The narrative superhero game Dispatch would tell a stronger story if it didn't let players choose where it goes.
, Adhoc Studio’s superhero comedy, is suffering from an identity crisis. Protagonist Robert Robertson struggles to find purpose after superhero life while the members of the Z-Team he’s been placed in charge of are all trying to make a life outside of villainy.
And while it’s somewhat apt, I find that the identity crisis of‘s different modes of player interaction. In an attempt not to belabor unnecessary discourse, the short of it is that a good choice-based game doesn’t truly give players limitless choices, but rather effectively gives the illusion of choice. Let’s take Telltale’s games as an example or Invisigal . While there is a loose story about Robert attempting to get revenge on the villain Shroud, this is really a workplace romance story, one that asks you to ignore the ethics of dating either your boss or your subordinate. While choices to pursue one or the other are laid out before you at regular intervals,‘s overarching narrative not so subtly nudges that if you want the “true” experience you should be pursuing Invisigal.if not the outright star over Robert Robertson. Robertson and Invisigal are foils to each other, both searching for meaning in new lives they never saw for themselves . Part of Robertson’s journey is tied to encouraging Invisigal in her journey of rehabilitation. She starts as perhaps the most off-putting and anger-inducing member of the Z-Team, constantly disobeying orders and cracking wise about how this whole program is a waste. By choosing Invisigal’s romance the player is greeted with a number of meaningful scenes that show the character growth of both, ultimately culminating in a climactic finale incredibly dependent on how you interacted with her over the eight episodes. You could, of course, instead romance Blonde Blazer, your goody-two-shoes boss who mostly serves the same narrative purpose as Robertson does for Invisigal . But the romance with Blonde Blazer is noticeably one note, comparatively. With her, what you see is what you get, beyond a very half-hearted attempt to give her her own very minor identity crisis. Romancing Blonde Blazer doesn’t lead to an emotional culmination with significant repercussions for the story. Ahead of the final episode’s release a number of theories floated around in regards to Blazer’s “true” identity and if she had a secret, obvious attempts by fans to fill the clear narrative void in her character—a void that the game doesn’t care to fill in its conclusion. She’s just set dressing at best, a distraction from the main event. Furthermore, along the wayoffers up choices that seem to push the player back towards Invisigal. It makes it feel like pursuing Blazer is an unintended path that needs to be righted. There are a number of major plot points that have a similar feeling of being forced. Episode five’s big decision asks players to reveal or hide Robertson’s identity as the hero Mecha Man to the Z-Team. At this point in the story Robertson and the Z-Team are at a critical place in their relationship, one that centers on everyone trusting each other. More than feeling wrong for the characters, hiding the identity doesn’t result in a compelling change to the narrative in itself. Again, like with Blazer, you can make the choice to not reveal this information to the Z-Team but the narrative itself seems to acknowledge this as a mistake that needs to be rectified quickly ., Robertson will take shifts that require you to deploy members of the Z-Team to address missions in the Torrance area. Team members have stats that will make them more likely to succeed or fail at any given mission. The goal, naturally, is to not fail as many missions as possible. You might beginwith the belief that these segments will have narrative payoff or consequences. An early storybeat threatens to cut the worst performing Team member at the end of an episode, though in reality every player will be given the choice between the two same characters regardless of how much you deployed them during your shifts. Slowly it becomes clear that beyond busywork and noise these segments don’t have an effect on the story. Out of curiosity I failed every mission in a number of late game shifts and faced no immediately noticeable changes from another playthrough where I put my all into said shifts. In the truest sense of the word these segments are superfluous. If these moments of player choice in the form of dispatch shifts mean nothing, why are they here? The answer seems to be: well, what else would the player do? Which isn’t a very good answer.works for you or not, I think it’s fairly undeniable that its greatest strength lies in its story and the performances that bring it to life. The issue is that AdHoc doesn’t commit to telling the singular story that it seems most interested in: The linked redemptions of Robertson and Invisigal. Throughout my time withI couldn’t stop thinking about a number of visual novels I love and the way they tell their stories. Many great visual novels rely only on a solid story and visuals to grip the “player,” with some not involving choice at all beyond requiring you to press a button to go to the next dialogue box. It’s minimalist in its interactivity but no less impressive when executed well.has beautiful animation, incredible voice performances, and a solid story. That’s a solid foundation only made unstable by choices that feel poorly implemented and a management sim tacked on for the purpose of giving the player something to do beyond watching the story play out. The Achilles’ heel ofis its insistence on adhering to some sort of expectation of what a choice-based narrative title needs to be, rather than what this story needed. Because of this, the result is less than super.
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