Encounters are the staples of any form of storytelling, interactive or not. They are quite literally what happens, and a story without events probably doesn’t exist. That said, there are many ways that titles found in games have approached encounters, for better or worse. What counts as an encounter in gaming? They can run the gamut, but most revolve around combat, either set-piece and bespoke, or randomly generated in this current age of proc-gen design, which can allow for more dynamic encounters. Here we are going to look specifically at two examples of games that used the two methods above, and why they weren’t necessarily the best approaches for either design reasons, or by their nature.                 The first game we are looking at here is Dead Space 3, which released in 2013, and was developed by Visceral Studios (r.i.p.), and published by EA. Dead Space 3 comes at the end of a development arc which I often call the horror-to-action pipeline, most probabl

    Mass Effect was an sci-fi action RPG developed in by BioWare and published by Microsoft Game Studios on the Xbox 360, and EA on the PC and PlayStation 3. It's sequel, Mass Effect 2, was released in 2010, and was also developed by BioWare, and published by EA for the PC and Xbox 360, and later ported to the PlayStation 3 in 2011.      When I first played Mass Effect 1, first released on November 20th, 2007, it was a few years past that. The game had come out, received some good attention, but it had just passed me by. It was not until '08 or '09 that I finally could be bothered to pick it up. But when I did, it quickly become my biggest time sink; cruising the Milky Way in the SR1 Normandy with friends and crew alike filled the bulk of my days, such a luxury was for a fourteen-year-old dropout. But those days are ones I look back fondly on, driving around in the Mako, clunky and awkward as it was, or fighting my way through the worlds that were plot critical; saving or d

     Released in 2004, Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords ( KOTOR 2: TSL ) is a CRPG developed by Obsidian Entertainment. Upon release, it left a lot of content on the cutting room floor which was subsequently re-introduced by fans via the  TSLRCM , or The Sith Lord Restored Content Mod, which also resolved a number of technical issues the plagued the game such as stability problems and broken in-game quests. This is the third in a series of articles detailing specific choices made in the design of KOTOR 2. The first article covering item and characterization design can be found  here , and the second covering party companions here .     In KOTOR 1, Darth Malak is the undisputed antagonist through the entire game, after betraying his master Darth Revan before the events of the game. Despite the revelation of Revan's true fate toward the end of the main plot. Its sequel, KOTOR 2, has a much less well-defined series of antagonists. This isn't a condemnation,

     Released in 2004, Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords ( KOTOR 2: TSL ) is a CRPG developed by Obsidian Entertainment. Upon release, it left a lot of content on the cutting room floor which was subsequently re-introduced by fans via the  TSLRCM , or The Sith Lord Restored Content Mod, which also resolved a number of technical issues the plagued the game such as stability problems and broken in-game quests. This is the second in a series of articles detailing specific choices made in the design of KOTOR 2. The first article can be found here .     One of the most important aspects of CRPGs is the party composition. You'll spend tens of hours with these characters, and how they are portrayed is important to not only enjoyment of the game, but how the narrative interfaces with the gameplay and immersing the player in that world. When done poorly, it can jerk the player out of the experience with jarring dialogue, poor characterization, and bad mechanical imple

     Released in 2004, Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords ( KOTOR 2: TSL ) is a CRPG developed by Obsidian Entertainment. Upon release, it left a lot of content on the cutting room floor which was subsequently re-introduced by fans via the TSLRCM , or The Sith Lord Restored Content Mod, which also resolved a number of technical issues the plagued the game such as stability problems and broken in-game quests.     KOTOR 2 uses many of the features from the first game , developed by BioWare and released in 2003, as well as its Odyssey Engine. It does add additional features, and character customization options to compensate for moving the level cap from 20 to 50. Some of those new features expand previously introduced feats or class options, and the rest are entirely new to the sequel. KOTOR 2 also greatly expanded the crafting and weapon & armor customization options from its predecessor, allowing more than just tinkering with unique items. The most influential