Branching the narrative

Artwork by Lucas Crain

One of the most compelling elements of a visual novel is the ability it has to enable the player to revisit the narrative and experience varied conclusions with each successive play. This element of discovery where the choice impacts the experiences to come is what makes the genre so engrossing. Our team and I decided then to develop a branching narrative mechanism that would allow each playthrough to be unique and rewarding.

We began by concentrating on the heart of the story. Right from the outset, we understood that the journey would center around a captain of a crime syndicate who would ultimately fail to reach his destination. That premise alone established the tone a mystery interwoven with tension, betrayal, and lingering questions. To bring the world to life, we sought to ensure that the characters accompanying him harbored secrets of their own.

I began developing characters whose backstories intersected with the victim's backstory. This option gave us many story branches. By connecting their backstories to one another, each conversation and each puzzle could yield something new not just about the murder itself, but about who these people truly are. It gave us natural methods of branching the story without leaving each branch logically and emotionally disconnected from the narrative.

After many iterations, we decided to develop the story into three major branches, with each one being on a progressively more in-depth level of investigation than the previous. The first takes the introductory role and brings in the mystery and the major suspects. The second requires players to test their hypotheses and reveal hidden motives. The third finally delves into the depths of the plot where all clues do count and the truth commonly flies in the face of expectation. It made us truly excited about how players would engage with the game. Every branch adds diversity and spurs the player on to think in the moment, to connect the dots, to see the same events through new filters. It's something more than something to read; it's something to be solved.