I’ve been playing video games for a long time. From Frogger on Atari, to Mario on NES, to TMNT in the arcade, to Last of Us on Playstation. It’s been a long gaming career with no pay or a 401k. Aside from games getting bigger in scope, where you’re simply an errand runner, or turning into daily grinds where you work for a new helmet or piece of gear that means nothing. Video game narratives are becoming more and more intricate and complex, with depth, and characters you feel for. Don’t get me wrong there have been some great narratives, even if simple (which is typically favored), throughout gaming history, but today we’re getting games that explore all sorts of topics. Whether it being anxiety, depression, self image (Celeste), or human behavior in apocalyptic settings (The Last of Us), games are and need to step up in their story telling to capture audiences. Of course, you can have a game that is simply fun to play, or a satirical grind (Helldivers 2), but expectations and benchmarks have been set with games like Red Dead Redemption, early Assassin Creed games (I see you ACII), and as already mentioned The Last of Us or Naughty Dog’s other fun adventure, Uncharted. Games will (hopefully) continue to explore human nature and tell great stories throughout interactive experience that will only heighten the story telling. And yes, games are art. In our latest Writer Syndrome episode, Tim and I chat about gaming narratives and parallels some of these great story driven games have to novel and film structures. From settings, to three act structures and beats, to deep characters who have arcs that you as the player can experience first hand. Check it out!
Categories: Podcast
