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Kids Can (And Should) Play “Adult” Games Too »

I’m one of those people who loves to create dream scenarios: what if you could be sledgehammer Mario in every game, what if Sega hadn’t created Big the Cat, what if Superman 64 was actually good, etc. Admittedly, though, most of my musings typically involve Final Fantasy games. As a self-admitted fanboy, I try to think of scenarios to either a) make Yuna slightly less annoying or b) reunite Aeris and Cloud in a way that didn’t involve the Lifestream or Cloud totally eating it at the hands of Sephiroth.

Therefore, I came up with this idea: what if Final Fantasy 7 had dialog trees like in Mass Effect? Think about the options. First of all, you could actually have a concrete past for Cloud rather than some mumbo-jumbo about Nibelhelm and him thinking he was Zack — with FF7’s mess of a timeline and constant flashbacks it could double as an episode of LOST. A storyline would make Cloud less of an abstract character, but still allow for enough mystery to keep us interested.

In addition, you could actually give the game so much more of a sense of freedom. Do you find Yuffie annoying? Than be rude to her as often as you want! Do you want to interrupt Barret every five seconds? Have at it!

Unfortunately, about five minutes into thinking about all of this, I realize I have a problem: if Aeris stays alive, then life becomes much easier for Cloud and company and the game is over fairly soon into disc two. So (with a sigh), the death of Aeris must still happen. The game would actually end up working pretty similar to how Mass Effect does: you go through similar places and events regardless of what option you choose, but it gives you a little more freedom and a few new story options. Therefore, maybe later in the game you could choose between saving two other people from certain death (I nominate Cid and Cait Sith).

Why would this idea even work? It’s obvious that people love dialog trees even in Final Fantasy: one of the most popular FAQs for FF7 is the Gold Saucer dating guide. Why? It’s one of the few points in the game where your decisions directly impact the outcome (plus the whole “play scene” is hilarious). So keep the awesome storyline in the FF7 remake / sequel that may or may not happen sometime this century — just give us a few more options along the way.

What other games would you like to see try out Dialog Trees?


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Whoa, how about a warning or spoilers tag in the intro? The classic game that it is, not everyone has played FFVII. I remember this one title of an article included “Aeris’s death” or something like that. Many people were so mad that the story was ruined, or at least that part. Good thing you weren’t talking about FFVIII ‘cause I haven’t played that one yet. smile

Yeah, I’m not too familiar with dialogue trees either. But I really liked the Gold Saucer part. I played that part over so many times.

Does FFIX’s Active Time Events (ATE) system count? Because I really liked how that worked. It provided character insight and development and event-altering decisions without changing the main story line.


Same… the only dialogue tree type stuff I am familiar with is the old “Choose you’re response” from games like Fallout 1 and 2 *I despise 3*


I’m not familar with Mass Effect’s dialogue trees?


What a coincidence...so was I raspberry


WilliamLeary - 02/05/10 2:22 am

Well you can tell we’re both English majors haha

WORD haha


Well you can tell we’re both English majors haha


WilliamLeary said: I can’t stand Mass Effects dialogue tree! I give them credit for giving it so much depth, but I find it annoying to have to craft my player into who I want him to be. Sure it’s cool to personalize your character and make him react how you want him too, but I like having a fully fledged out character with a personality of his own. I’m a pretty boring guy, so I always choose the nice guy options and it never does much for the story other than make me a hero.
I couldn’t imagine characters like Tidus or Squall not having their intended attitudes. I don’t know, to me it’s comes off as lazy storytelling, like they didn’t want to create unique characters full of attitude and charm, instead they leave it up to the user.
I’m not saying they didn’t poor tons of time into their speech system, I just wish they would have created memorable characters themselves.

I agree. The design choice to make Shepard into a blank slate adds customization, but it doesn’t let you relate. Thankfully, I think that the other characters personalities make up for it. It is a specific design choice that i think western gaming is moving towards.

But i am right there with ya. I would take narrative and character development within the main protagonist over immersion. I think immersion can happen from the plot, don’t need to make myself into Shepard to get into the universe.


I can’t stand Mass Effects dialogue tree! I give them credit for giving it so much depth, but I find it annoying to have to craft my player into who I want him to be. Sure it’s cool to personalize your character and make him react how you want him too, but I like having a fully fledged out character with a personality of his own. I’m a pretty boring guy, so I always choose the nice guy options and it never does much for the story other than make me a hero.

I couldn’t imagine characters like Tidus or Squall not having their intended attitudes. I don’t know, to me it’s comes off as lazy storytelling, like they didn’t want to create unique characters full of attitude and charm, instead they leave it up to the user.

I’m not saying they didn’t poor tons of time into their speech system, I just wish they would have created memorable characters themselves.



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