Narrative in Games
There is a difference between the games of yesterday and the games of today. Games such as Baseball and Checkers are created with a focus around the rules and mechanics that form these games. Games such as Doom III and Final Fantasy VII are framed around human experience and, in these particular examples, heavily dramatic sci-fi plot. Narrative structure has become all but necessary in the creation of modern video games. Even Nintendo's flagship brawler, Super Smash Bros Brawl, contains a one-player game with a huge over-arching storyline, even though most would consider the meat of Smash Bros its multiplayer tournament mode. This paper is an exploration of how narrative is incorporated in current games, the effect narrative has on the player and the game, and possible forms of narrative in the medium.
To see how games differ from other media, we can focus on how each media is read. Novels and written stories create detailed worlds, characters, and actions that the reader follows as they turn each page. The narrative in books usually follows one or more main characters, whose actions drive the plot from rising action to climax to falling action and finally to resolution. Description of these actions can take place through several techniques such as first person, third person omniscient, or third person limited. Films differ from print in through which means the story is presented, but films as well present a world of characters whose actions, thoughts, and emotions drive the plot. In both of these media, the reader usually exists outside of the text and the narrative, with a few exceptions (such as House of Leaves). Games, on the other hand, have the ability to place the user into a digital world where their actions have consequence. In books and film, the user acts as a voyeur. In games, the user becomes a participant.
Players do not rationalize the choices of the characters in the text in order to create meaning, like they would if they were reading a book or watching a movie. Players make choices and create meaning out of the reactions of the characters and of the game world. In other words, the game medium tackles character development in a way that is backwards from other media. We see the actions of a character in a novel, and by comparing them against the actions of the other characters and their surroundings, we understand their motivations. In games we make choices based on our motivations, and we receive back information on how correct our assumptions are, whether or not the choices we made were the "right" choices, and why or why not. A very simple example can be seen in the game Super Mario Bros. As Mario (or Luigi), the player is given a clear goal (to reach the flag at the end of each level), but it is up to them to meet that goal. Players learn through their actions that Goombas, Koopas, Lakitus, and other creatures are "evil" because they can hurt and kill the player. They learn that Mushrooms and Fire Flowers are good because they provide the player with super powers. The player learns these details through first-hand experience and uses this information to finally save Princess Peach from the evil King Koopa.
Games have the ability to be completely immersive narrative experiences, but how they use that ability, if they even do, depends on each specific game. I believe games interact with narrative in three different ways; as Emergent Narrative, Reward Narrative, and Experiential Narrative.
Emergent Narrative refers to games which do not have a narrative other than that which is created through play by the game rules. Examples would include Chess, Checkers, Mancala, and Civilization. An Emergent Narrative game's "story" would consist of the actions of the players as they attempted to best each other, or the system of the game, and the climax would be the winning (or losing) move. In Emergent Narrative, narrative is actively created through play as a sequence of events. One player's white queen may destroy the other player's bishop, punishing that player for their lack of foresight. Or perhaps a player has created a great empire in Civilization, only to find that their citizens aren't happy. An amazing array of stories are told, only with no preset heroes or villains. These stories aren't so much novels as they are history, a retelling of events within the context of the game world. Civilization players can tell yarns about how the brave Abraham Lincoln lead his troops to glory over the invading hordes of Attila the Hun. Chess players can tell a story of sacrifice for the monarchy, which ends in tragedy as the king is assassinated by a mere pawn.
Deeper meaning in a Mechanical Narrative is derived from the way the rules of the game interact. If we look at Chess, we can see an emphasis on hierarchy and sacrifice, important concepts which must be considered while playing the game. The player wins only if the other player's king is placed in checkmate, and since the existence of the king signifies whether a player has won or lost, the only drive for the players in this game, then the king must signify the players themselves. The king must be protected, and is protected by the units in his army. But not all pieces are created equal. The queen is the second most important piece, being the strongest in the king's army. Then follow the knight, bishop, and rook, which are all less valuable than the queen, but which are not the lowest pieces of the game. Finally, we have the pawns, who have the smallest range of movement and who are the most plentiful, giving each pawn less worth than any other piece. When playing Chess, a good player will sacrifice the lower pieces, such as pawns, in order to protect the more powerful pieces, such as the queen and king. Special emphasis is made on sacrifice by moving the pawns across the board. Successfully moving a pawn to the other side of the board allows the player to switch that pawn for a piece the other player has captured. Unlike in checkers, where the piece "becomes" a king, the pawn does not become anything, it is exchanged. The player is trading one hostage for another, and is presumably trading the low-level piece for a more powerful one.
If we add a themed storyline to an Emergent Narrative, we get a Reward Narrative. Reward narrative refers to games which reward players for "good" actions with pieces of a larger, specified storyline. Examples of this type of game include the Final Fantasy series, Beyond Good and Evil, and many other video games. In the Reward Narrative, we have characters with their own personalities, desires, and needs, and playing through the game, much like reading a book or watching a film, exposes how the characters actions and surroundings interact to create a resolution to any conflict they may be in. The difference between reading a book and playing a reward narrative game is that during the story the player will be asked to come into certain situations and complete a goal so that the story may continue. The main character usually has separate motives than the player who controls him or her, creating a distinction between the player's actions and the actions of the main character. For example, in Final Fantasy VII, the player's avatar is Cloud, an ex-soldier turned eco-terrorist who discovers and must stop a plan that might destroy the world. Though Cloud represents the player, cut scenes allow Cloud to provide his own dialog, search deep into his past, and express his motivations. When monsters appear, it is up to the player to make sure Cloud and his friends make it safely through the ordeal. When questions come up, the player usually answers for Cloud, depending on how they might think Could feels, but usually this choice makes no difference in the resulting play or even the immediate dialog. It could be said that the player is the muscle, and the game is the brain. Being successful in defeating monsters and solving puzzles rewards the player with more story, while giving the player a connection with the main characters since the player shares their bodies and, through the player's action, pushes the story through to the end.
Including plot in a game doesn't have to be through cut scenes, as games like Half-Life 2, Myst, and Metroid Prime prove. These games develop Experiential Narrative, in which players are motivated by the game to make decisions, not meet goals. Players do not watch cut scenes, they play through events, never letting go of their control of the character. The game has a definite story, and that story is focused through the experience of the player as they navigate the world, and goals and plot details are insinuated throughout the game environment. At the end of the game, any character growth is a personal experience which happens inside the player.
A game which applies Experiential Narrative extraordinarily well is Half-Life 2. At the beginning of this game, you (the player) listen to a speech by a mysterious man who talks with odd pauses as the world around you stretches in and out of existence. The "G-Man," as fans call him, places you in a train which shortly stops at a station in a town right out of 1984. As you walk through the gates, prodded forward by masked police with tasers, you overhear the stories and struggles of the others in the station, learning of how the city and the government uses its people like a resource. After wandering around, you are found by a resistance movement, only to then be chased out of a building during a raid. All of this happens as play-time, as in, during this entire sequence of events, the player is controlling the actions of the avatar. As the police chase and shoot you, you feel the need to escape, to find a way out. This is the goal of the level, but that need not be told to you, as the events and your surroundings lead you to want to get out, to fear the police with their guns and cattle-prods and run away from them. The game's mechanics blend beautifully with the story to the point where you are no longer playing a game, you are living another life.
Myst does this as well, but through different means. Just like in Half-Life 2, the main character is given no personality of his/her own. These games treat the player as the main character. In Myst, you find yourself on an island filled with puzzles and mystery. Unlike Half-Life 2, you aren't pushed in any direction, you aren't lead by fear to the next challenge, you simply explore. The plot progresses directly because of the actions of the player in a way which correlates with the choices the player makes, and the player feels the need to progress to answer the questions they have about this world. There are separate endings to Myst, depending on the one choice the character is given at the end, and only one ending is the "good" ending in which the player has made the right decision.
Finally, Metroid Prime gives us a glimpse at how a game can provide back-story without yanking control from the player and creating a Reward Narrative situation. In this game, the player has the ability to scan active computer terminals to read their information. These terminals provide information in a way which does not break the fourth wall of the game and is believable within the world. However, the information they provide is often about the main character, Samus Aran, and her history as a bounty hunter. This information can be used by the player as motivation, in the same way an actor has motivation by attempting to think of a character's history and situation as their own.
One noticeable characteristic of the three games I've described as Experiential is that they feature silent protagonists. In these specific games, the silent protagonist exists as a gateway for the player to enter the game world. The silence of the character prevents the game from taking control from the player, as the player doesn't have any words shoved into their mouth. However, the silent protagonist is not a shortcut to creating an Experiential Narrative. Games such as The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess illustrate how a silent protagonist can be used in a Reward Narrative. The main character, Link (whom the player can rename to anything they wish at the beginning of the game), is mute, but reacts to characters in his world through expressions and body gestures. His silence makes him more easily empathized with because it allows the player to insert their own voice. In Understanding Comics, McCloud argues that the simplified cartoon becomes more involving to the reader because it becomes more universal. Through the simplification of lines, more readers can see themselves in the character's position because the simplified character starts to resemble an abstract every-man. This same technique is viable in the game medium, but with the same emphasis on empathy. Simplification allows readers to identify with a character, but the control in games can allow a player to become a character, or at least an actor in the game world. Link's silence simplifies him and makes him more identifiable, but it does not erase the personality he presents in the game. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess remains a Reward Narrative, as someone else's story is told through the player's actions.
Then there is the question of how thematic elements are created and controlled in a game environment. By theme I mean a broad idea in a story, or a message or lesson conveyed by a work (as described on Wikipedia's page on Theme in Literature. When the player has control over what actions they would like to take in the game, how can the game present the player with morals? Themes can be found in written stories through analysis of the thoughts and actions of each character. Writers place ideological messages in their writing (whether or not on purpose) through descriptions and plot. Games, on the other hand, present themes within game mechanics and the result of choices on behalf of the player. Games can present morals by allowing players to make "right" choices and "wrong" choices. Game can also present more complex themes by revealing slowly the results of the player's actions as positive or negative ideas.
For an example, we can look at the game Fallout. At one point in the game, the player is charged with the task of rescuing an important figure in the game from slave trade. This can be accomplished in several ways, with one notable path being to join the slavers. Joining is a serious decision, since joining the slavers necessitates that the player receive a tattoo on his/her forehead which identifies them to the rest of the world as a slaver. This action has direct and important consequences in the surrounding world, and though a player can choose whether or not to be a slaver (or simply bare the mark of a slaver to save a man), they must accept the consequences of their actions within the storyline. Becoming a slaver causes the characters in the game to look down on the player and even withhold important game information. If the player has become a slaver simply to save the man in custody, the player learns that simple association with a group, whatever the reason, can lead to becoming an outcast.
Fallout also includes an over-arching theme of helpfulness. Players have statistics for each town they visit, telling them how popular they are in that town (popularity affecting how easily they can meet their goals in that town). In order to become more popular, players must help townsfolk with their problems.
It is also important to consider how narrative affects the gameplay and mechanics of a game. The story of a game can help to quickly and intuitively relay goals to the player. For example, characters in an RPG like Final Fantasy can tell stories about long lost riches in order to provide hints to the player as to where to go. First Person Shooters such as Doom create characters which are obviously different in design from the human characters. This design choice tells the player who is a friend and who is an enemy, and the background story of the game helps to cement that distinction.
The viewpoint of the player even has a significant role in the experience. Games in which the player acts as a single character throughout the game are usually presented in either Third Person perspective or First Person perspective. Third Person perspective causes the user to become more detached from the character they are playing, as they have more information about their surrounding environment than the character itself would (i.e. the ability to see behind you). Third Person lends itself to games in which the player becomes slightly more an observer, one who is in control but who is not directly in the role. First Person perspective then is all about becoming the role. In this mode of view, the player can only see what the character can see. The player can no longer see behind him or herself, and so the player experiences a slight paranoia of being attacked from behind.
As I conclude this paper, I'd like to muse on the possibilities that narrative holds in gaming. I can imagine games such as Elite Beat Agents, in which the player does not play the main character of each of the game's short levels, but rather as an elite cheerleading force whose enthusiasm either push the main character to succeed or let them down. This game shows the possibilities of in which a story can be told with the player's direct influence, but not within a role in the story. Then there are games such as Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time in which the game is played as a story being told by the main character after the events. Every time the player dies in this game, the main character's voice over chimes in with "No, wait, that's not how it happened..." as if the player's misstep was a result of his bad memory. This game experiments with placing the player in a different perspective, taking into account the likelihood that the player will die at least once in the game and explaining it as if the gameplay was only narration. Finally, I have hope for games which handle more serious topics. Grand Theft Auto III is an early attempt, placing the player in a social situation that they likely aren't familiar with and through that experience providing the player with thought.
