If you never played Star Ocean 3 AKA Star Ocean Till the End of Time on the PS2, there's a plot twist. It's controversial apparently. It shouldn't be controversial; it should just be hated.
The plot twist in SO3 was unsatisfying for two reasons. It comes down to placement and how spontaneous it is. By placement I mean it's in the middle. The end of Act I (about 10%-15% mark) is a good spot for a twist b/c the audience hasn't committed to anything too strongly yet, and they're more open to a story pivot. By spontaneous I mean it wasn't set up or foreshadowed at all. The plot twist wasn't done well because it was abrupt, without satisfying reasoning, and at the expense of the investment of the audience; By audience investment, I mean by the midpoint of the story we are invested to the story in-progress. When you get the audience's investment and then THROW OUT the thing we're invested in, that's an absolute rug pull and that makes it a, ahem, Richard Relocation, for a writer.
I think that was really concise. Go me.
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