Player Agency in Exploration
Control Resonant's director has explained how the team chose to handle exploration in a way that doesn't feel like it is holding the player's hand with things like yellow paint.
For a number of years now, some gamers have begun to feel like games provide players with more guidance than is necessary. One example of this is yellow paint, which basically highlights exactly where the player needs to go during exploration. Critics say that when this sort of navigation aid is heavy handed, it can be distracting and remove a sense of agency.
The Remedy Design Philosophy
Control Resonant developer Remedy doesn't beat players over the head. It is an open-world game with zones that the player can freely explore, though sometimes it isn't always crystal clear where to go. Control Resonant director Mikael Kasurinen explained on a podcast that it was important for the player to feel like they were figuring out this convoluted world themselves, rather than following flashing arrows. He noted that for players to get the most out of the world, they had to be active participants.
“It’s so important that the players feel like they’re the ones figuring it out,” said Kasurinen. “It’s the job of us as creators to… I mean, it is a crafted experience at the end of the day, right? You have to find the right balance between ‘here’s the world’ and ‘here are the different themes and elements that you have to pay attention to.’ But it has to feel like it’s on you to make a decision on what to do with those elements that you see within the world. If it feels like it’s like ‘go here,’ it’s not anymore a decision for the player. Somebody already decided for you.”
The director went on to note that Remedy recognized that it risked alienating players looking for a more guided and simple experience, but for those that really engage with it, it will be more rewarding and interesting.
Encouraging Player Choice
“People will be coming back to this game, exploring, trying to kind of find out things and so on," he added. "It’s not something that you kind of go through, you did what you were told, and you’re done. It feels like, no, I made some choices in this game and you have that little little question: Did I make the right choices? And I want that question. I want people to think like that. I want them to kind of, you know, doubt, go back, check again, see what they could do differently, because that’s life. That’s what makes it sticky and interesting.”
Another developer with a similar philosophy to Remedy's is Invoke. Dominic Guay, General Manager at Invoke Studios, noted that the developers avoided putting waypoints into their games because they want players to actually explore.
Open-world single-player action-adventure titles often go easy on the hand-holding by ditching traditional quest markers that guide players directly from one story section to the next. While some games include a compass on the top of the screen that can be turned off, the player is generally left to work out where to go by exploring, talking to NPCs, and thinking about what to do next.
“We wanted them to engage with the world, to figure things out and feel that when they found things, it was based on their actions and not just blindly trusting a waypoint,” Guay said.
Control Resonant has drawn positive attention for its approach, with critics highlighting that its gravitational pull relies on the inventive world built around it and the humanization that grounds the paranatural intrigue.
