The onboarding of Quantic Dream games

This article compares and analyzes the onboarding, tutorial, and introduction phases of three Quantic Dream games I loved playing.

Case Study

September 1, 2020

Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy

Released in: 2005
Platforms: PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows

Heavy Rain

Released in: 2010
Platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows

Detroit: Become Human

Released in: 2018
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows

Spoiler alert!

This article contains screenshot and information about the plot of these games and it might ruin your experience if you didn’t play them yet.

Fahrenheit

Intro:

1. The player’s character commits a murder

The game literally starts by throwing the player in a situation which he can't control by committing an apparently random murder in a dining restaurant.

2. A policeman is about to discover the body

The situation escalates quickly as the player is making aware that a policeman is inside the restaurant and is going to discover the murder pretty soon.

The game succeeds in introducing the game mechanics and to present both the story and the game genre to the player in an engaging and exciting way.

Police officer presence function: Create urge in the player
Doing certain actions over others affects the mental status of the character
UX Elements

Tutorial elements highlight

1

Shocking intro

The introduction of the protagonist to the player works through a shock action (murder), and immediately creates interest on what will happen next.
2

Urge to solve a problem

The game gives the player control of the murder and then shows the player that there's a police officer that will discover soon what happened. That creates in the player the urge to start to act fast (aka learn the game mechanics).
3

Gameplay basis

By doing the very first action of clean up the murder scene, the player has the possibility to learn all the game mechanics and how they work.
Fahrenheit

Positive onboarding

This game introduction is very well done User Experience wise: it has all the elements to introduce the player to the game mechanics and at the same time to engage the player with the story by involving their emotions as early as the gameplay starts.

Heavy Rain Intro:

1. The player’s character wakes up in his house

The game starts by presenting the protagonist in his house waking up in the morning.

2. Domestic tasks are assigned to the player

The game proceeds in explaining to the player how the mechanics work by leading them to do some simple ordinary tasks.

The game takes too long to introduce the story to the player that they are stuck in this limbo doing random tasks waiting for something to finally happen.

There's no real goal set for the player apart from placing dishes on a table or reading a book.
The actual story doesn't start before at least 40 minutes of play time.
UX Elements

Tutorial elements highlight

1

Unclear goal

After fully appreciating the realism and good graphics, the player is left a bit on his own. They can wander the house and interact with things but there's not any real purpose on doing that.
2

Feeling of waiting forever

The game starts a mechanism in which the player starts to do things hoping that at some point something will happen. It requires too long (more than 40 minutes) to trigger a real event that starts the story.
3

Gameplay

The gameplay tutorial aspect is well covered but takes too long. The controls are so basic that once the action is done once or twice it's easy to understand, although the game push it for much longer.
Heavy Rain

Negative experience

I feel the choice here was to make sure everybody was well aware of the game mechanics before starting to play the actual content, and the game succeeds in that, but meanwhile worrying about mechanics the emotional aspect to engage the player is completely lost doing boring tasks. That might have a negative impact on some players that are not necessarily big fans of the genre.

Detroit Intro:

1. Player needs to deal with a stressful situation

The player is immediately facing a life/death situation: a child is being held by an android that became violent. By playing an Android policeman, the player's task is to desist the kidnapper to jump from the roof with the girl.

2. Collect evidence to gain more knowledge

By analyzing the evidences on the crime scene, the player gets more knowledge about what happened and they get rewarded with extra dialog option at the time to deal with the kidnapper and more possibilities to succeed with the mission.

I completely felt the change here: the tutorial’s structure goes back to the Fahrenheit idea of giving the player an immediate problem to solve.

The next step is clearly written in an overlay menu triggered by a controller button.
Examining clues actually gives you more knowledge about facts, and so you get more dialogue options.
UX Elements

Tutorial elements highlight:

1

Emotional start

The player is faced with a very emotional situation from the very beginning and that creates a purpose to going on.
2

Clear task / Problem to solve

The player soon discovers that he has a problem to solve and it needs to be done fast. The game mechanics gives clear instructions on what steps to follow for the mission to succeed.
3

Analyze clues

Interacting with the world's elements isn't anymore just an excuse to learn the mechanics, but it's rewarding as well: it unlocks different story paths or increases the success percentage of the main objective.
Detroit: Become Human

Positive experience

This game’s tutorial doesn’t feel like a tutorial at all and that is his main strength. The story is immediately engaging and the game mechanics are introduced so well that the player immediately understands what he’s doing and why. This game rewards with extra options and more information the curiosity and the analysis of the clues so it feels natural to search for them.

Thanks for reading my UX article.

I love Quantic Dream games and I’m looking forward to play more games like the ones analyzed in this UX case study.

Disclaimer: I did not work on these games or for Quantic Dreams; this analysis is from a customer’s perspective. All images in this article are property of Quantic Dreams.