Video games as a storytelling medium?

[Teewee]

I've been thinking of one of the major reasons why I enjoy video games; the plot. Be it the story of a legendary hero, a messed up dude's character development, stopping the manifestation of evil itself, etc. I myself like games with good gameplay and plot, and as I play those, I feel very immersed, not taking my eyes off the screen. What will happen next? Will I get a new powerup soon? Will the music keep being this awesome? :V

The execution of this mesh of gameplay and story can often decide for me if I like a game or not. Done well, I'd rather play a well-executed video game version of a plot than read the plot in book form, well-written in words or otherwise. And I'm not talking about things like VNs; the explicit purpose of those is to tell a story, not to bash monsters, solve puzzles, or travel in a cool world as a story goes along to enhance it. Some Medium Awareness is always a plus in my book; think Mother3 with the lampshading of video game and story tropes XD

So, what do you guys think of how a story can be inserted into a video game? What video-game writing devices do you like most? Express yourself here

[Tired/Warm]

I have to go make some lunch, but to me - Video games are one of my favorite forms of storytelling, besides perhaps sitting on the porch with something cold to drink, and sharing stories among friends as the sun rolls down. But given the impossibility of that happening right now... Video games aren't just amazing because they combine interaction and story - the amount of story and it's variety is what grabs people's attention. For every story about heroes fighting a villainous overlord, there's a quirky game about four youths and an unknowable menace. For every hard-as-nails gritty shootfest, there's a disturbing yet hauntingly beautiful adventure game. From platformers to Touhou, the choice is near endless.

But that's not all. What stands out to me is how, generally, the story of a video game will only focus on a few characters and their immediate world - and when done well, you're pulled into that world, whether it's the cinematic lusciousness of Beyond Good and Evil or the resiliency of Heather in Silent Hill 3. And because you interact with that world - because you meet the characters and form attachments with them - the experience is even stronger. Now, naturally, not every person likes every game - and people'll disagree on what's awesome and what's dead parrot. To me, though - right when I started running out of easy access to books, I found videogames. The rest, as they say, was history. <3

This post was brought to you by excessive commas. Friends don't let friends use 'em.  :derp:

[Suikama]

When it comes to video games, the thing that immerses me the most into a story are the little details that catch me off guard, especially since a lot of games have simple overarching plotlines (bigass conflict -> beat people up). Things like characters quirks in RPGs that make me attached to that character, then anything that happens to that character has a much bigger effect on me (Kanny ;_;)

[Furienify]

Beyond Good and Evil was my 'Games R Art' wakeup call.

[shadowbringer]

I'd try to help if I knew more about writing stories myself ;p

Maybe video-games have an advantage in how their makers try to keep the player interested in the story you're trying to tell, because you can interact with it, or decide to follow it, or just let yourself be told the story during the breaks between the action phases. Still, knowing more about devices for writing and some cliches from video-games (like TVTropes' CutscenePowerToTheMax, where the characters perform awesome things that they... can't do anywhere in the game, and GameplayAndStorySegregation, where the story seems to ignore the possibilities opened up by its gameplay or vice-versa) would be useful, to make the characters and story more believable or identifiable with or understandable.

[axman36]

The main thing that interests me in video games is how it tells it to you through a perspective where you're an active part of the story. It's not telling you a story, it's making you experience it.

One of my favorite examples of this has to be Bioshock in how it shows you a world of different radical political and economic beliefs along with the struggle for power bring about what took place and then develop another story through that. I just became so involved with it.

I also must confess I've used quite a few examples from Bioware's games in the conclusion of one of my essays. >.>

[Yukarin]

This thing sound like one of the episodes in Extra Credits.

I completely have to agree to this guy though.

[Jes_Isaive]

First game I played that made me realize that games aren't just go here, fight guy was Okami. The game was beautiful in every way, and as an added bonus, had great gameplay. It's probably what made me so fond of Japan in the first place.

I'm fairly depressed now, because I have no idea where the disc is, and now I really want to play it again. For the 4th time. At 2 AM.

[Alfred F. Jones]

Time for an uninformed, dissenting opinion: I've never believed games can really tell stories well. This is probably because I've played only a handful in my life. Hooray, poverty!

In all seriousness, the few games I have played haven't impressed me all that much. Untitled Story was an exception, but even so, I can't see video games becoming better at telling stories than books or movies any time soon.

[Tamer Anode/Cathode]

Video games have two significant differences from movies and books as a storytelling medium; first, the player has more control over the story than the viewer or reader. Secondly, videogame storylines are not required to be linear like movie or book storylines; they can branch depending on the actions of the player.

The strongest stories, I believe, are the ones where the story is significantly affected by the player's choices and actions, such as in Deus Ex.

[Alfred F. Jones]

Video games have two significant differences from movies and books as a storytelling medium; first, the player has more control over the story than the viewer or reader. Secondly, videogame storylines are not required to be linear like movie or book storylines; they can branch depending on the actions of the player.

The first has never been something I've particularly liked, as both a reader or writer, but that's just a personal taste. As to the second, that's what multiple viewpoints are for. However, seeing the same story told from a different character's perspective seems to be a relatively new phenomenon, and in particular, mutually exclusive paths (something as simple as choosing one girl over another, like in Sakura Taisen) are indeed things that are a lot easier to explore through video games instead of books.

[Azure Lazuline]

In addition to the Beyond Good and Evil, Bioshock, and Okami examples that have already been given, the next big one that pops up in my head is Metroid Prime (all of them, but especially the first). The story in that game is completely optional, which I thought was very interesting - and not optional as in "you can skip the cutscenes", but optional as in you have to go out of your way to read the story.

Pretty much everything in the game - enemies, items, creatures, terrain, ancient lore, space pirate ship logs, and more - can be scanned for more information. If you go through the game only scanning what is absolutely necessary (opening a few locks, activating elevators, etc), it's like an old video game story. You see the big bad at the beginning, you travel the world to find him while powering up along the way, you kill him, and there's a final area with an even bigger boss at the end. Even at the bare minimum story, it still works, and you're not left confused like you would be if you skipped cutscenes in a story-heavy game.

However, if you take the time to read all the scans, the story is beautifully written. Everything is given in detail, and everything has a purpose, no matter how small. The rise and fall of an entire civilization is given through those scan points. The main enemies of the game, the space pirates, are shown to be sentient, emotional creatures too, with their own motives and personalities. Every creature's scan point reads like an encyclopedia entry on it, giving everything you would ever need to know about them. Even tiny things, like an orb on the wall or a broken bridge, can be scanned for backstory. It's amazing how much effort the writers put into it, and it really made me feel like I was part of a living world.

As you can probably tell from my overly-dramatic set of paragraphs there, I think games work well to tell stories. I can't really put my finger on why or how, and it's impossible to say if they're "better" than movies or books, but they're definitely good.

[Kips McKipzerson]

I'm going to mark everything in spoilers for the guys who dont want me to spoil RDR and part of Red Dead Revolver. Also, wall of text.

Spoiler:

Oh man how I have been waiting for this topic. The game that I personally think tells a story better then quite a few is Red Dead Redemption (aka RDR). RDR is the "sequel" to Red Dead Revolver for the PS2, which in a nutshell told the story of a boy's home that got attacked, A man killed his father and mother in front of him, and ends up severely hurting the man with The Scorpion and getting a scorpion scar on his right hand. But that game doesnt really matter much, as I never got past the first level :V

Back to RDR though, The game starts off simple: The goverment has tasked you with killing or capturing your old gang. You, John Marston, were once part of a gang that pillaged, raped, murdered, and all other sorts of crazy Old West things. You were taken in as a son by the leader of the old gang, which iirc his name is Dutch. Dutch and co. have been on the run for a long while, with the game hitting (part) of its climax when you "murder" him.

But wait, Why does John want to kill his old gang members? Truth is, He kinda does and kinda doesnt. He wouldn't just wake up one day thinking "IMMA MURDER THESE GUISE"; no, the goverment is forcing him to. How? By holding his son and wife hostage. You became a simple farmer after leaving the gang when you developed *gasp* MORALS. Once you split, the whole gang split. One of your old members, the worst shot of the gang who's name escapes me is hiding at Fort Mercer, first time you attempt to kill him ends you wounded (and nets you new allies), second time goes much better with his demise. After killing him, Irish (an ally who ISNT irish) decides to take you on a raft ride to Mexico, where the next member is hiding.

He gives you a decent horse, and then you hit the half-way point of the game; when this badass songplays while you are riding to a mexican city to prep for your former ally's demise. I cant put my finger on it, But riding a horse halfway across mexico with this song playing is... Iunno, Emotional. Listening closely, It points out to you how far you've come, and how far away you are from the climax of the game. All the things you've done up to this point is only a fraction of what you will do - what John will do. In a nutshell, the Mexico arc is you meeting an old gunslinger, getting your Dead Eye (aka bullet time) upgraded, side quests main quests oh my. Finally you end up killing your ally, who iirc is a Mexican army general; a corrupted one at that, stealing all the woman in mexico.

After killing him, You decide to go back to america via the bridge you fixed in a main quest, and head to West Elizabeth, aka the colonized part of the Old West. You meet the dude whos holding your family's lives by their throats and his goon Edgar Ross and Archer Fordam, respectively. After doing more quests, they finally decide to send you up north to a snowy moutain where Dutch is residing. Now heres where it gets really climactic.

You end up killing all of Dutchs goon's, and managed to stalk him up to a mountainside, where he gives a speech. The line that hit me most is "I cant fight my nature John. But its my nature... to fight my nature. You see the paradox Marston? There's nothing guys like us can do: But fight the very thing that forcing us not to fight it.", or something along those lines. Instead of you killing Dutch, He decides to fall backwards off the cliff. After traveling down the mountain, you see Ross shooting Dutch's body, saying "It looks better on the resume." He then tells you you're free to do what you want, and you're family is back home safe and sound. Then this song starts playing when you mount your horse. Everything you've done so far, everyone you've helped and saved, all leading up to this climactic moment of the game: the tearful ride home to your family.

When you get home, You see your family; John's family. I was in tears after I saw his family, as should most people. Everything you've done, every little god damned thing, And you finally get the Redemption that you've longed for. After meeting up with your son John Jr, your wife Abigail, and your... old man, Uncle. Uncle's just an old friend, getting drunk every night, though he's pretty good with a gun. After herding cows and other things any ranch does, Something happens. When you see this, you realize everything you've done was for nothing. Killing your old allies, helping out Mexico as a whole, Killing your "father" Dutch; all that was only the calm before the storm. Now the storm comes.

The army that freed you? Yeah, They want to make you their pawn again. This. This part of the game is the best, the moment of realization. Nothing is forever. Everything comes to a sad end, just like Madoka taught us. We can fight despair, But it's always there, and will always come back. After losing Uncle in a short firefight, John demands that his son and wife make it out of the farm ASAP. There was protest, but the final wave of the army is coming and they must escape. Abigail is crying, she doesnt want to leave John. John tells his son he's going to be the man of the house now; John knows whats about to unfold.

This is it. The last stand. Everything you've done, everything comes to an end now. John sighs, and sigh of despair, yet at the same time relief. He's redeemed himself, and theres nothing more for him to do in life. He opens the barn doors, and steps outside. Ross offers you if you want to, in short, become his plaything again. You aren't, and John damned well isnt about to. Entering dead eye one last tearful time, You aim to take down as many people as you can with your only gun; the Cattlemans Revolver, the first gun you've ever gotten. A dinky little 6-shooter, and sadly, Those are the last shot's of John's life. You remember to yourself the name of the joke that your son made before, when you taunted him for reading books: The Day John Marston Stopped Shooting. It was true in every sense. After taking down those 6 people out of 50, A torrent of bullets rain on you. You've been shot in every part of your body, There's nothing left for you or John to do. It's over, and it was a miracle you were even alive after all that lead. Ross turns away, disappointed that he wont get to abuse another human soul like he oh so lusts for.

In short, Any game where the ending defines everything you needed to know. All the Halo's you blew up? That was nothing compared to what you were about to go through. The part of the game where you know that everything you've done is merely a piece of corn on the platter we call life. You know that there's always going to be despair, and all you've done is offer momentary safety and relief. Everything will be undone in a few years, and you will be known as nothing anymore. Even if you can bring the heavens down, you are going to die. Those are the endings I like most.

oh and yeah I made a mini-review and strayed too far from the topic at hand, but I couldn't just waste all of that, so excuse the GIANT wall of text.

[Sapz]

Unreal and Shadow of the Colossus are two of my favourite games ever, for a pretty similar reason. In Unreal, you do not encounter any other living humans or beings you can communicate with in the entire game (very uncommon for a first person shooter, especially given that it's story-driven). The basic plot is that you've crash landed on an alien planet, and by the time you regain consciousness everyone else has either died in the crash or already escaped the ship. The only clues to what's going on at all are little messages you can find throughout the game with your translator - aside from that, all that's left is to soak up the incredible atmosphere of the game. The ethereal sounding music and beautiful/eerie landscapes you can explore give it an awesome sense of mystery and isolation. It's very much like Azure's description of Metroid Prime above (which I must play at some point).

SotC does something similar, to perhaps an even greater extent - aside from the colossus battles and Dormin giving instructions between said battles, it's pretty much just you and your horse alone in a huge, isolated world. It's not as if it's barren or anything, but there's literally nothing there aside from some small wildlife like eagles and lizards and the like. Despite that, there are lots of traces of ancient civilizations, with huge, beautiful (though slightly ruined) structures, and again, this gives a really strong feeling of wonder and isolation as the game progresses. Both of these games are a joy to simply explore the world in.

These things that you 'experience' rather than see or are told are what I enjoy about storytelling in games, and I don't see how you could do that kind of thing in another medium. I wish there were more of them that did this kind of thing, I much prefer it over huge, overly detailed sagas that most RPGs and such seem to go with.

[nintendonut888]

Visual novels aside, I've never really seen video games as games that can tell a story on the level of books or more specialized visual media without dipping into MGS4 levels of plot saturation. However at the same time, video games can do kinds of stories that no other type of media can do. Games like Metroid Prime or Etrian Odyssey are good examples: Here you have superficially simple stories that are entirely in the background. In Metroid Prime's case, you don't even need to know the fairly elaborate backstory and details in order to complete the game, and for the first two Etrian Odysseys a story is only vaguely hinted at behind all the deaths and horror. For Metroid Prime, even though the plot is entirely optional, you feel compelled to learn more and seek out the chunks of story throughout Tallon IV. In the last stratum of the first two Etrian Odyssey games, the plot you've been wondering about kicks in full throttle. Even though it's not a terribly deep one, the fashion in which the story presents itself left a lasting impression on me, more than EO3's stock RPG plot ever did. 

While other forms of media can create subtleties like these, none of them can make you feel like you're the one discovering the truth of a situation you came into, no others can give you the exciting feeling that you're the one who is trying to find the secret of a deadly labyrinth. That level of immersion is where video games shine.