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Maybe this is a tiny bit silly, but there's also the option of doing cartwheels, a ninja flip, teleporting magically, etc., depending on what would work for the character.

I think I should clarify that I don't have anything against games which have lots of item-based puzzles and huge inventories; I just think they are way too pervasive.

Also, I agree with your points about the Shivah, but I still found the game fun, and I think there is lots of potential with this basic idea of giving the player symbolic representations of abstract things. I guess the main thing that I liked about it, though, was the total absence of artificial item-based puzzles. It seems like "adventure game" is a bi-word for "item-based puzzles" these days... but isn't the point to let the player experience an adventure? I'd like to see more games which have a very limited or non-existent inventory.

Another game I really liked was Trilby's Notes, but the puzzles in that game were not challenging or fun. The fun part was exploring the environment and experiencing the story. The puzzles, for the most part, seemed sort of like pushing a button to advance the story.

Honestly, I don't really like the idea of making it so blatant by having scenes witnessed multiple times just to show the player inconsistancies. In Rashomon this was only really done for a single pivotal scene which was pretty short, a swordfight. I like the idea of having that pivotal scene where all the major characters are involved, but also letting non-intersecting stories be told and largely leaving it up to the player to decide what is true and what isn't. This works well for both comedy and drama, I think.

I think one thing which would make it easier to design a game around a given story is to allow the inventory to contain not just concrete items but also abstract ideas. I really liked the way this was done in the Shivah for instance. I think this is a more natural way of involving the player in the story. Item-based puzzles are all well and good, but if those are all you have then it's pretty likely there will be some fetch quests and random item hunts thrown in there. And also that a lock will be picked with a hairpin or some other unlikely device, and some object will be tied to the end of a rope. 

I've thought about making games before, but I don't have a lot of free time at the moment. I was kinda thinking someone else might like the idea and incorporate it into a game. But maybe after I graduate in a couple years.

Having them tell the same story could work, but I wonder if it might limit the possibilities a bit. I think it may be better to have brief interactions so that they can all be in different locales experiencing different things. I guess that makes it sort of unRashoman-ly, but I have a feeling it would work out better. Also it means the comedy has to be more subtle and hopefully more clever. I don't usually find comedic takes on the Rashomon bit to be very funny, because writers tend to do very obvious things with it. But eh, it's all in the execution.

I think it could also be a good source of subtle comedy. Of course there's also the possibility for anvilicious interruptions by a listener to exclaim that it couldn't have possibly occurred in such a way. 

In several games, such as Monkey Island 2, the story is being told by a narrator who has just experienced it. However, their account usually seems completely truthful. What if the person were ridiculously boastful, or lying in order to cover something up, or just plain stupid?

Here's an example: Suppose we have a story which takes place in a fantasy setting, with three main characters: a boastful knight, a lying thief, and a rich twit. When controlling the knight you would be invincible in combat, irresistible to women, and a natural leader. The thief would be endlessly charitable and self-sacrificing yet somehow manage to become wealthy while all of his enemies end up dead. The twit would do things which are completely nonsensical, with equally nonsensical results. By the end of their accounts their three stories would converge with them all taking part in the same pivotal event.

Game idea: Malice

One thing that I've found interesting about some adventure games, in particular Lucasarts adventure games, is that the player and the character the player controls are to some extent two separate entities. My idea is to take this to an extreme, so that the player and the character controlled by the player are actually acknowledged as two separate characters in the game.

Example: In the first part of the game, the character is bored and wants the player to find some way for him to entertain himself for a lengthy period of time. However, this is impossible, because the character refuses to do anything appropriate(watching television, reading a book, etc.), instead complaining endlessly. The player has to find a way to get him to knock himself unconscious through a series of seemingly innocuous actions.

This dynamic between the player and the character can be aided by the addition of a narrator, who can conspire with the player and possibly give instructions, or at least advice, on how to proceed. The narrator can also be given commands, just like the main character, but like the main character it will often refuse to do as you instruct. The narrator would also have a limited ability to influence the physical world which increases as the game proceeds. For instance, it may gain the ability to magnetize things, or give them a static electrical charge, or even mess around with gravity.

As I envision it, the plot of the game revolves around the narrator, who has certain dangerous ambitions. The player has to figure out what the narrator is up to and either stop it or assist it, while the main character is clueless throughout.