Games Stories

 

(Source: Flickr)

For this post, I'll be talking about the readings I did for this week. I read the two readings and what the video. They were all about story telling in games which is good because your story really can improve or ruin you game.

The first article talks about why stories are essential in games and defined what a story is. They then described the types of story creation such as the classical one where you have three acts to the story and the importance of characters in the story. I agree what this article said as a good story will have character act on it and gives the player a unique experience.

The second article was an academic paper and went into detail about Mass Effect 2's story and characters. The article explains how the game's story is so good and what they did to make it like that. For example, the player plays as Shepard who already has a character style built so the player can make choices that reflect that. The game is cut into a linear storyline with choosable dialogue to create the feeling of freedom for the player. The game only allows options that either enhance or rich the player's experience.

Finally,  I watched a video on how game stories are improving and are becoming more dynamic. For example, the Telltale series' give the player the freedom to choose what to do but the choices made don't really effect the story that much. It is rather limited than expansive but it is improving. There are games like Civilisation and Shadow of Mortar where the all the game systems are able to interact with each other which creates a unique experience. I agree with this video and I think a mix of both of classical and dynamic story could work best!