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Hello!

As usual, my last video for the year is about the most innovative game I played that year. For 2020 I'm picking... Watch Dogs: Legion, for its inventive "play as anyone" system. I wanted to break down how the system works - but also, importantly, explore how it fails from a game design perspective.

Out worldwide tomorrow!

Mark

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How Watch Dogs: Legion Works

Every year I break down the design and development of the year's most innovative game system. This time: it's Watch Dogs Legion's "Play as Anyone" concept. How does it work - and is it any good? Support Game Maker's Toolkit on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/GameMakersToolkit Watch Dogs Legion game code provided by Warner Bros Sources [1] Ludonarrative Dissonance in Bioshock | Click Nothing https://clicknothing.typepad.com/click_nothing/2007/10/ludonarrative-d.html [2] Pulling back the curtain on the tech and politics behind Watch Dogs: Legion | The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2020/10/26/watch-dogs-legion-tech-politics/?arc404=true [3] Why Clint Hocking wanted every NPC in Watch Dogs: Legion to be playable | Gamasutra https://gamasutra.com/view/news/345522/Why_Clint_Hocking_wanted_every_NPC_in_Watch_Dogs_Legion_to_be_playable.php [Card] Watch Dogs Legion: The Problem With Playing Anyone | Writing on Games https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btLkJtUMvQc Games shown in this episode (in order of appearance) Baba is You (Hempuli, 2019) Snake Pass (Sumo Digital, 2017) Her Story (Sam Barlow, 2015) Event[0] (Ocelot Society, 2016) Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope, 2018) Watch Dogs: Legion (Ubisoft Toronto, 2020) Immortals Fenyx Rising (Ubisoft Quebec, 2020) Watch Dogs (Ubisoft Montreal, 2014) Watch Dogs 2 (Ubisoft Montreal, 2016) Pokémon: Sword and Shield (Game Freak, 2019) XCOM 2 (Firaxis, 2016) Far Cry 2 (Ubisoft Montreal, 2008) Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red, 2020) Minecraft (Mojang, 2011) Darkest Dungeon (Red Hook Studios, 2016) Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Monolith Productions, 2014) Noita (Nolla Games, 2020) Carto (Sunhead Games, 2020) Carrion (Phobia Game Studio, 2020) Other credits Music provided by Music Vine - https://musicvine.com/, Lee Rosevere on Bandcamp - https://leerosevere.bandcamp.com/ Hacked font by David Libeau Contribute translated subtitles -

Comments

Anonymous

Great stuff - well done Mark, and enjoy your festive break!

Anonymous

Interesting video. It sure is a change of pace after past years videos where all the mentioned games where both innovative and quite good.

Anonymous

Well now. Not sure how to feel at the end of this one, ha. Innovation without execution feels like just an idea. I suppose the engineering feat is still something to celebrate despite the lack of support on the design side.

Anonymous

Whoah - I did not expect that to be your most innovative game of the year, especially after your lukewarm review earlier this fall. That being said, as someone who has not played Legion yet, this video really made me appreciate how ambitious the concept of "play as anyone" is. Sure, the execution might have been underwhelming, but I can definitely see the potential as devs gain experience and familiarity working with that mechanic. I think it will be part of the future of gaming.

Anonymous

FYI - you have Return of the *Obran* Dinn on the info card for it