gaming The Art of the Narrative

[Creamy Arty 6,252]

Firstly, let me cite an example of what I'm talking about:

 

 

 

The method employed by most games these days to establish the player's place in the world, even in the RPG genre, is to give them an occupation (mercenary, soldier, scientist, etc.) and to have the game begin at a moment of tragedy that throws his life into disarray. Sometimes his circumstances are established during an easy tutorial level that's meant to introduce you, the player, to the controls, only to fast-forward a few years later to the time of resolution. A lot of games simply use a cutscene. I'm not knocking these devices. They, like any other method, either fresh or cliche, can be executed brilliantly or feel like the developers weren't even trying.

 

 

But then there's the narrative. It's not interactive, it's not even visual, and for those reasons I find it much more compelling a vehicle for conveying emotions and backstory than any of the above. You know how people often say that a book is better than its movie adaptation? That was the comment I heard most frequently when discussing the Harry Potter movies with diehard fans, or even casual fans who happened to have read the books too. They had one thing in their minds when they read a book -- though there were vivid descriptions of people, places, and objects, it was up to the reader to construct everything for themselves within their own minds -- and were presented with something of somebody else's imagination. Though not bad, it wasn't ideal for any other viewers. When watching a cutscene or playing through a character's backstory, you can't help but critique every detail. By giving an elegant description of events and scenery, the player is permitted to create much of the specifics of a character's history, situation, or surroundings for himself in a manner that he finds most enjoyable and believable. And it often takes less time for the narrator to explain everything than it would to watch a cutscene or play through an interactive segment, yet somehow more is conveyed than if everything was given to you visually.

 

 

 

Baldur's Gate isn't the only game that's ever done this, but it's the first that comes to my mind because in my opinion it's never been done better than it was here.

 

 

 

So how do you all feel about this? Is narration too tedious for you? Would you rather have everything rendered so you don't have to set things up yourself? Is this something you would like to see done more often, less often, or not at all? Tell me what you think.

Edited September 12, 2012 by Artemis