Narrative in Games Part 2: Mixing Oil and Water

Not every game is consistent between the cutscene and gameplay narratives.

Last week we took a look at narrative in games, splitting it into two concepts: explicit and emergent narrative. Explicit narrative referring to the type of story generally told in books, film, and other traditional media, and emergent narrative referring to the story that emerges due to the choices and actions taken by the player within the game's mechanics. We looked at the strengths and drawbacks of each and touched both on why these are often very isolated from one another and how they can still reinforce each other even when disconnected.

This week we'll take a look at a couple ways that developers are already trying to integrate the two together more directly, as well as a few example games that demonstrate these methods.

Explicit Contextualization

The most straightforward method of combining explicit and emergent narrative is to use the explicit narrative to contextualize significant choices the player can make within the gameplay. Although not every possible decision can be accounted for, giving context to common options or major events can set the player in the right frame of mind for the character you're trying to create. By giving a rough outline of motivations around the actions the player does you can create an explicit skeleton of the character which the player then fills in with all of the details created by their emergent narrative.

Two games that do this to superb effect are Bastion and The Stanley Parable.

(There will be minor story spoilers for both games below, so if you haven't played them yet I highly recommend picking them up and playing through before you read the rest of this section.)

In Bastion, you constantly have the narrator's voice talking over your actions as you play. This has two major effects: first it prevents the pace of gameplay slowing down when delivering narrative, and second to contextualize everything that happens to the Kid.

There are almost no cutscenes or sections of pure dialogue in Bastion, and where they exist they're intended to slow the pace of the game down and allow the player to reflect for a moment on what's happening. Even though the game is light on non-interactive plot dumps, there's a detailed story and strong characterization throughout the game - you truly get a feel for the Kid's personality despite the fact that he never speaks.

This is because so many of the actions the player can take within the game have explicit contextualization by the narrator, Rucks. Early on when you take a break to smash everything in sight Rucks is there with "Kid just rages for awhile". When you take a detour to kill an optional enemy, Rucks chimes in "Ain't time for pecker hunting, but the kid can't resist." When the kid encounters the ashen remains of former friends and the player decides to bash them apart, Rucks follows it with "He does what he has to. Set them free."

"He don't much care to see them. Not like this."

While the game allows the player the choice of what to do, the why behind it is given to the player as explicit narrative. This engages the player through emergent narrative via their choices inside the game, but keeps the tone and characterization consistent by presenting an appropriate context for the actions of the player. The player is free to destroy the remains of his friends and acquaintances, but he can't do it out of malice or as an excuse to revel in his power.

The Stanley Parable takes a similar contextual approach to the agency they give the player. You are constantly being presented with choices - which door do you go through, do you listen to the narrator or defy him, etc. - but immediately after you make your choice the narrator chimes in with a reaction that characterizes the decision and the player's motivations behind it. Although The Stanley Parable was very limited in terms of gameplay mechanics, it did an excellent job of combining what little gameplay they had with their explicit narrative together into a cohesive story.

In both these cases the explicit narrative is being delivered as a guide to frame the emergent narrative. This is a very effective method to use if you're trying to create a specific set of characters or events while allowing for more player agency without potentially setting the two at odds with each other.

Explicit Setting

The next method involves using the explicit narrative as merely a setting or environment that encourages a specific kind of emergent narrative to take place. This generally involves delivering the bulk of the explicit narrative through gameplay means, such as environments to explore, partially scripted events for the player to experience, etc. and designing the mechanics of the game very specifically.

Journey is an excellent example of this. While there are some cutscenes in the game they are generally short and only used to establish vague goals or settings - most of the explicit story being told the player discovers through their progression and exploration through the game's environments.

There will be spoilers for Journey below. Journey is easily one of the best games I've ever played, so if you haven't played it please do so before reading the rest of this section.

The minimalistic mechanics in Journey were similarly crafted very carefully. Everything you can do in the game relates back to either traversal through the in-game world or interaction with your partner. As a result the entire experience of the player centers around the emergent story of how they interacted with their partner. Did they slow down for you when you missed that jump? Did you race off to explore a vast sandy ruin only to turn around and notice they didn't keep up and got lost? Did they point out a hidden corner to you that held a scarf upgrade? Did you have to huddle close together with them after they got caught by the monster and was left with a tiny scarf and reduced mobility?

Everything in the explicit narrative is crafted to act as a vehicle to help the player create these personal emergent narratives with the other players in the world. The contextualization provided gives the proper weight and atmosphere for the player to create their own unique and personal story. As a result, those emergent moments - when you find your friend, who you thought you'd lost in the last stretch, standing at the top of the mountain waiting so you can walk into the light together - feels so much stronger to the player than the climax of any 80 hour RPG.

Stride Into the Future

These methods (at least in their current form) are fairly new - all of the games mentioned came out within the last few years. Even looking back through gaming's history we see games delivering on both explicit and emergent narrative more over time, as well as having them reinforce one another more often and more effectively. Developers are getting better at their craft and are slowly starting to create their own methods for utilizing the unique strengths of the medium.

I am genuinely excited to see what these techniques evolve into and the sort of experiences they'll create in the coming years. I suspect the industry at large will be slow to adapt (as they always are), but the massive benefits for engaging the player on these new levels are already being noticed by large companies. It won't take long before even the lumbering giants of the industry realize that it's in their best interest to push forward, making the way for experiences that we can't even imagine right now.

Screw doom and gloom; the future of video games is looking bright indeed.