What's the story?

I will contend that videogame writing is probably as difficult as other mediums to write for. In some ways moreso. Now I’m not saying that videogame writers are on any level of writing skill such as those of William Shakespeare or other classic literary writers, no, however I think that writing a story, well a good story for a videogame requires more skill and knowledge than one would think. It’s very simple and easy to craft a scenario for a videogame; but it is vastly more difficult to successfully execute that scenario and evoke the intended emotions and responses than books or film would. Videogames have an element that those other forms of media simply do not have. It is from that where it becomes more difficult. Videogames have an element of interaction that is simply not present in other forms of storytelling. In videogames, the player becomes the character. We assume the role of that person. We are not simply onlookers of the events unfolding, we allow the events to unfold itself. That is why it’s difficult for story writers to craft good videogame stories that stick with us. The ever present challenge is finding the balance. Allow the player to dictate the story so that we feel as if the world is alive and that we can mold and shape it and feel part of it and not realize we are simply moving along a set path that an invisible puppeteer is subtly leading us, yet at the same time not throwing us out there into a vast, soulless world completely devoid of any structure so much to the point that plot is nearly nonexistent, giving the player little reason to care.

"Oh God, why couldn't I just work at Team Ninja? They don't bother with this story business.

More than ever, technology has allowed for more interaction and larger, more complex tales. After all, it’s hard to find any game that has little reliance on story, even simple platformers such as Super Mario. Yet a lot of these stories don’t resonate as well with people as some of the games that many fans consider classics. A good example is the often debated JRPG genre. Many contend that the reason JRPGs aren’t fun anymore is because they have become stagnant; that they lack fresh ideas. However, fans continue to flock to The Legend of Zelda every time despite knowing how the story will unfold. Technology has allowed for larger stories, with voice acting to convey emotion on the screen yet the Final Fantasy debate rages on to this day about which one is better; many debate the old 16 bit games are the best ever and swear by them despite new technology allowing for more advanced forms of story. The answer for this contrast is that all great game writers know how to best evoke emotion or a response out of a player within the context of game design irregardless of the technology available.

Want to know why many fans staunchly stand by the Final Fantasies of old? It’s the simple fact that they knew how to best evoke an emotion from the player. For all it’s simplicity, FF4 garners more respect among most gamers than say, FF13 because of this fact. Cecil didn’t simply become a Paladin via a cutscene, that task was delineated unto the player. The player had to discover for themselves the way to become a Paladin through brilliant game design. As a result, the emotion that Cecil elicits mirrors that of the player and we are able to connect with him more as a result. Its why many fans still jerk a tear at seeing Celes hurl herself off of a cliff despite being a pixilated sprite and not a detailed 3D model. Because the player worked to keep Cid alive. We had to actually fetch the fish ourselves. What served as a seemingly pointless minigame was actually used as an effective tool for storytelling that simply adding a cutscene wouldn’t have achieved. The Legend of Zelda continues to resonate with gamers despite recurring themes in every game; despite the fact that Link is a mute and none of the characters are able to deliver voice over’s to help convey the emotion. The game evokes the proper emotion of making you, the player feel like a legendary hero. The reason why people flock to games like Ocarina of Time and call it the greatest Zelda ever is in its realization that the best and most endearing videogame moments are the ones you do yourself. Link simply doesn’t just open the treasure chest, a sense of wonder and amazement is created as the music beautifully mimics the actions on screen and the glow of the chest and the gaze upon Link’s face as he slowly opens it up to reveal the contents inside before finally holding the item on high makes us feel as though we discovered something truly special. It’s why we feel more like a legendary hero when we get to the final area and save Hyrule. We led the princess to safety out of the castle. We defeated Ganon. Not the cutscene. Zelda games won’t win any awards for originality, but when it comes to evoking emotion within the player, they’re often masterpieces and its why Shigeru Miyamoto is such a well respected game designer. He understands and has always understood this fundamental concept of game design.

This is why Hideo Kojima is a well respected game designer and the Metal Gear franchise has the most die hard, loyal fans out of any stealth action game. Hideo Kojima is a master at evoking emotion within the player. We as players connect with Snake more than most videogame characters despite not even knowing his full real name or background. We experience key moments as Snake because we actually get to play those key character defining moments and the characters’ reactions to them. Liquid reminds Snake of the amount of men he’s killed at the end of his mission in MGS1 and it’s true. He’s also in turn reminding the player of the amount of men that’s been murdered and both Snake and the player each have an epiphany and realize they hadn’t really thought of it that way until now. It’s why the player is called upon to shoot The Boss instead of simply letting a cutscene handle it. It’s why the player is forced to mash the hell out of the buttons when Snake is crawling through the microwave tunnel at the end of part 4. These are all reasons we as players connect and understand Snake as a character far more than some bio or flashback cutscene telling us of his background could achieve.

Why can't more people get it like these guys do?

While technology has advanced videogames forward and allowed us more interactivity than ever before, sadly, the ways to effectively craft a meaningful, memorable tale using these new options has not. Many FPS games capture the intensity of being on a battlefield, but little else. They capture sounds and explosions and environments, but not the important stuff. They fail to capture any sense of loss. Often times your storyline buddies can’t die until the game dictates it. There’s never a moment of downtime in between the battles to take any of it in, to learn about the people you battle with, or to dread the next onslaught. Some games such as Heavy Rain have managed to merge technology with effective storytelling. Heavy Rain achieves suspense far more effectively than jump out scare games like Resident Evil ever could. The designers force the player to cut their finger off themselves rather than let a scene play out. There are real consequences to the player’s actions and when they die, it wasn’t the fact that they may have pressed the wrong button at the wrong time that bothers them, its more the fact that they made an error in judgment, the ultimate error resulting in death that has consequences that the player is forced to reflect upon. The story simply doesn’t end and allow the player to forget the erroneous decision. No. The player got that character killed and the story is now altered because of it. The player is forced to reflect and not pretend it didn’t happen and simply “reload.”

Videogames are the toughest style of storytelling there is. Not many have the ability to do it effectively, so my hats off to those game designers out there who have taken the time to truly make attempts to mesh technology with storytelling and make videogames a respectable means of storytelling comparable to books or film. I truly believe they can in their own way inspire us, make us cry, make us feel joy and enlighten us in ways that books or film simply cannot achieve.