Other games have tried to implement a similar decision-making system to what you’re doing with Heavy Rain, but the results and story-structure have always ultimately been pretty much pre-determined. How deep does Heavy Rain’s system go? Is there a specific number as to how many variances the story has to offer?
When you think of narrative in a game, you have two options: you create a sandbox (ideally an MMO) where you give as many quests as possible and hope that gamers will generate a narrative on the fly by their interactions, or you write a story. In the first option, you have no control over the narrative and most of the time, there is none or of very poor quality. If you write the story, you can guarantee its quality and consistency for the player. No one can pretend today to generate complex storytelling procedurally just because this is not possible. Heavy Rain is based on a script, and I don’t think there is anything bad or wrong about that. I created a backbone for my narrative, I wrote all the possible variations based on the player’s decisions I could think of, using techniques like Bending Stories to follow their consequences and give a feeling of freedom to the player within the context of the story, so his decisions can really impact the narrative. I think the result will emulate a freedom of choice while maintaining the quality and consistency of the narrative. It is impossible to say how many paths there will be, just because there won’t really be any. Actions have consequences, sometimes they are limited to the scene, sometimes they will severely impact the narrative.

Are you concerned that some players simply won’t run with the concept of Heavy Rain’s flowing narrative, for example, choosing to reload whenever a character dies instead of letting the game run through? Did you consider being more Draconian and forcing this on the player?
This is still a possibility. I still have some time before making a final decision. It is always difficult, because it should not frustrate the player but support and improve his experience.

An increasing amount of publishers and developers are moving into the mindset of preparing additional content to be made available as an extra download post-release. What do you think of that approach, and is there much scope for DLC in Heavy Rain?
Honestly, my focus is on putting as much content as possible on the Blu-ray. We have many plans for DLC, but I won’t work on them until the game is finished and fully satisfying. Games are expensive; my focus is to give as much as I can to gamers for their money.

Video games have gone from being predominantly fantasy-based to realistic ‘gritty’ experiences. Even games developed by your own studio have followed the same path to an extent, with Omikron’s futuristic setting replaced by more realistic scenarios in Fahrenheit, and an even darker realism set for Heavy Rain. Why do you think there’s been a sudden push for realism?
Omikron was aiming to be realistic with the technology of its time… I think that more and more creators want to tell stories that are closer to them, to situations or emotions they have personally experienced. It is easier to talk about something you know than imagining what it was to be a rookie during WWII… For me, it is much more about situations than about realism, more about my personal link to what I want to write than a will to tell stories set in a contemporary or realistic environment. I could work on a non-realistic game in the future and still try to talk about subjects that matter to me and thus seem to me “real”.

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