Larian Studios Forums Divinity General Discussion Feature Suggestion: Interactive Narrative Journal (Story Log + Player Notes)

I’m actually starting to think in a slightly different direction. Instead of a fully polished, novel-like narrative, it might work better as something like an interactive journal or narrative log.
In this case, it wouldn’t try to rewrite everything into a seamless story, but rather record the experience in a structured way — including a narrator-style summary of events, along with key dialogues and interactions. Essentially, it would capture what happens to the character as the story unfolds, without necessarily turning it into a traditional novel.
This approach might make it easier to preserve the full freedom of the game while still keeping the information organized and readable.

For example, it could follow a structured format based on key milestones that most players go through. I’d like to illustrate this idea using Baldur’s Gate 3 as an example:

ACT I

DAY 1


narrator-style description text text text text text
dialogs
dialogs
narrator-style description
dialogs

DAY 2

narrator-style description text text text text text
dialogs
....

DAY X

Then, when a major event happens (like reaching the druid grove), it could again introduce a new section with a small image, a summary from the narrator, and the relevant conversations.



Ideally, it could also be searchable, allowing you to quickly find specific moments, names, including your own dialogue choices and responses — the exact decisions you made during the playthrough.

Another feature, in addition to simply recording what happens to the player, would be the ability to write your own entries in this log. For example, adding personal thoughts or reflections — essentially giving the player the ability to edit or contribute to the journal.
This could work in two ways:
First, the player could add notes directly within the main narrative log itself — alongside the narrator-style text and recorded dialogues — allowing them to annotate specific moments, decisions, or conversations with their own thoughts.

Second, there could be a separate tab that acts as a blank page for free-form writing. In this space, the player could add notes at any time during gameplay — quick remarks, ideas, or reflections. Additionally, this could also be integrated into the game world, for example while resting at camp: approaching the campfire could open the journal, creating a more immersive feeling of actually sitting down and writing in a personal diary.

This way, the journal wouldn’t just document the story, but also give players a meaningful tool to record their own thoughts and experiences throughout the playthrough.