Digitalchumps was privy to a preview opportunity to see Annapurna Interactive’s upcoming story-driven title Open Roads. The presentation was a developer-led hands-off experience that showed a strong set of characters and what could only be described and perceived as an emotional journey for a mother and daughter dealing with grief.
The presentation from developer Open Roads Team previewed an interesting visual narrative that featured hand-drawn art, a strong narrative-heavy experience, and a solid cast of actors with Keri Russell and Kaitlyn Dever headlining. While we didn’t get too far down the road with this short preview, we did see enough to establish what to expect.
So, sit back, look at some old photos of loved ones, and let’s think about what is important in life. Also, let’s talk about Open Roads.
Story-driven, branching interaction
After seeing Open Roads in action, there are two ways to think about its gameplay construct. The first is that it’s a story-first gaming experience. The devs made that a priority, as hiring Russell and Dever meant that they were serious about telling a well-thought-through story that intends to stick with the player for years to come. Hiring the right actors to portray and shape main characters to sell the right emotions and story is a must for games of this type. Strong stories make games like this memorable, and actors help to sew up that connection that players look for in visual narrative experiences. And connections are so vital for the longevity of a game’s success. There are more than a handful of games out there that create solid connections thanks to hiring the right actors to drive it all. One game that comes to mind is Humble Games’ Stray Gods, where our main character played by Laura Bailey gets plenty of time to cook within a personal and emotional story construct, thus creating an instant connection to the player. From what we were given during the preview event, Open Roads appears to be the same way.
Having good acting is fine, but a narrative setup must dance with talent to create that connection to make the game work. Open Roads’ story starts with a grandmother who has died and explores how her daughter and granddaughter need to work out their grief by becoming closer through a journey. That melancholy primer was the central focus of the preview, as we saw both daughter and mother sorting through the belongings of the passed grandmother. With each photo, paper, and diary entry found, the game did a good job of building out the characters, both living and passed, by allowing banter between characters to build out this ever-growing complicated storyline. It’s a simple gameplay concept of pick-up an object, look at it, hit the button, and then the character talks about it, thus progressing and building the story. It’s a great way to build a memorable gaming experience, especially if you’re into visual narrative-driven games. The majority of what we witnessed during the playthrough was this slow build. It’s proper for this type of game and is paced this way to savior what the story is trying to tell you.
While the gameplay we saw was mostly just banter between characters, it did give hints of interactivity beyond just reading and listening. The game features branching narrative dialogue between mom and daughter, where one character might pick an object up, and ask a question to the other, and the player must choose the best response. Depending on the choice, the demeanor of the character might shift for better or worse. This might also affect future dialogue and how characters respond accordingly depending on reactions from the previous questions. While this might sound like the game is heading down a Knights of the Old Republic track, it doesn’t appear to be quite that complicated. However, the branching interactivity of the question/answer sessions between characters means motivation to go back through the game for multiple playthroughs with the potential for different outcomes. You want that with a story-driven, visual narrative type of game. Give people reason to truly stop and think about dialogue choices, while drawing them closer to the characters, and then give them more reason to try out other choices to see how the situation changes. If done right, and it looks like the devs are certainly on the right track with Open Roads, this could be a memorable title and yet another feather in the Annapurna Interactive cap of games that were the right choice to release. But expect very heavy branching choices.
Now, if the branching narrative didn’t suit your fancy, or at least gets you excited to see how the rest of Open Roads plays out, then you should know that exploration is a solid component of the gameplay as well. Most visual novels are limited to player control and exploration, and it makes sense when you’re trying to keep your players moving in the right direction. Open Roads seemed to trail off that path a bit by allowing the player to explore, find items, and then activate story progression on their own. How those items are found and in what order isn’t linear, which opens the possibility of different paths the story could go. All this is based on what we saw in the short presentation, but it seems on track to be true for the bigger gameplay picture. I’m not sure I have seen a visual narrative give this much freedom to activate story elements. Again, most keep the player on a linear path, so the story told is the story the devs wanted to make sure the player experience. Open Roads seems flexible in its intentions with linear gameplay and seems ready for players to take different paths of their choosing. If this works out the way it looks, that’s a lot of freedom for the player.
One of the other interesting parts of the preview is how the story still rolls on in the background while the player is still making choices on the direction to take it. For example, there was a part of the game where a phone was ringing and the player playing the daughter, Tess, had the choice to answer it or not. Tess’s mother, Opal, is asking for the phone to be answered. If Tess picks it up, the story activates one way. If Tess doesn’t, then Opal’s demeanor changes, and the perceived outcomes down the road might be affected. The phone situation wasn’t an integral part of the bigger picture story, but this minor choice does affect how things move forward with question/answer dialogue—very butterfly effect. I can dig it.
Beyond seeing the above in action, we were also given context on how the game pieces and parts were created. According to the devs, you will find pieces of art, scribbles, and other items of interest lying around that were personal to the development team. For example, there was a small scribble on a wall that was drawn by a dev’s child. There were also lots of handwritten notes and such that were contributed by the entire team. While the purpose of Open Roads is a personal journey between fictional mother and daughter, the game’s development seems equally genuine and personal to the people who put it together. While it’s no surprise that developers leave their signature on games, it’s neat to see this many personal touches from people making Open Roads. These little things may not be important to the gameplay, but they certainly reinforce the amount of passion that went into creating it.
Anyway, all said and done, the gameplay seems simple but at the same time thought-provoking and choice-driven. I can’t wait to see more of this journey.
Final Thoughts
If you’re a fan of visuals and narrative-driven games and a good amount of exploration, then Open Roads certainly might be worth keeping an eye on. The little that we saw in our preview presentation looks like it is on the right road to tell a compelling story with deep characters, all led by player choice. It’s certainly worth keeping an eye on as it pushes towards release.
