History Analysis / StoryBranching

* [[StatMeters Cumulative effect of earlier choices]]\\

* '''ChooseYourOwnAdventure-style''' branching occurs in games where each one of multiple distinct endings can only be reached by a specific sequence of plot-relevant choices. Choosing the "wrong" path even once locks all later branching points necessary to reach the desired ending, so the story never converges again after the [[BigFirstChoice very first branching]]. This is most popular in VisualNovels, since text, backgrounds, and event [=CGs=] are cheap enough to produce for exclusive use in individual branches.

One very grey area is the so-called "cosmetic branching", wherein the player's choices result not strictly in StoryBranching as outlined above but primarily in additional CharacterCustomization. In other words, despite frequent choices, the story remains linear but the PlayerCharacter gains different attributes (such as tokens of [[AllianceMeter allegiance]], KarmaMeter, etc.) as it progresses. While "cosmetic branching" is [[TropesAreNotBad not bad in itself]], whether it is a valid form of plot non-linearity remains a [[FlameBait hotly debated topic]].

The cause of story branching is always the player's actions, which can fall into five categories:

* '''[[BranchAndBottleneckPlotStructure Branh-and-Bottleneck]]-style''' branching does not require multiple endings, since the plot branches remain tightly interwoven and [[FollowThePlottedLine always converge at the same central points]] (events, levels, objectives, choices) in every playthrough. While the resulting story is ultimately linear, it has a lot of variations, which can affect other branches and the endings. This is most common in RolePlayingGames and Creator/{{Telltale|Games}}-style AdventureGames, because their devs can adjust existing levels to the player's story instead of designing new ones from scratch.

* '''[[ChoiceAndConsequenceSystem Choice-and-Consequence]]-style''' branching does not require multiple endings, since the plot branches remain tightly interwoven and [[FollowThePlottedLine always converge at the same central points]] (events, levels, objectives, choices) in every playthrough. While the resulting story is ultimately linear, it has a lot of variations, which can affect other branches and the endings. This is most common in RolePlayingGames and Creator/{{Telltale|Games}}-style AdventureGames, because their devs can adjust existing levels to the player's story instead of designing new ones from scratch.

One of the reasons why cosmetic branching and hidden levels are a grey area is that they only lend themselves to C&C-like branching and cannot be used for the CYOA-like approach.

One of the reasons why cosmetic branching and hidden levels are a grey area is that they only lend themselves to braid-like branching and cannot be used for the river delta-like approach.

The cause of story branching is always the player's actions, which can fall into four categories:

* Informed choices\\

''Bob the Knight is asked about his favorite song. Depending on his answer, either TheHorde will sack his hometown in the next chapter, or the king will send him overseas.''

* '''River delta-like''' branching occurs in games where each one of multiple distinct endings can only be reached by a specific sequence of plot-relevant choices. Choosing the "wrong" path even once locks all later branching points necessary to reach the desired ending, so the story never converges again after the [[BigFirstChoice very first branching]]. This is most popular in VisualNovels, since text, backgrounds, and event [=CGs=] are cheap enough to produce for exclusive use in individual branches.
* '''Braid-like''' branching (a.k.a. "[[ChoiceAndConsequenceSystem choice-and-consequence]]") does not require multiple endings, since the plot branches remain tightly interwoven and [[FollowThePlottedLine always converge at the same central points]] (events, levels, objectives, choices) in every playthrough. While the resulting story is ultimately linear, it has a lot of variations, which can affect other branches and the endings. This is most common in RolePlayingGames and Creator/{{Telltale|Games}}-style AdventureGames, because their devs can adjust existing levels to the player's story instead of designing new ones from scratch.

* '''Braid-like''' branching does not require multiple endings, since the plot branches remain tightly interwoven and [[FollowThePlottedLine always converge at the same central points]] (events, levels, objectives, choices) in every playthrough. While the resulting story is ultimately linear, it has a lot of variations, which can affect other branches and the endings. This is most common in RolePlayingGames and Creator/{{Telltale|Games}}-style AdventureGames, because their devs can adjust existing levels to the player's story instead of designing new ones from scratch.