#Bandersnatch is some good, goofy fun that gets less satisfying the longer you spend with it. The on-ramp was well designed, and CYOA style “early endings” + jump-backs worked surprisingly well IMO, but the mix of tired IF and traditional narrative clichés felt lazy.
(SPOILERS)
as many have said, the genius = madness trope is played out and dangerous, and in this case also a crutch that covers for incoherent narrative (a major character can be either dead or not-dead in a single branch, with no clear causality AFAICT)
as many have said, the genius = madness trope is played out and dangerous, and in this case also a crutch that covers for incoherent narrative (a major character can be either dead or not-dead in a single branch, with no clear causality AFAICT)
Also, interactive fiction that declares “surprise! all choice is an illusion! that’s the point!” has been done many times before, and adding the meta layer of fictional auteur giving up and removing meaningful choice from the game doesn’t make it feel any fresher IMO
THAT SAID I *had a lot of fun* letting Charlie Booker fuck with my head, and felt more engaged with this than the average Black Mirror episode. It’s a promising step for choice-based programming Netflix.
PS if you loved this, play “Her Story” next
PS if you loved this, play “Her Story” next
