Narratives in games have come a long way since Mario’s “Thanks for saving us, but the princess is in another castle” type of story. How have games storytelling evolved over the years? Do video games even need a story?! Let’s chat about it.
What’s a Narrative?
Well, a narrative is a story. Plain and simple as that. Think of your favorite game. Mine is Hades, (and it’s highly anticipated upcoming sequel) so I’ll use that as my example. The game focuses on Zagreus, son of Olympian god, Hades, trying to escape his father’s domain. And that’s the story. At least the premise. It evolves into much more I won’t spoil here, but that’s the foundation of the narrative of Hades. Factoring into it is Zagreus’ character development, his father’s growing from being negligent and resentful to much more, and a reuniting of the House of Hades.
But, you may be wondering, “dude, that’s how every game in history was done, there’s always been a story.”
I’m here to tell you, that’s where you’re wrong. Video game storytelling has very humble beginning we’ll talk about. But to talk about history, we need to ask ourselves a simple question about games having a story:
“Why?”
Why Does a Game Need a Story?
Think about reading a book. Typically, there’s a whole plot and story that unfolds. Whether it be a romance novel or sci-fi thriller, there’s always a plot. It’s the same with video games, except they’re visually (and sometimes physically) interactive. However, interactions mean nothing without motive or compelling someone.
Take for example the game Pong. It’s a good, basic game with no story. At all. Just two paddles, a ball, and a broken friendship afterwards. It’s fun for a bit, but then you get tired of it because there’s nothing compelling you to keep playing (unless you’re a competitive Pong player).
Now, think of a game with a riveting narrative. Maybe it’s God of War or Red Dead Redemption 2. Maybe it’s Portal 2. These are games that embrace story, weave it into gameplay seamlessly, and engage the audience more. Storytelling is a great way to not just talk about something, but to explore a world or even a character in-depth.
Early Narratives in Gaming
Let’s go back in time to the ages of the NES and arcade machines (the ones with joysticks and buttons and not over-sized iPads). Narratives were simple.
Super Mario Bros. saw Mario needing to save Princess Peach from the clutches of Bowser, and he traversed through eight different worlds to find her. Mortal Kombat was a tournament to beat a sorcerer to save Earthrealm from being conquered. Even Space Invaders was just to prevent the aliens from reaching the bottom of the screen. That’s it. Your mind made up the rest of the story.
Early video games had a simple story concept to flesh out why a player should keep playing their games. Sure, they had high scores, records and such. But they had a small story to go along with them. As games and the gaming industry grew, so did their storytelling skills.
Evolution to Linear Storytelling
Enter the next step in gaming narratives – linear stories. To define it – it’s a direct path of a story with simple story beats, which everyone experiences the same plot. Each event that unfolds builds off of a previous event to build more tension until the conclusion.
As games became more complex, so did stories. You had games like Final Fantasy with story beats ranging from knocking Garland down to recovering each crystal to the end of the game. Fire Emblem had a story of a young prince who lost everything and worked on rebuilding an army to fight a great evil. Look at Pokémon Red and Blue; child goes into the world to be the best Pokémon trainer, catch ‘em all, and beat the Champion.
Each of these games have a single string of event after event that all lead to the ending, with gameplay guiding the player throughout the narrative. By utilizing a linear storytelling method, developers could integrate gameplay more efficiently while pseudo-hand holding the player throughout the game until the end.
And each of the examples did this differently and built their world in various ways. Pokémon allowed players to interact with NPCs to gain more knowledge about Kanto and the world of Pokemon. Same with Final Fantasy. Fire Emblem had static character portraits taking with each other between chapters to flesh out the story. The path was set, but in the end, linear progression gave way to player choice. So why should the devs have all the control over story pacing? Why not give it to the player?
From Linear to Player-Driven
By the later 90s and early 2000s, games became even more complex. Technology gave way to 3D rendering in the form of the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation 1. In tandem, storytelling became more diverse with giving players agency, or a feeling of control, over their gaming experience. Developers started to play with the notion of “player choice,” where the player can influence outcomes based on their decisions.
By giving players more agency, games became much more open than before. Fallout games before Fallout 3 (though there are some choices in there too) is a shining example of how player choice can affect story-driven outcomes. And that even includes some endings of the game as well. Branching stories and sub-stories became more prevalent in games like The Elder Scrolls where there were completely optional side quests with their own mini-stories.
Because of these changes, games were forced to open their worlds to “open world” formats. Developers and artists created living, breathing spaces. With talented game artists, you get story now integrated into the background. The original Portal exemplifies this well in tying story elements into the environment, showing the gradual decay and cracks forming in Aperture Science labs.
One of my favorite games which embraced all of the above is Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. You had choice in not only building your character, but their background; their choices in given scenarios influence late-game events. Side characters approach you differently. NPCs have different responses. Cinematics may entirely change. And it’s all based around the narrative someone is tying into gameplay. By using gameplay mechanics, narrative has been modified and changed.
Tying Story Into Characters
Developers over the years realized story is important. We know this. And they can tie it into the environment for world building. Check. But how about evoking empathy and understanding for the characters themselves?
A few early games understood the assignment quite quickly. Final Fantasy VII embraced this, giving way to its exploded popularity, enough to have at least two modern games in a remake format (See Final Fantasy VII: Remake and Rebirth). There’s a reason why – telling a story through compelling characters and character arcs.
In more recent games, such as Red Dead Redemption 2 and The Last of Us, character development is key in having a impactful story. Imagine a Joel who…well, didn’t act like Joel. Maybe he acted like Homer Simpson, aloof, comical, and a caricature. How would it influence the story of The Last of Us?
It would suck. Plain and simple.
It would have nowhere near the impact it did. Or maybe it would make it a laughingstock, never allowing us to experience a sequel.
Technology has advanced to the point where characters are more than polygonal blocks, pixels and wire frames. They’re still that, but look at facial motion capture – it’s completely changed how emotions are portrayed on a character. We can empathize more, relate more because we see more of a human (or alien in some cases) and we see emotion. It’s a method of acting now, expanding well beyond basic voice acting in some cases.
And all of it portrays and ties into the narrative being told.
Modern Gaming Narratives
We now live in a time where the games industry is thriving (despite the massive amount of layoffs). Everyone knows of gaming and gamers are consuming more and more content. Interactivity is at the forefront of storytelling now. Games like Baldur’s Gate 3 and most games from Telltale Games intertwine story and gameplay so that they truly relay on each other. At this point, story is part of the gameplay, picking up on clues, exploring and learning about the environment.
Player choice is critical in developing many games now. Branching storylines are plentiful. Some games integrate it well, like Baldur’s Gate 3, and other not as well, such as The Outer Worlds (at least in my opinion).
The uniqueness of narrative can shine through clever writing to convey messages which may not be as effective through other means. For example, both Final Fantasy XVI and Fire Emblem: Three Houses each discuss mature themes such as slavery, castes, and equality among all people. These themes are often sensitive topics of discussion. Yet, through a lens of gaming, these themes, folded into a narrative, can be conveyed to a much larger and wider demographic.
The Future of Gaming Storycrafting
Storytelling has grown from a simple way to grasp and retain a gamer’s attention to a foundational facet in building out a video game. So, where does that put us for the future?
The art of storytelling will evolve somehow. I have no idea how, otherwise I’d be working at a studio to flesh it out. However, it WILL evolve. Roguelikes had minimal story – until games like Hades came out. This kind of revolutionary change will be seen in more games in various ways.
If anything, games will continue to emphasize player decisions affecting outcomes. Maybe they’ll go in the direction of The Stanley Parable, just maybe less ironic or self-aware humor. Where maybe a player can commit one action (or not) and it’s the end of the game (see Far Cry 5 quick ending). Maybe games will embrace creativity like Baldur’s Gate 3 does.
I’m excited for the future of gaming narratives. I never would’ve thought I’d see the complexity and movie-quality feature we see in gaming, so let’s see how the next 20 years play out, and enjoy every bit of it!
Do you have any prediction on video game storytelling? Let us know here or on X! Happy Gaming!
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