How do models of narrative taken from Studies/Theory help us to understand the kind of narrative experience presented by contemporary games? Revisiting the debate on the relationship between games and narrative.

Ellis Grimes

Table of Contents

Introduction: Revisiting the debate ………………………………... 5

Uncharted: The Interactive Action Film …………………………. 14

God of War: The Continuous Emotional Epic …………………… 22

Until Dawn: Narrative Game or ? ……………….. 29

Conclusion: Looking to the Future…………………………………35

Bibliography……………………………………………………… 38

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Glossary of Terms

Terms written in bold in the main text are listed below

AAA – (Pronounced Triple-A), Classification for big-budget games released by major publishers

Camera – When used in relation to games it is referring to the controllable first-party lens through which the player views the game world.

Cinematic – In terms of games, this refers to that are more cinematic in nature, in some older games this is more noticeable as the graphics would be vastly different

Fixed Action – an action performed by the avatar that is prompted by a player interaction, this often takes the form of a specific .

Hack and Slash – A style of game defined by its core mechanics of fighting large groups of enemies with flashy attack combinations.

Menu Screen – A screen that is separate to the , which often comes up when the game is paused, it contains different features such as saving, quitting to the main menu or options.

Open World – A game where the player is free to explore a sandbox world with little constraints

Quick-time Event – An instance within a game where players get to interact with a by pressing buttons at the prompted moments to make the avatar perform an action.

Role Playing Game – A genre of game where the player picks what role their avatar will take, often gives a lot of agency to the player.

Visual Novel – Traditionally a Japanese , a consists of text and still images, with a story the player can influence based on options of dialogue.

Wave – A term used to describe different groups of enemies attacking the player in different stages

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Abstract

The debate surrounding the narratological qualities of videogames and their importance within the medium seems to have dried up since it was first considered in the 1990’s and early 2000’s.

There has been no significant development in the field since this time period other than the odd text that explores the debate such as Screenplay: Cinema/Videogames/Interfaces (King &

Krzywinska, 2008). This raises a problem for narrative studies within video games as there is no evolution with the ever-changing medium. This leaves no consideration for the hyper- realistic games, a handful of which will be analysed in this essay. With the next console generation impending and a new host of narrative driven games to be released alongside; it is a fitting time to revisit the debate and try to modernise it. Spoilers incoming!

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Introduction: Revisiting the Debate

The debate in question centres on the two perspectives of critique within video game studies;

Ludology and Narratology. The former is the antithesis of the latter and aims to distance games from other media so they can be studied separately. The ludological perspectives such as that of Jesper Juul or Markku Eskelinen have held integrity to this day, with the base claim being that videogames cannot be narrative in form because they are intrinsically interactive.

Ludologists claim that games began as intrinsically non-narrative experiences such as Pong

(Atari, 1972) or Pac-Man (Namco, 1980) (Figure 1); therefore, all narrative experiences that have evolved within videogames are superficial, something to enhance the gameplay rather than define it. However, these perspectives have not been significantly built upon or challenged since the close of 2000’s maybe with the exception of Salmose & Elleström’s

(2020) critique on transmediation between cinema and videogames which considers how games use qualities of cinema and vice versa, which this essay also aims to address.

Figure 1 – [Left] Pac Man (Namco, 1980), [Right] Pong (Atari, 1972).

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Juul (2005, 23-54) defines a game as ‘a rule based system with a variable and quantifiable outcome, where different outcomes are assigned different values […] the player exerts effort in order to influence the outcome, the player feels emotionally attached to the outcome and the consequences of the activity are negotiable.’ For a game to function as such, it must be bound to a set of rules the player can interact and respond to, whilst also giving players agency to explore different outcomes. A continuation of inputs is expected, as a suspension of interactivity inferred by taking a narrative perspective would detract from the game.

Eskelinen (2001) actualises this concept stating, ‘If I throw a ball at you, I don’t expect you to drop it and wait until it starts telling stories.’ A game of catch has a simple set of rules but several outcomes depending on players interactivity with said rules. One must throw a ball to another and receive the ball back. Alternatively, if one was to throw the ball harder the other may not catch it.

Although this gives us a solid definition of the simple principles of games, it should be noted that these principles have to be taken as just that. This means that they should not fundamentally define the medium of video games as simply an interaction with the rules established by a developer, and nothing more. Therefore, this essay will aim to argue that games can hold intrinsic narrative values whilst not diminishing the qualities that define them as games. It will analyse a variety of games from a narrative standpoint and explain how the elements of interactivity have evolved to become somewhat synonymous with the narrative presented; even enhancing the experience of other traditionally narrative mediums such as cinema. Games have evolved substantially since the debate surrounding narrative paused and have developed the ability to tell compelling and complex narratives. These contemporary

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titles juxtapose the simplistic games of the 90’s that were centred around gameplay rather

than building a rapport between player and character.

Disproving Ludology

Filmic narrative models from the likes of Bordwell (1985), Metz and Guzzetti (1976) or

Chapman (1978) need to be considered here. For the basis of his particular theory, Bordwell

first turns to Aristotle who focuses on narration in terms of classical poetry in his Poetics.

Aristotle (cited in Bordwell, 1985, 1) makes the distinction between the means of imitation,

the object, and the mode of imitation. From Aristotle’s distinctions Bordwell brings forth two

perspectives upon narrative that derive from this idea of perspective and the mode of

imitation; Mimetic and Diegetic. For the sake of simplicity, this section will focus on Mimesis

to illustrate how narrative may be applied to a game and will later bring forth other narrative

theories.

Mimetic theory takes narrative as a ‘presentation of a spectacle,’ and is essentially an

imitation, which is the derivative meaning of the word Mimetic from Greek. With any application of a mimetic theory of narration “perspective” is to understanding the narrative. ‘[An] object of perception is presented to the eye of the beholder,’ (Bordwell, 1985,

4). Perspective has evolved over time to be the connecting factor between object and subject.

When relating film to early Greek theatre, Bordwell (1985, 5) speaks of ‘A rule-governed, measurable scenic space organised around the optical vantage point of an implied spectator.’

Perspective in theatre would therefore be thought of as the object working towards the optimal viewpoint of the subject to give an idealised perspective upon the narrative events.

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‘Narrative significance is conveyed through an idealised spectacle and an idealised perception

[of said spectacle]’ (Bordwell, 1985, 5). In other words, when conveying a certain event to a

spectator the significance of the objects depends entirely on the perspective of the perceiver.

But in the case of theories of perception such as these, the spectator is disregarded as an

active participant in the narrative and is instead placed in an idealised location to see exactly

as the camera does.

With this established viewpoint, what happens to the significance of events when perspective

is a set point? Certainly, in paintings it would seem there is one fixed perspective by which

the still image is being viewed, a “window” by which the subject can view the object. Similarly,

in literature the perspective the author takes, whether that be first or third person, is that of

a fixed point looking in on the events. The narrator therefore becomes the conduit between subject and object, taking the place of the window showing the perceiver what to perceive.

This window analogy translates quite literally to that of a film camera and therefore creates the role of an invisible observer, where ‘a narrative film represents story events through the vision of an invisible or imaginary witness,’ from the fixed point of the camera lens (Bordwell,

1985, 9). These assumptions about perspective lay the foundations for one of the most basic, but extremely successful theories for narrative cinema.

Applying this to contemporary games, (especially games), and the free moving

“camera” controlled by the player, it could be derived that what is significant within the narrative is based upon what the perceiver views through their own window. The window in many contemporary games is less a fixed pane and more of a transparent sphere, where the observer is situated at the centre and has a full 360° view of the existing environment. This is

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reminiscent of Eisenstein and Kuleshov’s plans for a paradoxical rehearsal hall in which the

multiple stages can rotate in order to turn the action towards the spectators at the right time

(Bordwell, 1985, 12). Does this then cancel out a traditional mimetic understanding of

contemporary video games?

With most AAA games there is no fixed point of perspective in which to view the objects of

narrative. A player in a role-playing game, (RPG), such as The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim (Bethesda,

2011), could interact with a group of characters where one particular individual is addressing

the player. This character may be an intentionally key component in advancing the main

narrative experience; intending that the “camera” be focused on the speaker so the

information given can progress the story. The of agency within games such as these

allows players to focus the “camera” somewhere else if they decide what is on their screen is insignificant to their personal experience. There is also the question of audio importance here because if the player is still in the active area, they will be able to hear this information being conveyed even without the visual cues. In open world games however, the player still has the choice to leave the active area. It would seem then in RPG-style games, that the level of agency a player is given can greatly affect the intended narrative, even making it obsolete

(Tanenbaum K & T. J, 2009).

What role then do cinematics play in videogames? Cinematic cutscenes are inserted amongst the action to present the narrative as it was intended to be experienced (Howells, in King &

Kryzwinska, 2002, 110). Many story-focused, linear games exhibit this structure, including the case study games that will be discussed later, such as the series (,

2007-2016). Games quite often mimic the aesthetics of cinema (Taylor & Whalen, 2008, 10)

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with Uncharted even copying the striking wide-angle cinematography of such as

Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962) (Figure 2).

Figure 2 - [Left] Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (2011), [Right] Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962)

The suffix “matic” added to cinema comes from the Greek “matos” meaning “willing to” and

for most words it follows it means “willing to perform” the prefixed action. For example,

Automatos in Greek means “to act of one’s own will” (Lidell & Scott, 1940). So therefore

“cinematic” in the case of a game would literally mean “willing to perform like cinema” and

this can be more eloquently put as a game’s capacity to act like cinema. In the instance of a

cinematic cutscene, the camera is fixed, therefore the perspective is fixed. This cements the

game designers as the authors of these segments and emphasises the distinction between

game and narrative. This raises the question of which is more significant in the player’s

experience of the game; the gameplay or narrative?

When revisiting this debate, it seems that an apologist’s standpoint outlined by Espen Aarseth

(1997, 106-7) is more relevant than ever. Video games have the potential to embody a

sophisticated narrative if not constrained by trivial definitions of “games are games.” The

enhanced capabilities of the technology available to current game developers, enables them

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to imitate other media more accurately. Cinema imitated literature and eventually became

its own entity with its own modified narrative models to accompany its study. Games have

also imitated cinema by pulling from genre conventions and basic narrative structuring. This

is most evident in games based upon movie franchises such as (Atari, 1983) or The

Matrix: Path of Neo (Atari, 2005). Because of the likeness to the pre-established narratives;

can these types of game work towards developing a discourse between both elements of

games and cinema in order to discuss the narrative qualities of videogames?

Figure 3 - [Left] Star Wars (Atari, 1983), [Right] Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (George Lucas, 1977)

Jesper Juul would disagree as he dispels the notion that games based upon movies can

function as their own narrative when taking into account the base elements of the game (Juul,

2001). He uses the example of Star Wars mentioned above; a game linked closely to the last

act of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (George Lucas, 1977). The player’s goal is to destroy

the Death Star, a mission which resembles Luke Skywalker’s actions in Lucas’ film. Juul argues

that without the associated film title the player would not be able to make these inferential

links to the pre-established narrative of the movie. ‘The player could note a similarity with a

scene in Star Wars, but you would not be able to reconstruct the events in the movie from

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the game,’ (Juul, 2001). He goes on to conclude that the lack of relatability and the multiple

outcomes available in the game which are not possible in the movie, (i.e. losing the battle),

prevent the game from ‘[containing] a narrative that can be recognised from Star Wars,’ (Juul,

2001). This suggests that games based upon a solid narrative framework cannot function in

and of themselves as a narrative without the pre-existing material.

Opposing this view, Juul seems to be narrowing the possibilities by applying this limited

theoretical standpoint to a very simplistic game. It helps present his argument well, but also

does not account for the evolution of the medium. He is not allowing for manoeuvrability

around the idea of adapting a narrative and repurposing it for a different medium; which is a

process Bolter and Grusin (1999) refer to as ‘Remediation.’ This process is ‘a dialectical

exchange between immediacy and hypermediacy […] that helps to illuminate the relationship that sometimes exists between cinema and games,’ (King & Krzywinska, 2002, 4).

“Immediacy” is an aim to erase mediation and ‘provide a window through to the live event,’

(Dobson, 2006), something much more prevalent in games nowadays with the introduction of Virtual Reality headsets. ‘Hypermediacy’ is concerned with ‘[making] the viewer more aware of the different windows used to achieve the mediated experience,’ (Dobson, 2006).

In the above example, Star Wars Episode 4 has been remediated into the game Star Wars.

This is achieved through the immediacy of placing the player in the shoes of Luke Skywalker;

transforming the spectator into an active participant in the narrative. The game also

hypermediates the experience through giving players a different perspective upon the battle,

presenting another window through which to view the events. The new media is expressing

the old media from a fresh perspective by trying to make the mediation more transparent,

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not creating something independent of the media that it is drawing from (Bolter & Grusin,

1999, 31).

This gives a new perspective on how narrative values from film can be represented in videogames and vice versa, although the levels of success diminish drastically when games have been adapted for film. This subjective failure to adapt games into cinematic form with examples such as Super Mario Bros. (Rocky Morton, 1993) or Resident Evil (Paul Anderson

2002) may be viewed as games not holding the qualities necessary to create a linear narrative from the original material. This is certainly true to some extent because games do have an intrinsic interactive quality which, as discussed above, is what helps them to function as a game. If this quality is missing, there is something absent within the remediated property as it does not give immediacy to the interactive elements of the game. This leads to missing some of the diegesis of that game’s intrinsic narrative. Even though this essay is arguing for the importance of interactivity here, it does not agree with the narrow ludological standpoint, but instead addresses the importance of a harmony between the two elements of a videogame. In contemporary games it is much more common that the gameplay be directly linked to the narrative experience, allowing players to actively participate in the diegesis in between the cutscenes. The following sections shall explore this in relation to the Uncharted series (Naughty Dog, 2007-20016), (Sony Santa Monica, 2018) and

(Supermassive Games, 2015).

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Uncharted: The Interactive Action Film

The Uncharted series embodies a relationship between playable linear narratives and levels

of interactivity. Uncharted: Drakes Fortune (Naughty Dog, 2007) is the first game in the action-

adventure franchise, (that includes 4 games), and introduces players to protagonist, treasure

hunter (Nolan North). The first game revolves around searching for the lost

treasure of El Dorado, with clues left by his supposed ancestor Francis Drake. Nathan is helped

by journalist Elena Fisher (Emily Rose) and his old friend Victor Sullivan (Richard McGonagle).

Players must solve a series of puzzles left by the famous explorer and fight countless waves

of enemy soldiers sent to stop them. From this brief description of the series’ first instalment,

it is evident that the game rests on principal narrative values remediated from other action-

adventure media such as the Indiana Jones franchise (Spielberg, 1981-2008); drawing from

character stereotypes and genre convention to construct a playable action-adventure

narrative (Figure 4).

Figure 4 - [Left] Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Naughty Dog 2013), [Right] India Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (Spielberg, 1981)

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Remediating a genre

Uncharted utilises remediation to adapt the narrative form of action-adventure films to

create a coherent linear narrative within an interactive environment. There are multiple

perspectives from which the narrative can be viewed objectively. The developer’s perspective

is similar to a director who knows all the outcomes of their constructed narrative. The player’s

perspective is that of an active spectator interacting with the narrative. In Figure 4 above

there is a comparison between a chase scene in Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (2013) and

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (Spielberg, 1981). There is an obvious visual and

practical similarity in the format of the chase scene. Both Indy (Harrison Ford) and Drake are

riding horses alongside a convoy of vehicles. The viewer assumes Indy is going to dismount

the horse in order to fight the enemies and their assumption is fulfilled. In Uncharted the

player has the agency to perform this action or do the chase entirely on horseback. But

because of their knowledge of the genre and the difficulty of completing the level without

dismounting the horse, the player can assume this is the correct action.

Bordwell (1993, 54) explains how a film narrative can be constructed to have a desired effect upon a spectator by using the simple analogy of the chronology of the alphabet. The expected order of a linear sequence would be ABC. If B follows A then logically C would come next.

Despite these assumptions, form can shift so that the narrative structure becomes ABA. What then would follow ABA? This is where assumptions become convoluted, as the previous narrative form has led spectators to believe that B is in the future (like a flash-forward), so C would follow. Bordwell (1993, 54) states that ‘if you expected ABAC, your expectation was fulfilled, and you can confidently predict the next letter [and] if you expected ABAB, you

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should still be able to make a strong guess.’ This statement concludes that based upon the

information presented, the chronology of a given narrative can be predicted fairly accurately.

Although, when the narrative is complete, it is possible to shift these letters around to best

understand the correct ordering of fabula.

In the film The Limey (Soderbergh, 1999), the audience is led to believe that Wilson (Terence

Stamp) is flying to America to accomplish a task which they later discover is to find his daughter. The chronology of events is riddled with flashbacks and flash forwards however it is the very end that is interesting. The same shot of Wilson on the plane is shown at the conclusion of the film, with the insinuation that he is instead returning from America. With this knowledge the fabula shifts from an AB structure into a ZABZ structure. Only at the end does the director reveal how they want the audience to understand and interpret the events that have transpired. Upon re-watching the film this knowledge allows the spectator to order the events more clearly and view the correct chronology.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2009) also has a non-linear structure that begins with Nathan hanging from a derailed train. The player has to climb up the train in order to reach safety at which point a flashback ensues and a cutscene shows Nathan speaking to friends about an adventure. The immediate assumption by the player is that this adventure was going to go wrong at some point leading up to them being stuck on the train. After returning shortly to the present, another flashback ensues, and the gameplay begins. However, there is a constant assumption that the next sequence is going to end in upset and when players reach a train yard, their assumptions are aligned with the game’s narrative. Their a priori knowledge has affected their cognitive relationship with the narrative. In the specific case of Uncharted 2

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players do not have any agency over the narrative events and cannot prevent the train from

falling, this idea of a malleable narrative is explored further in the final section.

Controlling the Controller

For now, it is more relevant to talk about how developers are able to manipulate a player’s

attention, so they produce specific inputs at the correct moments (Smith & Graham, 2006).

There is a stark example of this is in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (2016) when the player is given

a large area, they need to explore in order to progress through the game. There are gameplay

mechanics that help the player such as hints or visual signifiers but there are more intricate

techniques used such as the manipulation of lines of sight in this area to either guide or

deceive players. This manipulation is intended to give the illusion of agency, leading the player

to formulate their own assumptions of where the narrative goes next. In a cinematic

environment where the subject is observing the object through a fixed focal point, everything

the viewer sees is entirely based upon what is in the frame (Braudy, 1976). However, in most

contemporary games, the camera is free to be controlled by the player meaning the what is

in the frame is constantly changing. So, this would mean for a developer to act similar to a

director they would have to manipulate what players’ view within their “window.”

Figure 5 - Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (2016) – [Left] Shot of the staircase as player enters the building and [Right] a shot of the correct path after exploring.

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When Drake descends an incline into a building in “Libertalia” (Figure 5), the player is met

with a choice; to go left where there seemingly is nothing, or right where there is a large

staircase. Expecting the AB progression through the area by taking the logical path, players

would go up the stairs and then to the left. After seeing this is a dead end they connect to the

next logical assumption and explore the other side of the staircase only to find a collectable

treasure. Based on experience, these treasures are a signifier the player is off the beaten

track. Or as Bordwell (1993, 52) puts it, they are ‘stylistic elements,’ that the player associates

within the ‘pattern of narrative elements.’ The player has followed what they thought to be

A to B in terms of progression and instead found A to X instead. The letter X is used here to

symbolise the optional exploration of an area, which does not affect the overall narrative of

the game but shows the developers skill in leading the player blindly somewhere that, from a

narrative perspective, they don’t want to go. The player becomes more of an active spectator

rather than an agent in the story, and they only realise this when finding the correct path

upon backtracking, which brings them back to the taking action within the narrative (Metz &

Guzzetti, 1976, 76). This would lead us to believe that the developers are able to use stylistic

elements of gameplay, manipulating the environment and what different types of players

chose to actively react with and what they will subconsciously relate to progression (Kumar,

Herger & Dam, 2020). If implemented correctly all throughout the game this would lead

directly to a linear experience of the narrative.

This concept is an important consideration, but so too is the factor of interactivity within it.

The player is first and foremost in control of their actions and may choose to explore, placing

the importance of the action of playing above the experience of the narrative (Howitt, 2014).

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The active cognitive participation by the player that links the actions of characters and the

reality of the situation, naturally builds an antithesis between the two. Examples of this can

be seen when applying Laura Mulvey’s (1975) male gaze theory within cinema. Films such as

Transformers (Bay, 2007) or Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (Verbinski,

2003) objectify their female characters in situations where they are contrastingly shown as

more intelligent than the male counterparts, creating a dissonance between character’s

intellect and their degrading sexualised portrayal.

Figure 6 - [Left] Mikeala (Megan Fox) in Transformers, [Right] Elizabeth (Keira Knightly) in Pirates of the Caribbean

In video games, Ludonarrative dissonance is the existence of a disconnect between the two

elements of game and story. The term was coined by Clint Hocking (2007), in an article about

the conflicting philosophies in BioShock (2K Boston, 2009). This disconnect can also be

understood on a very simple level by looking at game mechanics such as checkpoints and

extra lives, where a mortal character can act against their survival instinct that is displayed in

cut-scenes. Running out of in-game lives doesn’t halt the reality of being able to restart and

play again; resetting the amount of tries you have to complete the endless levels or get the

high score. Juul (2009) comments that, ‘computer games allow for the easy production of

infinite numbers of existents, many action games in fact come with an infinite number of

existents in the form of opponents.’ Uncharted being a contemporary still holds

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true to this concept with infinite number of existents in the form of enemy soldiers for Nathan

Drake to kill/incapacitate.

It is evident that Drake is mortal from his unwillingness to die in the very first scene of the

first game. However, it is possible to die in the simulation following this cutscene, as the

player is being attacked by waves of pirates and has to survive until rescue arrives. This

presents an antithesis between the reality of the narrative experience (i.e. Drake’s ambitions

and morals) and the player behaviour during gameplay. When controlling Drake, the player is

able to experience immortality, as dying to gunfire or jumping off a cliff will only resort in

respawning at the last checkpoint. A question of morality is also raised as the killing of

countless enemies would sit heavily on a conscience such as Drake’s. He seems to hold a sense

of morality yet is unphased by the bodies he has piled up over four lengthy games. Uncharted

4 in fact has a Trophy called “Ludonarrative Dissonance,” for which players have to “Kill 1000

enemies,” (Naughty Dog, 2016) to achieve completion. Being able to complete this

achievement on the first playthrough is impossible without restarting checkpoints multiple

times in order to achieve this number. Hence creating a disconnect on even a basic level,

disregarding the psychological impact on the character.

The negative effects that these actions would have on a character’s mental state are not

explored within the narrative which is similar to movie franchises such as John Wick (Chad

Stahelski, 2014-2019). The titular hitman (Keanu Reeves) murders countless, faceless enemies

without any remorse and his compassion is only evident in his connection to his deceased

wife and his dog. John constantly relays that he wants to get out of the assassination career

which creates a dissonance between his actions and his emotions. But when forced back into

this world, he shows no mental strain from his years of mass murdering. And neither will he.

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There will not be a film about John going to counselling because this is not the function of his character. In an article for Gameindustry.biz, Bruce Stanley (cited in Taylor, 2020) notes that in games like Doom (id Software,1993) ‘[players] had silent protagonists that were avatars

[they] could project themselves into […] the idea that you could create a character that had a voice of their own, and will of their own, was something new.’ John Wick and Nathan Drake are as much faceless violence machines as Doom Guy (who has no name) and have no need for feelings towards enemies as this is not the focus of the genre. This concept relates closely to a statement made by John Carmack (cited in Howitt, 2014) that ‘Story in a game is like story in a porn movie: it’s expected to be there, but it’s not that important.’

Improving on this simplistic view, Juul (2009) states that for a game to convey a complete narrative as a film would, players have to achieve the ‘ideal sequence of events that the player has to actualise by mastering the simulations.’ Returning to the idea of perspective within games, this means for a narrative to translate properly in this medium, the window through which the subject (player) is observing the objects (narrative events) has to show a perfect sequence of non-paradoxical events to portray a complete and intentional narrative. In the case of the Uncharted series this concept would be realised by lining up the player’s actions with the morals and physical limitations of the Nathan Drake presented in these cutscenes.

These morals also change as the character develops over the franchise and the story shifts to being less about the quest but more about his relationships and morals. To actualise the narrative throughout the franchise would mean the player has to adapt to Drake’s shifting ideologies and priorities in each instalment. Something a spectator is not concerned with when charting the shifting relationships in say the Fast and Furious franchise (Universal

Pictures, 2001-present). But does this mean the narrative experience is diminished or is it just adaptive of intrinsic interactivity?

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God of War: The Continuous Emotional Epic

God of War (2018) (GOW) is a reboot of the classic franchise (Sony Santa Monica, 2005-

present) that enjoyed most of its success in the 2000’s, with its’ trilogy of flagship titles that

defined the genre of cinematic story games. In the previous entries, as with many of the

protagonists in the mid 2000s, Kratos was a vessel for the player to live out the marketed

fantasy of the game. Ivan Sulic (2005) nicely sums up the functionality of the original GOW

(2005) in his review for IGN; ‘If you like to kill freaky things with your giant serrated knives,

you'll love the s*** out of this.’ 2018s GOW gives Kratos (Christopher Judge) a new life in the

Norse pantheon and the one thing that has quelled his anger is love; something he had never

thought he would find again. This game not only changes the fundamentals of the franchise

but introduces an emotional weight to the story in the form of Faye, Kratos’ deceased wife,

and Atreus (Sunny Sulic), Kratos’ son whom he now has to care for. As Peter Brown (2008)

puts it; ‘A furious, bloodthirsty icon has transformed into a sensitive father figure.’

Figure 7 - God of War (2018) Kratos showing his compassion [Left] towards his late wife and [Right] to his son.

GOW (2018) is not only an adaptation, but a remediation of itself and the adventure genre.

The game has shifted focus from full-on, adrenaline pumping gameplay with

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a character bent on revenge, to slower RPG gameplay and a compelling narrative about one’s

inner self. Kratos has become a father figure like director Corey Balrog did before working on

this game. Bordwell (2008, 89) states that narrative is ‘pre-emptively social, a way of

organising experience so it can be shared,’ and Balrog has definitely crafted the narrative

experience to relate to his own reality. The fundamental aim of creating an epic adventure

narrative has not changed but instead of being a vessel for simulated violence, Kratos is now

a relatable character with human emotions. Balrog (cited in MacDonald, 2018) comments

that Kratos was ‘an angry lump of muscle [that he] changed into a struggling father.’ This

change of character is evident in the opening scene when Atreus first comes into frame,

Kratos hides the marks of his vengeful past from his son, struggling to communicate with the

boy throughout the opening and the tutorial. He gives short answers and sometimes gets

irate with the boy, yet this is contrasted by the care he still shows despite these flaws. This

theme allows Kratos to grow as a character and form a bond of trust with Atreus, presenting

an experience that many people will be able to relate to throughout life. As Chapman (1978,

20) put it, ‘This transposability of the story is the strongest reason for arguing that narratives are indeed structures independent of any medium.’.

Simple Structuring of a Relatable Interactive Narrative

For this new approach to succeed in introducing more complex themes, GOW implements a

simple narrative structure so that gameplay and story can flow together harmoniously. The

main narrative is a linear ABC progression with no choices that affect the fabula, (apart from doing side-quests in order to upgrade weapons, armour and skills). After cremating his wife,

Kratos and his son must fulfil her wishes and take her ashes to the top of the “highest peak in

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all the realms.” But when reaching their supposed destination approximately 10 hours into the game, they are met with the “princess is in another castle” trope, setting the player off on another epic journey through the Norse pantheon. The game very much follows Todorov’s narrative model of equilibrium and disequilibrium in order to push the player forward:

‘The minimal complete plot consists in the passage from one equilibrium to another.

An ‘ideal’ narrative begins with a stable situation which is disturbed by some power

or force. There results a state of disequilibrium; by the action of a force in the opposite

direction, the equilibrium is re-established; the second equilibrium is similar to the

first, but the two are never identical.’ (cited in Hill, 1977: 111)

The interesting thing with GOW is it starts with a disequilibrium; cutting down the marked

trees which deactivates a protective barrier surrounding the forest in which they live. Atreus

even comments that “the forest feels different.” This upsets the equilibrium of the peace that

they knew and exposes them to the world of the Norse gods. Throughout the opening tutorial

section, the player is constantly reminded that something strange is afoot. As you help your

son to hunt a deer you must face an array of enemies that Atreus states should not be “close

to the house.” Foreshadowing is frequently used in order to establish forthcoming

disequilibrium that the player may face such as Kratos’s obsession with hiding his wounds

inflicted by the “Blades of Chaos” from the previous games; then going to collect them when

having to symbolically face his past in order to save is future (his son). But perhaps the most

effective foreshadowing in this game is the golden markings that guide the player on their

journey. Games use visual signifiers constantly to aid the player in progressing through the

levels, showing them specifically where to go. Uncharted has yellow pipes, rusty chains and

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white rocks to indicate climbable locations, and the golden marks in God of War share the

same purpose, (see Figure 8).

Figure 8 - [Left] Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (2011) - Yellow pipes showing scalable terrain. [Right] God of War – golden markings

The thing that makes GOWs markings stand out from Uncharted is the direct connection to

the narrative experience. The game’s conclusion reveals that Faye was actually a Giant called

Laufey, and Atreus is the Norse god Loki. Faye had the ability to view the future, and for

unknown reasons had ventured on this journey before she died in order to mark the way for

Kratos and Atreus. This adds a narrative context to a staple ludic element with the gold

markings creating a causal link between the syuzhet and the fabula. This cements the

gameplay section as integral to the narrative, merging the two so they hold equal importance

within the ludonarrative experience.

Merging the Realms of Gaming: Clever Cameras and Dramatic Dissonance

GOW intentionally presents us with an intrinsic and relatable narrative experience that is

central to understanding the games characters and their thematic development. The next

example shows that character development that feeds of narrative can coexist with the needs

of the character in gameplay. However, it also merges gameplay and narrative together both

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thematically and practically. Sticking with the opening of the game where the player actively

chops down the aforementioned tree, Cory Balrog (PlayStation, 2018) comments; ‘it is

important that you use the button here.’ This immediately lets the player interact with the

potent, emotional tension present on screen through Kratos’s actions and affiliation to the

mark. The player is automatically the one in control of Kratos’s strength and his rage. The

brute force of chopping the tree down in three swings of his axe (or button presses), contrasts

the emotional vulnerability that was present in the cutscene.

Figure 9 - God of War (2018), [Left] Player is prompted to chop down the tree, [Right] Player is prompted to engage Kratos’ rage

The player is prompted multiple scenarios to interact in a violent manner with the world

(Figure 8), which establishes the thematic dissonance between the two sides of Kratos. At the

end of the “stranger fight” Balrog comments that when finishing off Baldur the player has ‘got

to finish off the fight with some sort of specific interaction,’ (PlayStation, 2018). These

moments make the player feel part of the narrative, but the thematic disconnect and Kratos’s

struggle with his past automatically disproves any ludonarrative dissonance. Even in the

tutorial section, which is specifically focused on teaching the player the gameplay, the ludic

elements of the game are laced within a very simplistic narrative structure in order to link

both aspects together. On one hand, the player is learning the skills that will help them

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successfully traverse the gameplay sections such as fighting, climbing and solving puzzles. But on the other there are countless cutscenes that establish the very reserved, but protective, relationship Kratos has with his son, which is the main theme of the game underneath the action. The aggression of the gameplay sections is allowed to be present as the character is shown to be in a state of change. His morals are not set towards either rage or compassion, but somewhere in-between as he tries to run away from his past but also has to face it head on.

Thematically the game adapts to the different needs of the two versions of Kratos, connecting the ludic and narrative elements. This connection would not be as potent however, without the “following camera.” This camera remediates the cinematic technique of the continuous tracking shot from films such as 1917 (Mendes, 2019) or Birdman (Iñárritu, 2014) which both embody this “no cuts” method. Emmanuel Lubezki (cited in Romney, 2014), director of photography on Birdman, comments that rather than being ‘a bunch of cuts, [life] feels like a constant move’ and this assists the emotional emersion of the audience. This is prevalent in

GOW as the camera is able to seamlessly move between the “fixed” and “free” states. “Fixed” here refers to the ludic camera which is controllable by the player but is rooted in one perspective behind Kratos. The “free” camera is the cinematic camera and is free to move around a cutscene but is uncontrollable, showing the virtual world from the perspective of the developers. The change is usually prompted by entering a certain area or interacting with specific action; such as lifting a rock or climbing a ledge. This means the camera is already uncontrollable by the player as they are performing a “fixed action” where Kratos is executing a pre-programmed task. This means the camera can move without interference from the player, making the transition seamless. It is this synchronisation of ludic and narrative

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elements that will be explored next, and how it changes players’ perception on how contemporary games handle a narrative.

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Until Dawn: Narrative Game or Interactive Film?

Until Dawn (UD), (Supermassive Games, 2015) is what could be described as a fully realised

graphic adventure. It takes the concept of hypertext fiction (criticised by the likes of

Costikyan, 2000) and puts it into an interactive virtual environment, whilst also increasing

player agency (Stuart, 2015). UD is classified under the horror genre and displays some

obvious genre conventions and stereotypes. The narrative follows eight friends as their

vacation at a woodland cabin goes awry when they are hunted by unknown monsters. The

player is able to control each of these characters in different branching storylines as they try

and figure out the mystery, and also build relationships with one another. These relationships can be tracked in the menu screen and the tracking is important to how players make choices within the game based on which character they care for most/least; a concept criticised by

Steven Spielberg and George Lucas (cited in Bond, 2013) not long before the game’s release.

The portrayal of the characters in UD makes players engage with the game and the gameplay on a more substantial level, allowing for the choices, and subsequent consequences to have more narrative significance. Without this engagement, agency would be pointless and there is no motive to affect the narrative.

Narrative Game?

Bordwell (1993, 54) states that when interacting with a narrative, ‘you don’t simply let the parts parade past you…you enter into an active participation with them, creating and readjusting expectations as the pattern develops over time.’ After experiencing these

29

patterns multiple times, they become conventions that are easily spotted by the

viewer/player. Much like genre conventions in horror movies for example, where a knife will be shown in the frame as the main character walks past it, oblivious to its significance. But audiences notice this signifier and hold it in greater narrative importance due to it being a symbolic element of the film narrative. The viewers gaze is pseudo-omniscient, with the lens

through which they view these symbols allowing them to transcend the knowledge of the textual characters, interacting with these symbols as they appear. These symbols can even elicit emotional responses based upon a correct prediction by the viewer as to what will transpire in the next act. This a priori knowledge of the media can be attributed to an understanding of how certain events may occur based upon generic preconceptions from other similar media.

The interactive elements of Until Dawn really made it stand out in the relatively small subgenre of choice-based games, with the most notable title beforehand being

(, 2010). The main function of the game is to give the player as much agency as possible over the events of the story so they can truly influence certain outcomes of the narrative. Murray explains agency well by stating that ‘It requires two kinds of scripting— coding the actions of the digital system and cueing the actions of the interaction [and] when these two scripts are well matched, the interactor feels the satisfaction of agency,’ (Murray,

1997, 144). The game begins with a sequence explaining the “butterfly effect” mechanic, immediately telling the player “your actions will shape how the story unfolds.” The tiniest mistake early on can spiral into disaster in later chapters. Players are also prompted by an icon in game when they make a decision that applies the butterfly effect and are able to view

30

these decisions in the menu screen (Figure 10). This allows them to analyse what may happen

and what choices they can make to get their desired outcome.

Figure 10 - Until Dawn – [Left] Sam finds the bat and uses it later to escape. [Right] Totem menu screen.

This effect is experienced early in the first sequence, where Chris (Noah Fleiss) shoots a

squirrel, which then makes a raven attack Sam (Hayden Panettiere), cutting her forehead.

This then effects Sam when she is running from the Psycho in the lodge as the cut on her head

slows her down. Another “butterfly effect” relating to this sequence involves the baseball bat,

that if found and left in the cellar instead of getting locked away, helps Sam escape the Psycho

and reach safety. Another gameplay feature that helps give players conscious agency over

their actions is the totem poles. These are collectables found throughout the game and give

hints as to what the future may bring whether that be the death of a character or a path that

is worth taking.

These choices help to shape varying narratives that are different for each player, (to a finite

extent). However, the player is given the illusion of agency over the fabula and can only affect

the charterers in ways that the developers predicted players would want to interact with each

narrative thread (Fend, Harrison, Ware, Cardona-Rivera & Roberts, 2012). The butterfly

mechanic is clever in this respect as it allows for greater illusion of agency. There is a

31

preconception that under the pretext small actions have large, and unknown, consequences.

Therefore, the player is led to believe that if they changed one thing in the beginning, they would achieve a vastly different ending. This of course is true, insofar as there are a certain number of finite endings forming a multilinear narrative (Nisi & Haahr, 2006). All the different paths are achievable by playing the game multiple times until all combinations of choices have been actualised. Of course, not many people have the time, (or willpower) to do so and the illusion of agency over the story still holds until this state of completion is realised.

Interactive Film?

Ernest Adams (1999) states that, ’Interactivity is almost the opposite of narrative, narrative flows under the direction of the author, while interactivity depends on the player for motive power.’ This statement comes from a ludological standpoint but echoes a truth about linear narrative games. It is the player’s motive that drives the game forward as they have to interact with the elements of the game in order for the narrative to form. But in contrast, what incentive would there be to form a narrative without first having a noticeable form? Whereas it is true Until Dawn’s replay value lies in its principal mechanics, the gameplay itself is very simple. Players are extremely restricted in the area they can explore when controlling each character. Scripted quick-time events and limited dialogue options ultimately constrain the player’s choice in how they would like to progress. What changes the narrative form is the combination of these choices that lead to different narrative outcomes. Therefore, it would seem that it is in fact the narrative outcome itself that inspires the player’s motive, not the simple action of completing each simple gameplay element.

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This concept is akin to Visual Novel games that originated in Japan. They are formatted often

as still images and are simplistic, dialogue heavy games featuring only text-based interaction.

Some visual novels such as Steins;Gate (5pb, 2009) are even remediated into popular

series (Hamasaki, 2011). This shows the scope for remediation in both directions as it is

undeniable that the anime is not intrinsically narrative. Yet the basic premise and even some

exact copies of shots (Figure 11) were taken from an interactive narrative experience.

Figure 11 - [Left] Steins;Gate Visual Novel (2009), [Right] Steins;Gate Anime series (Hamasaki, 2011)

Recently the Black Mirror series also took this concept and created Bandersnatch (Slade,

2018), where a young programmer adapts a dark hypertext fiction novel into a videogame

format. On it is described as an “interactive film” and the wording here is very

important. “Interactive” is the prefix to the main subject of “film,” which makes Bandersnatch

first and foremost a filmic experience with interactive elements that change the outcome of

the story. Until Dawn is of course classified as a game and was marketed and released as such,

whereas Bandersnatch was released on a streaming platform for visual media. Despite this,

both are not too dissimilar when making comparisons of the qualities mentioned above. Both

have simplistic interactive elements that affect the outcome of the narrative. The only

difference seems to be that of style; Bandersnatch is fully pro-filmic, not a virtual environment

like Until Dawn.

33

However, Until Dawn also has notable actors portraying the characters, such as Rami Malek

as Josh or Hayden Panettiere as Sam. The cutscenes were filmed with motion capture which is a very stark example of remediation. Films are increasingly using CGI and motion capture,

with whole environments sometimes being computer generated such as in Gravity (Alfonzo

Cuarón, 2013) or Avengers: Endgame (Ruso Brothers, 2019). Is this really that much different

to a realistic video game just because players can interact with the virtual environment? The

only difference is the footage taken with the physical lens is then transferred into the virtual

environment for a greater level of interactivity to be possible. Instead of watching the actors

react to the choices of the interactor, the character the actor is portraying is controllable, and

can explore the restricted virtual environment. Paul Ward brings this sentiment together

nicely by stating that games can be viewed in the same light as animated films; ‘a highly specific mediation of certain forms of cinematic realism, used as a special effect,’ (Ward, in

King & Krzywinska 2002, 124). The video game has for use of a better term, remediated the way we view a narrative, taking it from simply cinematic form and creating an interactive animation in a virtual environment. The elements of film within cannot be completely distinguishable from elements of the games, which establishes that the gap is closing between ludology and narratology.

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Conclusion: Looking to the Future

The question proposed by this project asked whether or not filmic narrative models can help

us to understand the narrative qualities of contemporary video games. This needed to be

considered in order to establish a basic understanding of the relationship between the two

sides of the debate surrounding ludology and narratology, improving on the lack of discussion

surrounding the topic in recent years. Based on the discussion surrounding this topic, the way the debate is framed should be altered slightly in order to account for both elements of a game. As this dissertation has demonstrated, both ludic and narrative elements of video games have to be held in equal esteem in order to fully understand the medium. Therefore, the proposed question should be shifted to ask whether filmic narrative models can “develop” our understanding of contemporary video games. This wording allows for a much wider scope

of further exploration into how games can borrow elements from film and remediate them

into a fresh concept, building upon these concepts of narrative in order to create a new

experience.

For example, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (Starbreeze Studios, 2013) takes the concept of

PTSD in children (Kousha & Tehrani, 2013) and familial connections and represents them

within the physical control scheme. One side of the controller controls the older brother and

the other side controls the younger. The fact that the player has a physical reference within

reality to the main emotional thread of the narrative breaks the fourth wall of ludology,

making the narrative central to understanding the gameplay. The older brother is consistently

the stronger of the two, helping his little brother by pulling levers and boosting him onto

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larger ledges. But most importantly he helps him cross water, which the youngest is afraid of because of the trauma of watching his mother drown. When the older brother dies however the younger is left to face his past and muster the courage of his older brother in order to save his father. This is done by the player using both sides of the controller, again having the mechanics linked to a central narrative theme. The narrative is of central importance to the game, as even the ludic elements are built around the experience.

This is just one example of a plethora of games within the medium that embody not just basic remediation that has been explored in this essay, but that expand from the remediated properties to enrich the experience. These adaptations of the narrative experience in gaming revolve around the player’s sense of immediacy within the narrative and how the games can be designed to stimulate emotional responses from players (Baharom, Tan & Idris, 2014).

Games such as Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory, 2017) take the player inside the head of the character, exploring mental health by exposing the player to every aspect of

Senua’s (Melina Juergens) psychosis (Ball & Fordham, 2019). This is done mainly via balancing the output of multichannel audio between both sides of the headset, (recommended by the game) putting Senua’s inner voice inside the head of the player. This allows an experience of psychosis on a first party basis, giving a new perspective upon the narrative experience.

This essay has demonstrated that remediation is a key component in arguing for the narrative qualities of games. What these above examples bring to the discussion is that games have the power to do more than simply copy the qualities and aesthetics of film as Uncharted does, but to build upon them. This concept is interesting to consider within the context of this essay as it has revolved around the crux of the debate by arguing whether or not games can have

36

intrinsic narrative elements. However, ludic and narrative qualities can also be seen to be closely linked as in God of War. Considering this, the debate may eventually become obsolete, as more games try to merge ludic and narrative elements to create a seamless experience of the two. However, despite all of this innovation, there is no direct example within the contemporary climate that completely reconciles the debate surrounding ludology and narratology, but there is plenty of evidence that the industry is growing closer to a synchronisation of the two. All that can be done now is to look to the future of videogames and how narrative experiences may be presented in years to come.

Word Count: 8792

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Figure Credits

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[Screenshot from] . (2007). Pac-Man. Nintendo.co.uk. [Online]. Accessed on 7/5/20. Available at: https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/NES/PAC-MAN--726036.html

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[Screenshot from] Naughty Dog. (2011). Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. [Digital] PlayStation 4. California. Sony Interactive Entertainment.

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[Screenshot from] Naughty Dog. (2011). Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. [Digital] PlayStation 4. California. Sony Interactive Entertainment.

[Screenshot from] ClipsTime. (2018). Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Truck Chase (1981) [HD]. Accessed on 4/4/20. Avaialble at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqQD8sVtfA4

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[Screenshot from] Naughty Dog. (2016). Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. [Digital] PlayStation 4. California. Sony Interactive Entertainment.

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Figure 6

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[Screenshot from] Sony Santa Monica. (2018). God of War. [CD]. PlayStation 4. California. Sony Interactive Entertainment.

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[Screenshot from] Naughty Dog. (2011). Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. [Digital] PlayStation 4. California. Sony Interactive Entertainment.

[Screenshot from] Sony Santa Monica. (2018). God of War. [CD]. PlayStation 4. California. Sony Interactive Entertainment.

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[Screenshot from] Sony Santa Monica. (2018). God of War. [CD]. PlayStation 4. California. Sony Interactive Entertainment.

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[Screenshot from] Supermassive Games. (2015). Until Dawn. [Digital]. PlayStation 4. California. Sony Interactive Entertainment.

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