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Wow. Heavy Rain just taught us a very valuable lesson in how not to start a story.
The demo, which was awesome, splits POV between a hardboiled PI and an FBI agent searching for the same child-murderer. This is hooky.
( On the off chance anyone cares about spoilers )
Cut to two years later, where boring architect has lost his Ikea furnishings and (apparently long-suffering) wife, and now gets partial custody of his remaining child. His life is no longer oversaturated, but not any more hooky. I would murder him myself if it would take us back to the PI.
Now, I myself am often a fan of slow openings and scene-setting. I have complained about books that start too abruptly, and don't show us the life the character is about to be ripped away from. But man, you have to find a way to balance set-up and stakes with tension and narrative drive.
I have now been watching this game for 45 minutes, and the narrative drive is nowhere to be found. Where, oh where is the PI?
Oh thank god, here he is! But if I'd been slushing, that wouldn't have saved this MS.
The demo, which was awesome, splits POV between a hardboiled PI and an FBI agent searching for the same child-murderer. This is hooky.
( On the off chance anyone cares about spoilers )
Cut to two years later, where boring architect has lost his Ikea furnishings and (apparently long-suffering) wife, and now gets partial custody of his remaining child. His life is no longer oversaturated, but not any more hooky. I would murder him myself if it would take us back to the PI.
Now, I myself am often a fan of slow openings and scene-setting. I have complained about books that start too abruptly, and don't show us the life the character is about to be ripped away from. But man, you have to find a way to balance set-up and stakes with tension and narrative drive.
I have now been watching this game for 45 minutes, and the narrative drive is nowhere to be found. Where, oh where is the PI?
Oh thank god, here he is! But if I'd been slushing, that wouldn't have saved this MS.
