Where was I?

It’s not uncommon for me to have several games at various states of completion at any time. Sometimes my progress in one title will suffer because I’m more engaged with another; sometimes real life gets in the way. In extreme cases it can take several months, before I have the time and inclination, to return to a game. I strive to finish every game I start, as I’m not of the attitude that you can understand a game after only a few hours. Unfortunately some games are very difficult to return to after a break of more than a few days.

It’s not a mark against the the quality of a game if I have left it unfinished for a length of time, there are manifold demands on my time, and too many games I am interested in playing. Games that make it confusing for me to pick up where I left off are going to keep being put off until a later date, a date that may never arrive.

Role playing games generally contain some form of journal, which I can read upon returning, allowing me to get up to speed on who I am and what I’m doing. I’ve been slowing making my way through Neverwinter Nights 2 over the last year, and even though it may have been weeks since I last played I’m able to return at any time, read the most recent journal entries and refresh my understanding of the character I’m playing and the state of the world.

On the other hand I recently returned to God of War after a break of nearly six months and spent ten minutes wandering around the environment trying to work out what I was supposed to be doing; I was utterly devoid of context. Even when I did start to recollect certain areas and develop a picture of what my goal was I found I’d forgotten a lot of the contols, especially the various combo moves available.

Another game I’ve been sporadically playing is Resistance: Fall of Man, which actually makes an effort to ensure you always know what you are doing, even if it’s been a long time since you last played. Like similar titles if you die during a play session, you are returned to life at the last checkpoint almost instantaneously. However if you have exited that session and choose to return, you will be presented with the opening cinematic for that level (Which is skipable), before returning to your most recent checkpoint. You are not forced to watch, or skip, this cut scene every time you die, only upon returning to the game after a break. Regardless of your opinion on cinematics and cut-scenes, in this instance they very quickly establish the world, explaining the context for your actions and make it much easier to get back into the mindset of the game.

There’s no reason not to provide returning players with some basic information explaining who they are, what they are doing, and why. It can be as simple as a few paragraphs of text on the loading screen. Anything that makes returning to that game easier makes it more likely that players will see that game through to it’s conclusion; even if it takes them several months.