To start off with, video games have varying genres that each
has different styles of story to them, same as movies. You can have a Horror
game, which depends on a good protagonist, and plenty of tense atmosphere, or
an Action game, which tends to depend mainly on newer mechanics and the
gameplay side of things. Video game stories are interactive, so they often have
varying plot lines and things that can be done in the mean time; events don’t
tend to flow as quickly, unless for some reason the game demands it. You can
find interesting plot off shoots in some games by wandering from the set path.
Video games also often have emotional storylines that make the player feel
involved; they draw the player in so that the player experiences the events of
the game vicariously through the characters. To make a player feel involved,
various things can be employed, such as the camera showing the characters
facial expression, at the right angle, in the right light, can make someone
feel happy or sad. The setting is also important; areas in a game must always
have some indication of where to go next unless the entire point is the next
area is hidden. Areas to progress through are often marked by more collectables
or enemies, or it being lighter in that direction.
Character back-stories are not essential, but they do help.
Some characters, like Sonic the Hedgehog, only have the simplest of back
stories, and all he is, is the fastest hedgehog in the world. This does not
interrupt with the fast paced action of the game, nor does it detract from it. Another
character, Olimar from the Pikmin series, has a back-story as an intergalactic
delivery person. This helps explain certain things and adds a dimension to the
story that otherwise might leave one questioning.
Point of view is mainly useful as a gameplay device, but it
can also work for plot. For example, the Bioshock series is for the most part
in first-person view. This helps the player to feel more connected to the main
character, and helps make the atmosphere of the game work better. Bioshock used
this technique to help keep one enemy, the ‘Songbird’, from being shown directly
until later on.
Certain games can swap views from character to character.
Most of the time this just means that a different character will go through the
same events just with slight differences in dialogue, but other times that
character will have a completely different experience.
One of the best ways to create a story that draws a player
in and makes them feel involved is to have a particular emotional element to
the plotline. The previously mentioned games have certain elements to their
plots that give them uniqueness; Sonic the Hedgehog tends to favour a valuable
message that can teach the player something, such as animal cruelty begin
wrong. The Pikmin series has a theme of exploration, and strives to make you
feel like you are truly in a wild world. Lastly, the Bioshock series has an
emotional theme of dread, as if someone important could die at any moment. Another
part of Bioshock is about obtaining freedom, to the point that a character
allows himself to get killed in order to give the player some freedom.
