shock to the system to realize that the entire world you just fought to save got nuked to hell. The reason that affected people so profoundly was because the characters were so developed. Each of them had a little personality and a little history. Not too much, but enough that you were able to get a handle on who they were and fill in the blanks yourself. So when they wake up in the Dark World, it feels more personal because you're able to see how they were affected and how they lived in that world for the past few years.

2) A good plot twist is one that subverts expectations while keeping in-line with the narrative.

Dragon Quest V had a pretty decent story and decent characters. The plot is kind of weird because it doesn't have you traveling to save the world, but rather your main character is sort of shuffled here and there early in the plot and by a route of bad happenstance, gets sold into slavery. Ten years later you manage to escape and are left to wander about in the wake of a ruined homeland and broken family. Its pretty nifty: You even marry and land yourself a wife.

Seems like kind of a weird plot for an RPG, yes? So what's the twist?



That's pretty damn cool. And its kind of got this meta-logic that the Dragon Quest series is able to tread the line with so well. It also doesn't seem like the twist comes out of nowhere because it is to the benefit of the story, following the central themes the game creates.

I think Shin Megami Tensei IV handled plot twists pretty well. You start in a medieval-esque realm with castles and swords and stuff. Early in the game, you can find relics which are little trinkets that get appraised for money. A few hours into the game, you start to notice some relics being kind of weird. You start finding things like CDs, kitchen utensils and appliances, etc. You travel deeper into a dungeon, and you end up in the ruins of a skyscraper in modern-day Tokyo overrun by demons. At first, the characters are told that it's a dark underworld of sorts, but then there's the plot twist...



It gets confusing, but sorts itself out as you learn more throughout the game. It was essential to the story line and executed pretty well and gradually, so it works out great. But then you have some plot twists like in Hexyz Force, where they consist of...



And that plot twist can only be discovered by balancing Creation/Destruction action ratings. It's also only relevant if you've been bothering to pay attention to the lore of the world.

Those are some examples of good and bad plot twists. If you're going to do a plot twist, try to make it story-relevant and able to be followed by most, if not all, players. Don't have one of the first bosses suddenly return and become the main villain, unless they've had participation in the plot since then. A lot of modern games try too hard, as well as modern movies. I figured out the plot fifteen minutes into Captain America: The Winter Soldier using only the title using the following thought process:



Avoid obvious and/or unnecessary plot twists.

One thing that I would definitely suggest avoiding at all costs; it is pretty much never a good idea to write a story around an idea, decide it's too straightforward, and then add a plot twist. The plot twists should be consequences of the main ideas of the story, not add-ons.

Well... there are good games and bad games with/without plot twists.

If you decide to use plot twist then they are very important: not spoiling it beforehand, twisting enough to that it makes a real difference in the plot, but keeping the story in a logic way at the same time.

If there are not plot twist at all, or maybe mild ones, not strong enough to say it's a TWIST but just some kind of slight desviation or gradual develation of your real main goal, the player will not miss the twist if the story is a good one. BOF series are good examples of this, I think.

I don't necessarily think a plot twist is needed as in a very sudden change that makes the player "oh wow I totally didn't see that coming". But I DO think that any story in a movie or game needs to be unpredictable. It simply makes it interesting. Instead of single plot twists I prefer it to be unpredictable the whole time, though.

As Locke wrote, it's the sense of discovery that's needed. And there are multiple ways to accomplish that.

Also on semi-related side-note: Sometimes RPGs have a really boring story, but I like the gameplay in them. In those cases I often ignore all dialogue and just play for the gameplay. So in theory some kind of game that plays like an RPG but doesn't even have a story might actually be viable.

Edit: And think of western RPGs. They often don't get their sense of discovery from plot twists as there is usually not even a main story path to follow, but rather from small thinks, like going into an unexplored cave and find a secret passage and then you suddenly get attacked by bats.

I honestly don’t think plot twists are necessary or important at all. Sure they can make the story more interesting, but they aren’t essential. A good, well written, well told story can still be good even if the eventual outcome is telegraphed miles away perched atop a radio power with a huge banner that reads “this is precisely what you are expecting”. Things don’t have to go exactly the way the hero’s expect them to, but not having a big huge supplies it completely changes the dynamics of the story isn’t going to hurt the quality of the story.

In fact one of the worst things you can do is have a twist for absolutely no other reason than to have a twist. If you are going to have a twist though, probably the best thing to do is have one huge twist and have the story build up to it.

It can also be a plot twist to not have a plot twist. Like you put in a lot of signs that make the player predict a plot twist and in the end there is none! Hahaha, surprise!

Haha! I wasn't able to finish Brave Story because almost every NPC just spouted gameplay mechanics tips rather than anything interesting. I'm glad I didn't, now.

Let me guess, the movie he goes to see is the original Brave Story movie that the game spun off from?