I had a debate with a friend once about whether writing can be taught. She was convinced you could and mentioned stuff like the Hero's Journey, all these templates for stories and this (annoyingly false) idea that in the end all stories are based off of that. It scared me that she, a fellow creative, could think like that; that stories can just be made of building blocks, that there's a 'logic' to twists or reveals. Because when you think that way, you're thinking of a story like a technician, not anyone who's actually interested in creating any real emotion or character.

I get what you're trying to do. But outside of the idea just being tired at this point -- we've had so many revenge stories in the past decade, let alone the larger pantheon of storytelling -- it's just not a well-written story and its told even worse. Every twist or plot development feels like a poorly executed trick with no soul or weight to it.

The idea that this won prizes for its story proves Hollywood's idea that AI can replace writers. It's a low point for narrative video games, and probably video games in general.