ON VIDEO GAMES AND NARRATIVE

I have always thought that stories in games are fairly hollow things. Maybe it’s because I am a bit of a minimalist, or maybe because most of the game stories that are attempted to be presented seriously feel like wastes of time to me. Games are such a medium that exist in their form because of interactivity, and unless the narrative itself is dynamic and interactive, I feel like a lot of the time it only deflates the purpose of the mechanical game design, what the game really is at its core. I think that creating a compelling narrative through style rather than through story is a more effective way of enthralling the player, and the reason why games where the sole story of "rescue the princess" can still be enthralling.

I find that the advice most people give for writing in video games (and especially RPGs) is essentially the same old "great writing tips" that are spoon fed to other budding fiction writers and I think that this should not be the case. My opinion is that in crafting text for videogames, functionality and style should take precedence over any sort of narrative. Why? Because games are not like books. Books are an inherently reactive medium: that is, the reader is in a state of reflection and passivity while experiencing the design, the narrative or plot of the story. Games are not inherently narrative, but inherently mathematical. Because of this, narrative in a more traditional or cinematic form is essentially alien to the inherent design of any game. Cut-scenes, dialogue, what-have-you, finds its place usually OUTSIDE of the context of the gameplay elements. What I have seen and read about is that the most visceral narrative experiences of a game come from the player's interaction with the core gameplay and game design elements. In other words, the story of what happens to the player character while playing game is the most compelling one that can be created.

For example, in a game of Asteroids, one is not concerned why there are asteroids, but rather with the goal of moving onto the next level, with interacting with the design, rather than the narrative. But, the player may feel all sorts of emotions from a really intense game where they have to use their entire prowess. For more recent, more cinematic, and more complex games, one can argue that this doesn't change, and that the narrative aspects, while sometimes adding or detracting from the experience, are mostly alien elements from the actual design and mechanics of the game.

I think that the goal of the game-writer should be then to seek to enrich this experience, rather than craft one that is aloof from, or viewed at a distance by, the player. Imposed narratives, like we see as common to most J-RPGs, are static. What is dynamic is the choices the player may make during play or each time they play, that is, their interaction with the elements of design. These are almost limitless in potential. Making sure these experiences are memorable and exciting requires favoring functionality and style over thematic content of the writing. I think the game writer's primary role should be to concern himself with every line of text that appears, and consider how they either enrich or instruct the player's experience in the game, and not be self serving by getting their own story-telling jollies out. Becoming concerned with a story that the player watches rather than creates or participates in is something I don't think game designers should do.

The role of the game writer should then be to ask oneself not "how does this improve the story," but rather, "how does this improve the design?"

One example I might give of how this is accomplished well is in the Call of Duty series, where the player character exists in this dynamic game world as a soldier during the war (whatever war that is), and where instructions are fed to him through in-game dialogue and narrative, and rarely cinematic cut scenes. This is because the designer's are not wanting to tell the story of 101st Airborne Division, but rather are concerning themselves with the experience of the player, as it relates to the game world. Instructions and context are given, shouts of pain and profanities enrich the atmosphere, and thus the writing is both effective and revealing.

In games with either relatively simplistic or incredibly complex plots, it is the narrative method, rather than the narrative quality, that serves to determine the quality of the player experience and thus the quality of the game. While an interesting story may gather its fans to a cult, as is the case with Xenosaga, they must distinguish between the fact that they are praising this imposed narrative of cut scenes and cinematics rather than the inherent design of the game. A lot of the time with J-RPGs, people find that they are attracted to the plot, but are tepid in regards to the actual elements of design. Compare with games like Super Mario 3, where the story is purely functional, but the reason why people enjoy the game is because it is simply fun to play. I am not saying that storytelling cannot or shouldn't be done beyond a functional or stylistic level in videogames, only that a narrative often fails to add anything to the player experience other than a slideshow or some textboxes at the end of a level. Unless your narrative is incorporated into the actual design elements, you are going to have a fragmented game.

I have always suggested for this community a more holistic approach to design be taken, not with the narrative elements as separate from the gameplay (which is so easy to do when we have a set of tools that take care of the bulk of the gameplay for us), but that you consider them together as part of a design that crafts an experience for the player to participate in.