I've mentioned that playing with four people and everybody going off to play their own game and only occasionally meet because it is needed, is something that is a concern to me. Kieron replied that the set-up of the prototype is such that it is designed to give you a feeling of what it is like to play as four individuals. The actual end game will have individual tasks and goals and personal drives for each character, but there will be a common goal and there will be points in the game where you will have to work together as some of the puzzles or combat will be next to impossible to solve by yourself.
It is now pushed, especially for the prototype, in the direction of getting the feeling of having a co-op where you are separately playing with each other, just to see the PvP elements. The prototype is also constructed in such a way that you cannot get all four people to succeed in leaving the island.
What they are really aiming for in the final game is that the party will move together, but there will be this feeling that you will not entirely trust the others. If someone talks to a NPC and you're doing something else, how do you know what the other character said? Can you trust the other one? The motivations of the characters will differ, but you still need to work together to reach your goal. The game simply can't be completed on your own. The story will help as it will be written in such a way that the plot will bring the characters together in a way that feels natural for them to move forward.
