Non-linear story telling in open world games Options

[Licentia Per Ori...]

Ok so this is something that i have been thinking about quite a lot recently.

now in yer "traditional" game - the story can and probably should be linear - the writer is in direct control of what players will discover, when, and how.

but in open world games, this is not the case.

Personally I have yet to see an open world game - that has a genuinely "open world story".

Even in games with open worlds, it appears the story is very much written in a linear way.

which makes me wonder - is it even possible to really write a truly open world story?

to compare to a book - a standard game would have a story where you start at page 1 - then read till page 100.

an open world story - would be a book where you read the first 3 pages in order, but can then read pages 3 to 97 in ANY order you chose but still have the story make perfect sense, be immersive and engaging.

is this even possible?

for the variables alone will surely become exponentially complex.

In open world games - the world is open, but the story is not.
you can for example go to the super secret hideout where the final battle takes place - but it will probably be a deserted, empty, shell

we don't see this as immersion breaking per-se because we have it as an established flaw in open world games, we accept it.

is it possible for me to kill the final boss at the start of the game (no doubt on 2nd playthru ) and still be able to enjoy the rest of the story?
The story / game world would have to adapt to this.
It's an extreme example - about as extreme as it could get,
what would the rest of the story even be?

[Sparrowsmith]

It could also work in a horror game.
An open path horror game is usually a whole lot more unnerving, especially if the focus is on escaping, not fighting. Make the player question what is real, keep it abstract. Their world flashes between real and horrific. Walls are often intangible, hiding secret paths to new locations, providing escape routes, new characters to meet (who can hinder or help you). Keep it loose. The player doesn't always die from not performing perfectly, so you can keep lots of different paths open.

Again, pulling together a plot would be difficult, but not impossible. That's really in the hands of the writer.
Anyway, the less impact the player has over other people's fate, the easier this is to do. Keep the world open, small, and low impact.