The visual of the red wheel moving in this image, and the edges of it surrounded by what looks like blood is jarring. It's even more terrifying when playing the game, because the sound that the player hears of the wheel running over Marie is extremely lifelike, gory, and disturbing. With all these elements working together, it truly feels as if the player is experiencing the (imaginary) death of Marie. The text underneath the image takes it even further--even as the Sam is imagining her being killed by a carriage, he still describes her as a songbird, which is also quite disturbing. He almost glorifies her imaginary death in this scene, treating it as art instead of real life.

I would actually initially disagree with this statement. I think games are exactly like stories-they are basically interactive stories. You make the story yourself, based on your skills in playing the game and the choices you make at different points in the game. It gives you a lot more agency than reading a story that somebody else wrote, yes, but the overall goal is the same, and it is exactly like storytelling.

So, it is only the illusion of agency that is being executed here. Although it is only the illusion, in my opinion, it does help the audience feel more involved in the material, and that is a bonus.

This is a curious statement, because when I read books, for example, I always felt like, as a reader, I did have agency. Despite the story itself being laid out by the author, I was able to imagine a lot of details, especially imagery, in my head, which is something the author cannot control-they can try, but it is impossible to fully control what happens in a readers' head when they read your work.