How Does the Inclusion of Narrative Affect the Interactivity of Video

How Does the inclusion of Narrative Affect the Interactivity of Video Games? Joe Neeves 1 Abstract This report examines the role of narratives in interactive experiences, beginning with an analysis of the compelling nature of narratives themselves. Through combining a traditional definition of narratives (Aristotle, 335BC) and a modern distinction between a game’s context, story, and narrative, (Juul, 2001; 2002) it examines how the principles of ludology and narratology, (Frasca, 2003) reflect both the immense possibilities for narrative-based interactive experiences, and the inherent flaws with combining linear stories with diverging gameplay and interactivity. Focusing on the issue of player agency, it also examines narratives in relation to emergent gameplay (Holland 1997), extending this to the exogenous narratives often seen from YouTube gaming content creators, forming their own emergent and meaningful gameplay that is centred on a video game world, but existing outside of it. 2 Contents Table of Illustrations …………………………………………………………………………………………………… p.03 Imagination ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… p.04 Early Game Structures ………………………………………………………………………………………………… p.05 Interactivity & A Sense of Agency ……………………………………………………………………………… p.08 Emergence & Experimentation…………………………………………………………………………………… p.17 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… p.21 Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… p.22 Table of Illustrations Figure 1: Namco (1980) Pac-Man Figure 2: Spierling, Ulrike (2005) Interactive Digital Storytelling: Towards a Hybrid Conceptual Approach. p.8. Available from: <http://www.digra.org/wp- content/uploads/digital-library/06278.24521.pdf> [Accessed 12th September 2015] Figure 3: Salen, Katie and Zimmerman, Eric (2004) Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals. Cambridge Mass/London England: MIT Press. Figure 4: Dontnod Entertainment (2015) Life is Strange Figure 5: Sega (2005) Shadow the Hedgehog Figure 6: Rockstar Games (2011) L.A. Noire Figure 7: Telltale Games (2012) The Walking Dead 3 Imagination The human race's enjoyment of stories is a constant in our past; going back farther than we can record, people have created narratives in imaginary worlds to share with their children, their friends, and almost anyone who would listen. This desire to create and share fictional universes is so influential that in 1795, renowned poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge not only described the ability to imagine as a “divinely-appointed attribute,” (Wolf, 2012) but that to “develop the powers of the Creator” (Coleridge, 1795) was also our “proper employment” (Coleridge, 1795) that is to say; our duty as human beings. Wolf, interpreting the work of psychologists John Tooby and Leda Cosmides, proposed a more scientific reasoning behind our desire to imagine; that of evolution. They argue that to be able to imagine situations without acting upon them holds “great value for humans both in survival and reproduction,” (Wolf, 2012) and that humans have “evolved special cognitive systems that enable us to participate in these fictional worlds.” (Wolf, 2012) This evolutionary involvement with the ability to imagine would certainly explain our fascination with the fictional – our imagination is embedded firmly in our instinct. It is not surprising then, that this instinct would give birth to the multitude of media that we now consume nigh-constantly. The fictional creations of others permeate every aspect of our daily lives; whether it be television, films, or books. Our desire for more worlds to experience led to overlaps in these media – books become television shows, television shows become films, and films become books, so hungry are we to dive into another's imagination. From this hunger, emerged narrative video games – a new aspect of game design, in a media which offered an intensity of interactivity which surpassed even the Jackson and Livingstone Fighting Fantasy adventure books of the 1980s. Certainly, video games would be a fantastic platform for new narratives to immerse ourselves in. 4 Early Game Structures Traditionally, games didn't feature explicit narratives – board games such as Monopoly, though originally created to demonstrate the pitfalls of private monopolies, evolved into an experience where the context of real-estate competition is treated as secondary to the physical playing of the game. Juul explains that this trend continued into early video games as well, citing Taito's 1977 game Space Invaders, in which “a prehistory is suggested … An invasion presupposes a situation before the invasion. It is clear from the science fiction we know that these aliens are evil and should be chased away.” (Juul, 2001) Thus, the stage is set for the game to begin. But in Space Invaders, just as in Monopoly, the context of the game is entirely irrelevant to the playing; “If we play Space Invaders, we find that we cannot actually restore the initial state; we cannot win since every wave of aliens is followed by another.” (Juul, 2001) The narrative is entirely static, and regardless of the outcome of the game, it will remain static forever more. In this way, it could be seen that the contexts of such games are too insufficient to be classified as narratives at all. In Poetics, Aristotle wrote that not only does a narrative require a beginning, middle and end, but also that “an end … is that which itself naturally follows some other thing, either by necessity, or as a rule, but has nothing following it.” (Aristotle, 335BC) Space Invaders has a beginning; that of the start of the invasion; and arguably a middle; the experience of playing the game. Yet as Juul describes, there is no end; the invasion cannot be defeated, the player doomed to endlessly repeat the process until they are finally defeated. Whilst this solemn expression of futility is certainly thought-provoking, it comes from a lack of finality programmed into the game, rather than an intentional abstraction of the game’s context. This trend carries through a large number of early games – in the original version of Namco's 1980 game Pac-Man, should the player be able 5 to complete the first 255 levels, instead of ending, the game instead malfunctions, creating an impossible 256th level, ending the game through the inability to complete it. Figure 1: Level 256 of Pac-Man becomes impossible to complete. Arsenault argues that Aristotle's definition is insufficient now, describing how “the term 'narrative' has acquired a number of distinctive definitions … becoming an increasingly engrossing and complex word.” (Arsenault, 2005) This is particularly true given that it wasn't made with respect to video games, or even digital media of any kind. His tenets, however, still apply so rigorously to other forms of narrative-driven media that it would seem exclusionary to not subject games to the same narrative expectations we hold of other art forms. In the case of Space Invaders and Pac-Man, it is difficult to consider what little context they provide as a narrative. The interaction allowed is minimal at best, and the games instead rely on what Holland would term emergence; a phenomenon he likens to ant colonies or the global economy, where “the behaviour of the whole is much more complex than the behaviour of its parts.” (Holland, 1997) In other words, simple rules beget complex situations. The rules of Space Invaders and Pac-Man create effortless interaction with the game's systems, but not with their narrative – or lack thereof. The key difference that must be addressed is that of interacting with a game, and interacting with a game's narrative. More traditional emergence-based games gave way to a more modern style of progression-based game, as Juul describes: “Progression games 6 are historically new, beginning with the adventure game.” (Juul, 2002) The first games developed were little more than new versions of old, physical games. Atari's 1972 release PONG – what most would consider the first commercially successful video game – was simply electronic table tennis. It is only in more recent decades that developers have made games centred on a narrative – some more literally that others, in the case of Bioshock, whose entire world began from Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged. These games, among others, make use of what Juul describes as “progression structures”; (Juul, 2002) systems – often presented in the form of a small quest – which move the player along a storyline when certain criteria are met. This evolution from emergence-based games to games with narrative elements continued, with even more recent games becoming entirely narrative- based, such as The Chinese Room's Dear Esther, or the variety of choice-driven narratives from Telltale Games. From this evolution, a new type of experience can be derived from video games – the same intellectual stimulation that we feel from reading a book, or watching a film. 7 Interactivity & A Sense of Agency A common criticism of narrative-heavy games is the lack of interactivity they provide. Dear Esther was critically acclaimed for its atmosphere and artistic direction, but many questioned its status as a game. Games journalist Tadhg Kelly wrote: “a game is not defined simply by the ability to walk, but to cause meaningful change within it.” (Kelly, 2012) He argues that a game must give the player a sense of agency, or be one- dimensional and shallow. Whilst agency is certainly a key factor in determining one's enjoyment of a game, Murray explains why games must explore the different aspects of gaming,

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