Unfortunately, most of the current independent games aren’t realizing the importance of a strong narrative in a video game. As the number of indie games being produced has skyrocketed in recent years, they are just relying on the visual appeal of a game and the instantly gratifying elements like thrills and violence sometimes. This may grab the players attention for a moment but it won’t involve them and make them intrigued to play any further.
Let’s see the what, why and how of the integration of a story in a video game works.
According to Aristotle, every story should have a beginning to introduce the characters and the world they live in, a middle to show their struggle and aim, and an end where they overcome their struggles and accomplish their goals. In a traditional video game, we might not be able to invest a lot of rakhoi time for the beginning, so, the introduction of the characters and the world can be crisp yet memorable enough for gamers to etch the same in their minds.
There are different ways to achieve it.
A linear narrative with a straightforward progression from one stage to another in a series of steps where the story progresses from one event to another. In these kinds of games, there’s always little to no interaction with the story as players don’t get to make choices to change the direction of how the story plays out. Irrespective of the character design, it can just be completed in one way, the way a designer decides it.
Eg: “The last of us” on PlayStation, where an empathetic father has to save his surrogate daughter in a tense post-apocalyptic atmosphere amidst zombies.
Next is the string of pearls model, where the narrative is linear but the player gets to make his own choices like attire, weapons, vehicles and the key decisions to progress the game in a specific direction that can change the final outcome of the game. These games are made up of separate sequences in the form of missions or quests. Players can explore the world, influence the character design and have the freedom to participate in side quests. These types of narratives are usually found in role-playing games.