: As for time travel, I suggest bringing back pattern buffers but stealthily
: making them a diegetic story element. Like maybe it's actually part of the
: game play that you reload previous save states. Like maybe you get a
: specific code for a door you saw earlier or something, but there's no way
: to get back to that door unless you reload a save where you were right
: next to that door and you can open that at will. Like players might think
: they're cheating, but it's actually intended play scripted into the game.
: I'm kind of imagining a game you can play straight and do as you're told,
: it'll play out more or less like the original Marathon, but it rewards you
: for testing the limits of the system.
Sounds like it could be fun. It's like a puzzle out of the Stanley Parable, except this is the real deal instead of a parody. Maybe one such door could be a trap where Marcus/SO gets locked in Durandal's own Serious Room for goofing off when he's supposed to be helping him. It would be the only one of its kind however so as not to annoy the player or discourage them from trying this.
