In the early days of video games, the storyline or the narrative of the game was not really a crucial element of the overall gaming experience. Since video gaming itself was novel and exciting in and of itself, it didn’t matter what the back story of the characters within the game was all about.
Video gamers were only concerned with how much fun it was to play the game. Today, the entertainment factor is still the number one driving force of what makes an exceptional video game. With that said, the storyline of the game is also starting to play a bigger, more important role, with themes, plotlines and full-blown characters – features that undoubtedly make for entertaining and more wholistic gameplay.
Not all Games Need a Compelling Narrative
Certainly, not all games are created equally and in the same way – and that’s a-okay. Purely mechanical games aren’t unpleasant, some are actually fun in their sheer simplicity – without having any narrative whatsoever. Consider the abstract game of Tetris for instance. It’s essentially an interactive puzzle, without a single character or any discernable plot that drives the game towards an end goal – other than stacking bricks neatly to fill in the gaps. It proves that it isn’t written in stone that for a game to be captivating and successful, it must have an intriguing plotline accompanied by complex, multi-layered characters and their development. Tetris simply works, without the complexity that shapes other games. And while it doesn’t fully exploit the capabilities of the medium, it’s still managed to garner huge, global popularity – and maintain it.
Nevertheless, a good chronicle – even if somewhat oversimplified – almost always helps boost the gaming experience for games that aren’t as abstract. Some games require very little setting or story to function successfully. For instance, a fighting game can be a hit simply by what it claims to be: a fighting competition, which usually prompts the player to pick one of the fighters and jump into the action. Other games benefit from having a more in-depth plot. A game like Assassins Creed for example would cease to make much sense if there was no explanation of why/for what you are out on a murder spree.
With thousands of games at players’ disposal, it’s pretty evident that having a storyline is what makes or breaks a game. Sure, its theme and other features such as sharp graphics and catchy music certainly embellish the overall experience. Even no deposit casinos make sure to offer their customers fun add-ons such as online casino no deposit free spins and many promotional offers – which to a certain extent also determine a game’s success or failure. Yet, when it comes down to it, if a game isn’t able to captivate a player’s attention and interest, no amount of backstory is going to save the day.
Finding the Balance between Storyline and Technology
The narrative is one of the first key elements of games, just like it is in other types of media like cinema, therefore careful preparation is done in this area before production starts, especially in story-focused games where the gameplay elements revolve around components such as theme and plot. However, it frequently happens that a game’s narrative will depend on a certain game feature in order to advance that narrative. As a result, several factors must be investigated in tandem to ensure that the game idea is practically doable because resources are limited in any business.
Since video games made their first appearance back in the 1980s, narratives have significantly changed. New, original, and more complicated ideas are made feasible as technology gets more advanced and powerful and the sector expands. There are many story-based games that invite you into worlds with multifaceted characters and scenarios; some of these games feature tales in such stimulating ways that the player themselves gets to influence the story based on what they do while playing and this in turn can affect the way they play.
The games industry is constantly looking for new ways to improve the way narratives are presented. The goal has always been to deliver exceptional stories, but technological limitations have prevented that from happening in the past.
On the other hand, there are games that prioritize game mechanics, thus their creators employ narrative in a very different way by smoothly and imaginatively transitioning the player from one level to the next. Because of the popularity of casual gaming, not everyone wants to be told a full-blown story before they can start playing, therefore storylines are deemphasized or simply non-existent in order to accommodate this in such games.
For these very reasons, game producers worldwide are not only utilizing narratives in new and inventive ways made possible with technologies of today. Still, they are also trying to fit a storyline into the very fabric of the gameplay. This is executed through the inclusion of in-game features, graphics and game mechanics in a way that improves and enhances the overall player experience.
Imagination Meets Technology
The bottom line is that there’s no clear-cut conclusion and no specific formula game developers follow because it’s not as simple as that. And while it’s becoming very evident that appealing to the masses means generating better and more labyrinthine narratives, there’s still no denying that other gamers appreciate the simplicity in plot or lack thereof.
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges a game creator faces is finding a balance between using creativity and imagination whilst keeping in mind various players’ demands – however diverse they may be. Given the powerful technology at developers’ disposal today, we’re lucky to have witnessed an evolution of video game narratives unfold before our eyes, possibly at a more rapid pace than any other media/entertainment industry across the globe.
So, does a video game’s storyline impact a player’s overall experience? The question cannot be answered conclusively because there’s a lot of subjectivity involved. Ultimately, it all depends on what a player is looking for. The key is to keep things diverse and appeal to a variety of audiences with equally diverse preferences.
