That dialogue needed then to be tied to that character’s procedural traits. Anytime a player character speaks in Watch Dogs: Legion, the narrative team needed to write 20 different versions of that dialogue line.

The first hurdle came in the form of writing for a seemingly infinite number of characters. Watch Dogs: Legion presented a unique set of hurdles that the narrative team would have to overcome thanks to its Play-As-Anyone gameplay approach. Forget the challenges of telling a story when players can navigate the open world and tackle missions as they see fit how do you tell a story when you don’t even know who your protagonist is? That was the question that Narrative Designer Brendan Hennessy answered during AAA-TYPICAL: Character and Story Arcs in Open Gameplay Structures, a game narrative summit presented at the 2023 Game Developers Conference, alongside Ubisoft Toronto Lead Writer Heli Kennedy.

It's a system that required a dramatic reimagining of many aspects of game design, narrative included. Watch Dogs: Legion’s Play-As-Anyone game design allows players to recruit and play as any one of the thousands of characters wandering futuristic London.

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