discussion Do you prefer games with a linear or nonlinear story?

[ShyYuni]

For games, either SFW or NSFW, do you prefer linear or nonlinear stories? Do you like having to make choices to alter what happens or prefer to simply experience a predetermined story?

Personally I prefer nonlinear, I like making choices that have meaning and gives those games a lot of replayability!

 

[Paradigminant]

For games, either SFW or NSFW, do you prefer linear or nonlinear stories? Do you like having to make choices to alter what happens or prefer to simply experience a predetermined story?

Personally I prefer nonlinear, I like making choices that have meaning and gives those games a lot of replayability!

I can't give a simple yes/no on this. The benefit of a linear story for the player is that a dev has had the ability to craft a narrative beginning to end, it's exactly the experience the creator intends. If that's done well, it can be amazing and I'm always down to take that ride. The benefit of a nonlinear story for the player is that a player can roleplay the character they wish and see that affect in the world/story. But I've never seen that deliver in a clean, satisfying way. Maybe a pure sandbox where the story is completely player-generated or emergent. But anything with a list of choices rarely feels good for me to play. Sometimes the language of the choice is misleading or vague so I'm disappointed with the actual dialogue/path it leads to. Sometimes the choice I want to make isn't in the list. Sometimes there's no nuance. In the end, I'd rather have a linear story than unsatisfying limited choices. Some games really do come close, Dragon Age:Origins had good dialogue options. Maybe I'm just hard to satisfy in terms of character/story/writing, but I kinda lean toward it's an impossible task cause the scope is just too big.

 

[ShyYuni]

I can't give a simple yes/no on this. The benefit of a linear story for the player is that a dev has had the ability to craft a narrative beginning to end, it's exactly the experience the creator intends. If that's done well, it can be amazing and I'm always down to take that ride. The benefit of a nonlinear story for the player is that a player can roleplay the character they wish and see that affect in the world/story. But I've never seen that deliver in a clean, satisfying way. Maybe a pure sandbox where the story is completely player-generated or emergent. But anything with a list of choices rarely feels good for me to play. Sometimes the language of the choice is misleading or vague so I'm disappointed with the actual dialogue/path it leads to. Sometimes the choice I want to make isn't in the list. Sometimes there's no nuance. In the end, I'd rather have a linear story than unsatisfying limited choices. Some games really do come close, Dragon Age:Origins had good dialogue options. Maybe I'm just hard to satisfy in terms of character/story/writing, but I kinda lean toward it's an impossible task cause the scope is just too big.

That was really insightful! I think a story being nonlinear requires a lot more additional writing which most companies probably wouldn't want to do so many games just give us slight changes without any real meaning.

 

[Paradigminant]

That was really insightful! I think a story being nonlinear requires a lot more additional writing which most companies probably wouldn't want to do so many games just give us slight changes without any real meaning.

Again, for some people, the illusion of free choice or a limited choice is enough. There's tons of people who raved about Mass Effect's achievement, before getting disappointed in the climax. Hell, I've posted that I'm having fun with multiple playthroughs of MilaAI right here. But that's more like 4 different stories in one game rather than choices in a conventional gaming sense. The Telltale story games did that pretty well too. The choices felt meaningful cause they'd done the work to make you care. But those games leaned heavily into the "choose your own adventure" vibe. It wasn't a game with choice options, it was "Choice Options: The Game!"

Post automatically merged: Apr 30, 2026

Live tabletop gaming can do infinite choices that shape a story, but that requires a human running the game live. Maybe if AI gets good enough eventually, something similar could work in a published video game. But I still think there's a lot of disappointment along that road.

 

[kamikazejihad]

For games, either SFW or NSFW, do you prefer linear or nonlinear stories? Do you like having to make choices to alter what happens or prefer to simply experience a predetermined story?

Personally I prefer nonlinear, I like making choices that have meaning and gives those games a lot of replayability!

Same i love watching different outcome of my action in game

 

[AbdulGoran]

I'm fine with either as long as its done well but I think having a linear story puts more pressure on the story actually being good. Having a lot of choices kind of help to mask a otherwise lackluster story.

 

[tias]

I just love a good story.
It is fun to make impactful choices that affect how things turn out, but a well-written linear story is great too

 

[1/2$]

Depends really, mostly its hard to get right. I have seen Devs go overboard with the concept with a vague notion that it makes their story deeper but as i said most of the time it comes of as janky spaghetti.

 

[cbarnes1551]

For sfw games, I don't care as long as it is written well. It doesn't even have to be good, just some care into the story.

For NSFW games, I usually play them while I'm doing something else like playing rust or ark se so I prefer linear stories as I'm not paying much attention. I usually revisit the sexy parts later when I'm alone as I have never lived alone, always with family or romantic partners.

 

[exlurker]

I think if the story is linear, it should be called a (visual) novel and not a game, as you can't affect outcomes.

 

[AbdulGoran]

I think if the story is linear, it should be called a (visual) novel and not a game, as you can't affect outcomes.

You can have linear stories in other genres, like half life and zelda.

 

[G35p3n5t]

It depends. I mostly take issue with linear stories if the events or endings dissatsify me. If there's going to be a non-linear story, however, then the results of choices shouldn't be just cosmetic.

 

[Derek70&]

I'm fine with either as long as its done well but I think having a linear story puts more pressure on the story actually being good. Having a lot of choices kind of help to mask a otherwise lackluster story.

Even worse if the dev eventually decides to give up and cut off the branches and make a single ending regardless of said choices.
Or no ending at all.

 

[fabiusg]

I prefer to have a choice whom to chase and when, sandbox works the best. I do not like straight line VN's as you are kind of forced into a certain content.

Some don't even give you a choice, or worse they give a lot of choices without any meaning behind them.

 

[Deleted member 240353]

For games, either SFW or NSFW, do you prefer linear or nonlinear stories? Do you like having to make choices to alter what happens or prefer to simply experience a predetermined story?

Personally I prefer nonlinear, I like making choices that have meaning and gives those games a lot of replayability!

Well I personally like non linear too which I think I want to play on my pace and if I want to complete a specific character's story before any others too. Not saying I won't play linear But I like non linear more.

 

[fabin876liman]

I prefer nonlinear because it helps me avoid some paths or characters that I don't like.

 

[WeeaWeeaboo]

Letting the player influence events is nice in theory, but in practice it's really difficult to do right. If you want a player's choices to truly matter, you're going to have to write a bunch of different scenarios- most of which won't ever be seen unless the player starts another run. This is less of a problem if the game's fidelity is low, hence why it's more common in VNs and such. There's also the Uchikoshi route (999/AI: The Somnium Files) where the player has to go through all the choices in order to see the true ending.

But what a lot of supposedly choice-based AAA games do is only let you affect things that don't change the plot too much. Mass Effect lets you choose to save Ashley or Kaidan, but neither of them matter much in the long run because they can't. You can save the Matriarch, you can save or kill the Rachni, you can get your entire team killed in the Suicide Mission. But no matter what, you're eventually going to find yourself at the same point, meeting Marauder Shields.

I hear BioWare addressed the ending complaints with an update, but that doesn't change the structure they built for themselves.

 

[MercurioC]

I generally prefer non-linear games because they feel more interactive to me. I enjoy having my decisions influence the story or the overall development of the game, as it makes the experience feel more personal and engaging. That said, I don't particularly dislike linear games either. Both styles have their own appeal and can be enjoyable for different reasons. In the end, it really depends on the game itself, the story it wants to tell, and how well the developers choose to present and develop that story.

 

[john.doe.456]

I like non-linear where I can make choices that impacts the story. Then I look up for a walkthrough and make sure to use the most optimal path. So, yeah... I like linear.

 

[hobolos]

I like non-linear where I can make choices that impacts the story. Then I look up for a walkthrough and make sure to use the most optimal path. So, yeah... I like linear.

so many RPGs take me much longer to play since I gotta min-max all decisions xD