Chapter 616: The Nightmare of Players with Decision Paralysis (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

As the game progressed, Song Ren gradually adapted to the multi-protagonist switching in Detroit: Become Human.

Much like The Last of Us and Uncharted, the game is presented through different chapter stories.

At the same time, it also switches between the three protagonists, allowing players to understand what other characters are doing concurrently.

Although there are three protagonists and frequent scene switches are necessary, it didn't feel abrupt to players; instead, it made them more immersed in the game.

Because, similar to The Last of Us, Detroit: Become Human is an interactive game.

The difference, however, is that the game doesn't have level designs akin to The Last of Us; instead, it features choice-based gameplay with a butterfly effect, much like The Witcher: Wild Hunt.

However, since this is the primary gameplay, different actions lead to different endings.

And despite being a game primarily driven by choices, Detroit: Become Human delivers an emotional resonance that is by no means inferior.

This is especially true for Markus's story in the game.

After being shot, Markus wasn't completely scrapped and dead; he still had a breath left.

The junkyard was filled with android corpses, and some semi-dead androids like himself.

Markus, now a deviant android, developed a will to survive; he was unwilling to be scrapped in this hellish place.

So he wandered through the heaps of trash, collecting intact parts to replace his damaged components.

During this part of the story, players experienced the visual and auditory effects of Markus's damaged state. He couldn't hear the rain, and every sound he made while crawling seemed to come from a great distance, accompanied by a buzzing noise, making everything feel unreal.

With impaired vision, the images before him were blurred, accompanied by eerie red light and a sense of tearing, and his focus was severely off.

Players could thus better empathize with Markus's current situation.

Once his five senses recovered, players naturally became immersed in Markus's emotions.

Especially after crawling out of the pile of dead androids into the heavy rain, Markus spread his arms and looked up at the sky, which excited many players greatly.

It was like being reborn. He had once been in paradise, then fallen into hell, and now returned to the human world.

He removed his android identifier. At this moment, his thoughts, his soul, his spirit were no longer confined by this plastic shell.

His will had fully awakened, and taking in everything he saw and felt, Markus draped his trench coat behind him and strode into the distance, disappearing into the rain.

Song Ren, in the game, looking at Markus against the rainy night backdrop, had only one feeling: cool!

Although the appearance of the trench coat was a bit coincidental, isn't it normal for a protagonist to have such coincidences?

It just so happened that he was stabbed through by an enemy from behind, it just so happened that there was a Holy Grail that had been dormant for five hundred years in front of him, it just so happened that this Holy Grail was a girl who looked very much like the heroine, and it just so happened that this girl was willing to share half of her life force with him.

A successful protagonist is achieved through countless coincidences. So, for Markus, as the protagonist, to crawl out of a junk pile and coincidentally spot a trench coat, is it really that much of an exaggeration when you think about it?

Of course, as an interactive game, what's important isn't just how cool the protagonist is.

More importantly, it's the game's depiction and narrative of the storyline.

This is the core of Detroit: Become Human.

And the players' actions and dialogue options in the game can be said to have pushed the butterfly effect to its extreme.

Every character's choice in the game affects not only that character's subsequent journey but also the fate of other characters.

For example, after Kara left Todd's house with Alice, they could only find shelter in the torrential rain after getting off the bus.

Here, Kara and Alice accidentally stumbled into the home of another deviant android, Rafe. However, his emotions were unstable, but fortunately, his true nature was kind. He even chose to sacrifice himself to let Kara and Alice escape when pursued by the police.

The android pursuing Kara here was Connor.

At this point, the game would lead to two outcomes: first, Alice and Kara successfully escape and the game continues. Second, under Connor's pursuit, both Kara and Alice die on the highway, leading to a game over.

However, compared to the mother-daughter affection between Alice and Kara, what players found more interesting was the interaction between Connor and Hank.

In the process of investigating deviant androids, Connor needed to collaborate with a lieutenant named Hank.

Compared to the workaholic Connor, Hank was clearly a model of slacking off.

Captain Hank in the game seemed very difficult to get along with, but by investigating some information at his desk, it could be discovered that something had happened to Hank that led him to hate androids and be unmotivated at work.

When players controlled Connor and interacted with Hank, the dialogue and choices tested the player's emotional intelligence, as a single wrong move could cause their relationship with Hank to deteriorate.

And the player's actions directly influenced Captain Hank's impression of Connor and androids, and even affected the endings of Markus, Kara, and others.

Kara and Alice's storyline felt warm and ordinary.

Connor's storyline, however, evoked contemplation. For instance, during the interrogation of a captured Black android, one could feel his fear and the suffering caused by human persecution; similar deviant android incidents were all like this.

But Markus's storyline was different because this particular plotline concerned the fate of the entire android species.

Markus, reborn from hell, prepared to travel to a place called Jericho.

This place was known as the land of freedom for androids.

On his way, Markus needed to find clues based on graffiti in the game scenes.

Additionally, when passing through certain special terrains, Markus would first use his intelligent system to analyze the safety and feasibility of each route, and ultimately, the player would choose a suitable path.

After selecting, Markus would automatically execute the actions, scaling walls, parkouring, and climbing. Especially the Leap of Faith-like actions performed on the large ship, which gave players a rush of excitement.

After much effort to reach Jericho, it would be discovered that the so-called land of freedom for androids was not a sanctuary at all; it was just another hell.

There were no more spare parts or supplies, and android companions died constantly.

So Markus made a decision: he would lead everyone out of this. He proposed taking the resources they needed.

In this operation, players also faced several choices. For example, whether to take the android workers from the factory, and when facing normal human workers, whether to hide and steal the keys to the supply vehicle, or to threaten them with a gun and kill them.

Different choices also influenced the subsequent personalities of the various androids in the story.

Of course, in this segment of the story, what impressed Song Ren the most was the sexy female android named North.

She refused to talk about her past, and her affection rating would instantly plummet if questioned. She was also the passionate type; her affection would decrease if things were resolved peacefully, and increase if destruction was caused.

Similar scenarios were abundant in Kara and Connor's storylines.

Consequently, players often faced various difficult choices in the game.

It was practically a nightmare for players with decision paralysis.

(End of Chapter) <>