My other current topic (ROs you hate) has a bit of a bad habit of us slipping off-topic to discuss mechanics in various games that annoy us, and we keep having to slap ourselves on the wrist and pull ourselves back in line, so I figure it’s a good idea to make this thread for the very clear chest-clearing that desperately needs to happen.
(“But Zyri, doesn’t this fall under tropes that people don’t like?” To be honest with you, I don’t know, so if this topic winds up being assimilated into the biomass, welp, shit happens.)
Since I have a wealth of options from that thread to choose from, my example to start will be “lack of character agency in romance games.”
Here’s the general gist of it:
In a lot of the romance-focused games on this site, your protagonist tends to be one of two personality types:
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Confident, headstrong and authoritative, but still gets argued down and dragged into every little scheme and scenario by the infinitely more aggressive ROs who can’t take no for an answer. (It feels weird to mention When Twilight Strikes as my example here, given that it’s no longer a CoG story, but it is my most prominent example - you can play your protagonist as an extreme hardass, but will STILL get forced or “volunteered” into every little situation regardless of how hard you try and set your feet and say no.)
-
Meek little doormat who bends their will to the demands of anyone and anything without argument, and basically just gets to stand there and take it, if or when the infinitely more aggressive ROs start treating them like crap. (Your protagonist from The Price of Emeralds WIP has been rightly accused by readers of being utterly spineless, as they just let their cheating ex have the apartment, let the four ROs drag them against their will into a life of crime, let their boss walk all over them without warrant, let their scumbag coworker treat them like crap at every twist and turn… it’s pretty ridiculous, really.)
There’s also a third option:
- It doesn’t matter who your protagonist is, because the story, itself, will just force you to comply with things without even so much as a by-your-leave for the reader’s benefit. (Love at Elevation forces you into a romance regardless of whether you were going to pick a romance to have or not, and breaking that romance off is like pulling teeth, and then the game beats you over the head about it if you do break it off.)
Character personalities aside, the plots of romance games also tend to be very rigid - you might be able to influence some things, but it’s a 100% guarantee that you’re still going to be inextricably placed upon the intended plot path, no matter what you do. In most CoGs, while yes, you do eventually have to progress the plot, the decisions you make can wildly change how the road ahead of you looks at any given time, such that there are entire different tales to be told within the same one story - I didn’t know that it was possible to get yourself killed in Witchcraft U, and that several people were having legitimate trouble with it, because everything I chose just let me blindly sidestep death without even realizing that I was ever in danger. Romance games don’t like the idea of your character, or any of the ROs dying, and so any potential threat of the sort is nerfed into the ground by some contrivance or another. (Example: The final fight with Murphy in Wayhaven 1 has your character kidnapped and held hostage by the man. There’s two crucial choices that can influence whether Murphy gets captured or gets away, and they both do considerable damage to your character… but no matter which way you go, you’ll pull through just fine in the end and be healed up and ready to go by book two.)
Well, maybe I would rather not have to work with Unit Bravo, and let them carry the bulk of the investigation while I do my own quiet work on the side? Not an option, you’re working with Unit Bravo, period.
Well, maybe I want to give myself an early game over and not join the agency? Not an option, you’re joining the agency, period.
Well, maybe I’d rather do the night patrol alone, or with one of my fellow officers from the PD? Not an option, you’re patrolling with Unit Bravo, period.
Okay, well, I guess I’ll play Wayhaven some other time, and you know, I think I’ll play some cheesy Japanese romance game instead. You know, I think I’ll just not get into a romance with any of the- mā sore wa omae nitotte warui sentakushi ja nai.
That means “Well, too bad, that’s not an option for you,” if you were wondering. My Japanese fluency is nonexistent, so I imagine I’ve gotten it horribly wrong, please forgive.
The general consensus about having so little freedom to act in these games is that people really, really don’t appreciate it. The most common remark I’ve seen made (and which I made myself) is along the lines of, “if I wanted to not have a choice in things, I’d go read a regular book.” In my case, what I said was, “If I wanted to watch an episode of CSI, I’d just go watch CSI,” but the point is still there.
Keep in mind, none of us are saying these are bad stories for doing this, and we’re certainly not trying to argue that we should be allowed to turn the plot on its head at any time we want - we’re just annoyed at romance games being so rigid all the time and protagonist characters having so little say in their own lives, that’s all.
Alright, I know a lot of people have some steam to blow off about this, so have at it - but please, no Wild West-style barfights, those are so expensive to clean up.
EDIT: Well would you look at that! It DID get assimilated into the biomass! Just not the one I thought it would be. Oh lord, and I was the most recent poster in this topic before today, Jesus Christ, Zyri.
