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(Originally posted on KitGuru Gaming.)
Before we had iPods, cds, cassettes, 8-tracks, records, TV’s, Blu-ray players, DVD players, VHS tapes, etc…we had stories. Storytelling was the earliest form of entertainment, and while a select percentage of the world still engages in traditional storytelling around the campfire, storytelling still drives the world.
Storytelling propels ads on TV, emotionally-wrought individuals on the radio…storytelling resides at the very core of our society, regardless of the culture to which we belong. Although the pioneers of the video game industry consider today’s games to be an atrocity – a Satanic-plague upon the world – one can’t argue the fact that storytelling is deeply embedded into many of the best games currently on the market. In fact, one can argue that more often, it is the story that stands out in the hearts of gamers more than graphics.
Think of the most heart-wrenching moment in your lives as gamers. Now think of the most graphically-intensive games. Which made the greatest impression?
Don’t get me wrong, gorgeous graphics are an incredible aspect to the gaming experience, but graphics aren’t what make a game. Many of the great games of this decade have amazing graphics and gameplay, but which of these also integrate a memorable story and characters to which you can relate?
You’ll be hard-pressed to find a RPG-lover who doesn’t speak wistfully of PS1 games and the intense emotion they felt when first experiencing classic masterpieces. Granted, PS1 games don’t have very impressive graphics but, what many of them do have, is story…fantastic stories and tales that compel gamers years later to long for games comparable to the emotionally-driven content of games from the prior decade.
It doesn’t matter how vivid these new graphics are. I maintain that one of my favorite game series has gone downhill as the graphics have improved. Although I continue to play the series, I feel jipped out a powerful and engaging storytelling experience. Gameplay is important, yes, but gameplay merely takes a strong engine, a bit of creativity, and a set of programmers to operate. What can’t be replaced is story – a compelling plot that draws the player in and makes him/her fall in love with one character at the very least.
The magic of a powerfully written story overshadows all else within a game. Why should even highly pixilated characters and generic, block-ish scenery make a difference when the core of a game is driven by the story?
Although it is difficult to create a truly original story, what is of critical importance is the construction of complex characters to which gamers can relate. Some game developers have caught onto the incredible importance of storytelling and hired fantasy authors to weave tales for new RPG’s, but this is a phenomenon that needs to take greater hold within the world of gaming. Engaging gameplay makes for a fantastic game certainly, but the future of video games resides not only within game engines: it dwells within the very heart of humanity.
(Popular fantasy writer R. A. Salvatore was involved in the story of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.)
The answer to the future is what propelled societies from the very beginning. At our core, we are an emotionally-driven creature, paying more credence to our own sentiments than to logic…and that, my fellow gamers, is the most important aspect of this technologically-powered medium.
So bring on the Xbox 720 and the PlayStation 4. If future games don’t nail story, gamers will continue to lament for the simplicity and ingenuity of games long past.
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In very simplistic terms, for example, Connect Four doesn't have a story. Monopoly doesn't have a story. Chess doesn't have a story. Games were not meant for stories. There's no denying we have an innate desire for story when it comes to *video* games, and that the medium has a unique ability to carry it that other "games" don't. But it still feels like we think story is just as important as the game. It isn't. It's just like graphics or music or anything else -- arguably, even more so: it's there to serve the *game[play]*. Video games are about being games.
Consequently, I don't think I agree that my most memorable game experiences have been because of story, even though many of them have good stories. I think that the most memorable ones are a combination of design and execution (which would include graphics) in the gameplay: Ratchet & Clank, ICO, Drakan, later Tomb Raiders, others.
R&C as an example, I find the story there gets in the way, but that series actually mitigated that with great voice performances and art design. ICO had a wonderful story, but my most polarizing emotional connections were in the beautiful gameplay moments, girl companion in hand -- THOSE are what I remember most. When I remember my favorite games, it's the moments that I was *playing* them.
When story rears its head, we are no longer playing a game. In the last few years, games have been so keen on looking like movies that we sit through a 10 minute cut scene when we first start a game up before we even get to what video games are *really* all about: the *playing*.
The big irony that I think is lost in our pursuit of story in games is that less is more. The unique and immense challenge of making story both great and viable in video games is that it must be *played* and not *told*. Really great story execution in video games is when they loathe to disengage us from what we came for in the first place: playing.
It's not so much that video games tell bad stories (all media does), but that they tell them badly. They haven't figured out the unique way in which they must communicate story.
In video games, you have both video and game.
Video as in watching. Of course graphics matter. Now the problem is that many people only this that bigger is better conerning graphics. Look at Zelda Skyward Sword. Even with the technical limitations of the Wii, this game is still genuinely beautiful and will stay so for a long time. Or look at Secret of Mana - the story is basic, the gameplay kinda annoying at some times, but the universe is so colorful that playing this game is a delightful experience.
Game as in playing - look at Bayonetta for example, the story is mundane, but the gameplay is so good that it is one of my favorite games of this generation. I had a lot of fun while playing it, and appreciated that the story did not get in the way of fun.
But now, the best is when these three elements work together. The Metroid, especially the first two Metroid Prime games did this great. Great and varied environments (this counts as graphics) that had to be used and analyzed to progress through the gameplay (this huge great looking tower like thing is here for something, and I have to use it to get to the next area). These environments told something about the story, which had very little dialog (abandonned cities, battlefields, crash sites etc), and this was discoverd by scanning, a central gameplay element.