介绍:
你吼啊我是三爪，最近剪了短发😉
欢迎收听英音搞事的原创正经游戏文😂
😊老样子，一遍过，口胡在所难免，望能伴你入眠就好。
Writer: Sir Jawiba
(一只高中生，欧洲人，游戏经验丰富)
Editor: Jesse
(一名英语老师，澳洲人，写作经验丰富)
Voice：Fleas
(一坨电台)
In the last few decades video games have been proven to be a good medium for storytelling. Even though not every video game has or needs a story, it has become increasingly important for a game to have one. Although there are a number of good games with excellent stories to talk about, I want to discuss the way video games can and do present their stories and how it distinguishes them from other forms of media.
The most common way for a game to present its story is through cut scenes and in–game dialogue, similar to a movie or a TV Show. This makes a lot of sense as both are audiovisual media so it‘s the most obvious choice. Also, it has been proven to be effective. Games like”Red Dead Redemption” and “The Last of Us” were praised for their brilliant characters and suspenseful stories but are they as good as movies? I know this is a matter of opinion, but to me, games like these still seem to come in second behind movies when it comes to the overall cinematic experience.
Now, we could (and should) work to improve the storytelling aspect of games, but I think it’s even more important to focus on what makes games unique, instead of trying to mimic other forms of art.
One way to make games unique is to add choices, in a “choose your own adventure” style, or at least include the illusion of choice in some capacity. Games like “Heavy Rain” or “The Walking Dead”(Telltale Games) focus around this idea and are also often labelled as “interactive movies” as a result. Often, the choices in these games have only a very small effect on the final outcome, but it’s not about the outcome, but rather the journey itself.
Rather, those games create a whole new level of involvement, no matter whether the choice matters, we feel responsible for what happens, we don’t look to the character to make the right or wrong decision, we have to decide what is right or wrong for ourselves. If done well, it can give us a feeling of responsibility for our actions, much more-so than is possible through other types of media.
Another way a game can tell a story is through exploration. It is only games that allow us to explore a world on our own terms, while other forms of media can only tell stories of events that occurred in the worlds in which they are set. Now, it doesn’t need an open world for exploration to occur. It is much more about how we interact with the world and how it, in turn, responds. A great example of this kind of game is the souls-borne series (Dark Souls, Demon’s Souls, Bloodborne). Even though there are a few cut scenes and a ton of item descriptions, the most important part of the lore of these games is the world itself. As a result, it manages to create a world that feels more alive and relevant than any game I have ever seen.
This method of storytelling is very often used by so called “indie” games (ie. games without much of a budget and no huge publisher). One of these games is “Inside”. Despite being quite linear in the way it plays, the amount of exploration and interacting with its world is what truly captures the player. It manages to create an intense and dark atmosphere
with a minimalistic approach, and makes us understand what is going on without a single word being spoken. With this kind of storytelling, it is likely that a lot of instruction gets lost along the way, but at the same time it creates the room for interpretation necessary to ensure that the atmosphere and immersion are both at the forefront of the experience.
It is true that there are many more ways to tell stories that are unique to games, but I think I have covered enough ground to prove my point. While there are a lot of great games telling their story simply through cut scenes and other such visuals, we should be open to new ideas. The medium is still young and I am positive that it will continue to surprise and fascinate us, well into the future.
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