Watch Dogs: Legion’s play-as-anyone mechanic has the potential to really open things up in infinite ways as far as emergent open world gameplay is concerned, but in spite of the game not having any single central protagonist to focus on, Ubisoft insists that storytelling is still going to be immensely important for the game.
Speaking with GamingBolt, creative director Clint Hocking was asked about the potential issues being able to play as any NPC in the game might present for the narrative side of the experience, and Hocking was confident in his response that that wouldn’t be the case. As per him, seeing the characters that you yourself have recruited and brought into the fold through your actions play major roles in the game’s story has its ow unique strengths that will help the game stand out.
“We think of the game as being an ensemble, and there are many examples of how these kinds of narrative structures work in other media,” Hocking told GamingBolt. “The player decides which characters are the most interesting and they choose to make these characters the hero of their game and the star of their own story. And seeing the heroes you have chosen, recruited, and invested in starring in the climactic cutscenes in the major questlines is a very unique and empowering experience.”
Ubisoft also claims that there are 20 different variations of the game’s script depending on which characters you may or may not have in play, while each of them are also fully voiced, so it definitely seems like the developers are doing their best to have the best of both worlds. It remains to be seen just how well that pays off, but let’s keep our fingers crossed.
Watch Dogs: Legion is out on March 6, 2020 for the PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia.
