HOW IMPORTANT ARE: PLOT TWISTS?

author=masterofmayhem
In fact one of the worst things you can do is have a twist for absolutely no other reason than to have a twist.

I've been avoiding saying anything in this topic because I really, really hate plot twists, and I know that a lot of people love them (if one more person tells me that Bioshock blew their mind I'm going to lose it). Like master of mayhem said, don't just go to your writing desk thinking, "I'm going to put such a SWEET twist in my game!" You're going to play with gamer expectations, so some twists are unavoidable and can add to the experience, but there's a difference between a game built around character development that uses a twist artfully and a game built around a premise in which the twist completely nullifies everything that's happened, e.g. the "it was all a dream" ending we all hate. Then again, David Lynch can play with dreams in a way that gives meaning to characters, so even that tired trope can work if handled deftly.

author=RyaReisender
How exactly can you be against plot-twists, though?
I mean - the important thing is that you as a player want to know how the story continues, right? I mean unless you only play for gameplay.

As a reader, I want to know how the story goes.
As a moviegoer, I want to know what the characters will do next.
As a player, I want to know what the designers will do with the level design and gameplay mechanics.

Moreover, you can still surprise the player through gameplay without any "plot twists". For example, the final boss of Yoshi's Island (not an RPG, and kinda depends on you playing through the entire game to work, but the best example I can think of right now), which uses the same gimmick from every other boss in the game, but ramps up the intensity beyond where players' expectations were set.

Not to mention, they've been overblown and overused for years now. There's a difference between "I can sorta see where this is going but I'm still curious about the story and the details they've kept in the dark" and, if you'll excuse the meme-speak, "I HAD NO IDEA THE MAIN CHARACTER WAS A BLOOD GHOST ESPER PERSONA ALL ALONG! WHAT A TWEEEST!"

I believe the later is what Housekeeping hates (correct me if I'm wrong please XD), as I'm also getting pretty sick of them myself. In the hands of an expert, they can really be effective, but they're crammed into stories and games so often that it's a bit silly.

author=RyaReisender
How exactly can you be against plot-twists, though?
I mean - the important thing is that you as a player want to know how the story continues, right? I mean unless you only play for gameplay.

The big question that needs to be answered here: what do I want from a story? For me, the answer is that I want to reflect--I want to see myself, humanity, and the world in a unique perspective. I want to see what other people value and understand why they value it. I want to see life through someone else's eyes. To do this, a writer has to develop characters that feel real and are grappling with relevant issues.

Now, when I think of plot twists, I think of pulling the rug out from under the player/reader/whatever. This is a parlor trick of fiction. This is "let's fuck with the player." Twists tend to fall into two traps: they're either so easy to predict that, when the twist occurs and you're supposed to be in awe, you just think, "I caught it, I'm smarter than the writer--I won" (I'm looking at you, Shutter Island) or they're so obtuse that there's no way you could have predicted it, and it feels like you've been cheated (I think most cases of last boss switcheroo are guilty of this).

That said, again, you can play with audience perception in interesting ways that are integral to the plot and further develop characters. I mentioned David Lynch in my last post because of Mulholland Drive, which has a very well-placed and effective twist. However, I say that I'm against plot twists because coming at writing with the explicit intent of creating a plot twist is a recipe for melodrama.

Edit: Man, you guys post fast, haha.

The best kind of games tell their story through gameplay.

When you take control of a game character, the gameplay needs to be able to bridge that gap between player and player character. Then, when the plot twist does occur, it will convey the emotional shock that will stick with you forever.

ICO is my favorite game of all time because it blends story and gameplay so perfectly together that you can play it multiple times and still feel the emotional impact that it offers. You spend 90% of the game lugging the only other friendly NPC in the game, Yorda, around by holding hands. That simple act of hand-holding builds up a strong bond between the player and Yorda as you help guide her through obstacles, help her across gaps, and pull her up high ledges. That bond becomes so strong, but you won't even notice or think about it. Until it's too late.

A plot twist occurs near the end and Ico and Yorda are separated. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but the way the twist is handled was so perfect that you will feel for Yorda just as much as the main character did. You don't have to empathize with the characters on screen, because veteran gamers will not have that kind of empathy when they've seen it a thousand other times. Those feelings of helplessness, loss, sadness, and anger all occur directly to YOU, the PLAYER, as well as the main character.

If you're writing a story that has a game to keep you entertained while you go from one plot point to another, you're doing it wrong. Granted, that approach will work if you're trying to create a GAME. But the approach ICO used is what separates games from experiences.

So, to answer the OPs question, it really does depend on what you're setting out to do with your game. If you want to create a good game with a good story, then plot twists are essential. But if you really want to make something from a story-driven standpoint, then you need to have the gameplay help tell the story.

Edit: Holy crap. 5 replies in the time it took me to write this. I am way too long-winded for my own good.

Actually, yeah; that final scene almost redeemed the movie for me. That wasn't a pull-the-rug-from-under-you plot twist, though; DiCaprio's character's decision was informed by everything he went through over the course of the movie.

author=CashmereCat
The more plot twists, the better. Plot twists, make the story. Without plot twists, your story is a granny story. Sorry, but it's the truth.

Oh, bullshit. Movies like A New Hope, Titanic, ET, Jaws and games like Ocarina of Time and Final Fantasy VI, have little-to-no plot twits and there all coincided to have good stories.

Well, that depends on what you consider a plot twist.

If you count any kind of reveal or significant event that the audience wasn't necessarily expecting, then all of those stories have a large number of plot twists!

Plot Twists in A New Hope (partial list):
- The guy who owned the droids can use magic
- Stormtroopers killed Luke's uncle and aunt
- The Death Star is capable of destroying an entire planet with one blast, and does so
- That's no moon, it's a space station!
- Obi-Wan dies but becomes a force ghost
- Luke can use the force
- Luke destroys the death star with one missile


However, to some people, I think for a reveal to count as a plot twist, it has to not only have a major effect on the rest of the story, but it also has to significantly change the meaning of what happened earlier in the story. For example, when it's revealed in Empire Strikes Back that Darth Vader is Luke's father, that changes the entire way you look at A New Hope. A lot of things in the earlier scenes become much more meaningful if you know that's going to happen. But knowing that Obi-Wan is going to become a force ghost doesn't really change the meaning of anything before he dies. The only part that's really different because of that knowledge is the thirty seconds or so between when Obi-Wan dies and when his spirit starts talking to Luke for the first time. So "LUKE I AM YOUR FATHER" is a plot twist but "STRIKE ME DOWN, I WILL BECOME MORE POWERFUL THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE" is not, by that definition.

author=LockeZ
However, to some people, I think for a reveal to count as a plot twist, it has to not only have a major effect on the rest of the story, but it also has to significantly change the meaning of what happened earlier in the story.

I agree with LockeZ here as that's exactly how I think it is. People may think in different ways, and they are free to do so, but a twist is a twist, not a deviation or a revelation, a twist. It changes the paradigms, and so, the actions you take or the feelings involved in the story (game/movie/book/etc). The twists change important things about it. In that sense a twist don't make the story; the story does twist.

Good twists usually happen because of lack of information or a biased point of view (of the character or the story). In the other hand, twists based in events, usually improbable deus-ex-machina ones, don't make the cut.

May be the twist are not important; but the story that makes them is. And even so... all of us know: if you twist something too much you can badly bend it or brake it.

author=CashmereCat
The more plot twists, the better. Plot twists, make the story. Without plot twists, your story is a granny story. Sorry, but it's the truth.

Having plot twists just to have plot twists, huh?

... Hideo Kojima, is that you?