Narrative Choices

Lee's (2013) discussion on game narrative design was extremely relevant for the current stage of my game development. The author argues that video game stories are essentially different from books and movies. In written narratives, what the reader experiences is derived from the written narrative and nothing else; in visual narratives, such as movies, TV shows, and so on, the experience is also sensory, as the viewer also uses their hearing and vision. Moreover, when talking about video games, although a story may seem very interesting and engaging on paper, the interactive factor also needs to be considered so that the narrative can work.

According to Lee (2013), a game is most effective when it combines the story of the game (the explicit story) with the player's unique experience (the player's story). If one is detached from the other, the player is often confused and unmotivated to continue playing. I have recently started playing a game that I can use as an example of a successful integration of explicit and player's story: Nier: Automata. In Nier, you control 2B, an Android who is part of the YorHa organization, which aims to destroy machine-like aliens that have dominated Earth and made humans take shelter on the moon. You are aware of the explicit story at all times, and everything that happens is connected to it; however, the player's story shapes how you experience the explicit story. There is a variety of possible missions that can be carried out at any time during the game, and when you play them is up to you. Completion of different missions lead to a variety of outcomes, and, as a result, Nier: Automata has five possible endings. Oh, its art is also beautiful and the music is amazing, so you should check the trailer below:

In his PowerPoint presentation, Juul refers to the same concepts, calling them embedded narrative (the explicit story) and emergent narrative (the player's story), and, in an adaptation work such as the one that I am doing, I need to create a possibility for emergent narratives, since my embedded narrative is already made in the form of the Iracema novel. That said, when designing the game, I have tried to add as much interactivity as possible, mainly when the scene is, let's say, kind of boring. For instance, in one of the earlier chapters, Iracema escorts the white warrior to her village and, upon her arrival at the chief's hut, she's asked to gather water and food for the visitor. Instead of making her disappear of the scene and come back with what was asked of her, I added a quest in which she needs to talk to other Indians to get the ingredients. In that way, the player gets to explore the village and know the non-playable characters as well. Additionally, I've tried to add some cultural knowledge to this quest. You can see some screenshots below: