Some Thoughts on the Power of Storytelling in Video Games

Dear readers,

Today I bring you an editorial on the ultimate tool of learning and brain washing alike: Storytelling. You may have wondered at some point as to why we tell stories. The answer is surprisingly simple; we tell stories so that the listener will know how to behave in society.

You may wonder why I'm telling you this but wonder no more. I've recently been thinking about the plots that most AAA video games use as video games are one of the most (if not the most) effective tool for storytelling. This was brought on while I was playing the game Thomas was Alone- which is an indie game that made me emotionally attached to rectangles.

I feel though that at higher levels of development I usually find myself caring less for the main characters than I do with a minimalist game like Thomas. The reason why is that I generally find the characters less interesting with more thought put into how guns look or what the DLC will be rather than into the characters. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule. I would go so far as to say that, of all games, Pokemon has flourished into an exception and has had some complex villainous characters recently (namely N).

So what is the problem with that? A lot actually because it causes these games to run the risk of accidentally saying something like "all Russians are terrorists", "all religious belief is extremist" or much more commonly "all Muslims are terrorists". Now lets consider that the most common type of large budget game in recent years are first person shooters and you might be able to see the problem of not having a fleshed out villain.

In short you are teaching your audience that certain groups are evil and that the proper response is the termination of said groups. Now, I know that you're thinking "but we can distinguish fiction and reality," let me let you in on a little secret. After Jaws premiered we started hunting sharks to the point of near extinction (where they are now). We didn't do it before Jaws on the scale we did after the film aired. Why? Because we can't tell the difference between reality and fiction as the purpose of fiction is to teach us something.

So what was the purpose of this post? Simply to give a short- and hopefully educative- lesson to some of the aspects of storytelling you often see in video games and why I think the FPS games by large developers need to focus more on their characters and story.

From,

Michael

A Soft Swell

In certain times of glory
I have stopped and thought
About times of old and that story
That you once bought.

I have stopped and thought
As I wandered through the storm:
That you once bought
Such a form!

As I wandered through the Storm
Only admiration descended upon my head.
Such a form-
For one with such dread.

Only admiration descended upon my head
As times of past [you] ran
For one with such dread;
Far from a wise man.

As times of past [you] ran
The fire of my heart burned dry.
Far from a wise man
There is nothing left but why.

The fire of my heart burned dry
As the clouds above cleared.
There is nothing left. But why?
I think not for one so weird.

As the clouds above cleared
And the Sun shone with hope
I think not for one so weird
Though, I may have missed the scope.

And the Sun shone with hope
A dance I knew well-
Though I may have missed the scope-
Within me did it swell!

A dance I knew well
Sang from my soul
Within me. Did it swell?
I say it made me whole.

Sang from my soul
About times of old and that story
(I say it made me whole!)
In certain times of Glory.