The subject of story in videogames is becoming more and more of an interest to me, so when I had a chance to speak with Chris Avellone, lead creative designer of Obsidian's upcoming spy RPG Alpha Protocol, I had to ask what a studio famous for roleplaying games thought about the importance of narrative.
"It's important. I don't think it's as important as systems design (which is moment-to-moment entertainment), or level design (which gives the systems a context), but the story is an important piece that gives systems and level a reason to exist, and helps to compel the player to move forward," explains Avellone. "Don't get me wrong, I love narrative and character design, but I prefer to create story and character mechanics that are game systems rather than divorced from the systems or levels -- when the story is a mechanic, in terms of reactivity, perks, mission changes, and open/closing of hubs and endgame choices, I think that's the purpose of a game story.
"In terms of improving stories for games, I feel that narrative designers should study writing conventions outside of games, both in scriptwriting and in other media, such as novels and graphic novels. In addition, a story should not be divorced from the actual gameplay, it should reinforce it, give it purpose, and when possible, work in tandem with a game's systems and themes.
"When a story paralyzes a player (watch this cut scene, stop and read this book) or has to work to force itself onto the player with exposition, I think you start traveling down the dark road of cutting off immersion and turning a game into a passive experience, rather than an active one. Also, and to cue off a lecture from Ken Levine, I think much of a story or character can be told in a game level or in the environment itself, without a bunch of text or books littered around the game world."
What do you think? Does gameplay overrule story, and do you prefer interactive exposition instead of cutscenes? While you mull that over, stick around and wait for our full interview with Chris Avellone coming this week, where we'll discuss this and plenty more concerning Alpha Protocol.
Contest:
10:00 AM on 08.04.2009
| 
I'm skipping this one.
If the story in an RPG doesn't work, the game is worthless.
Also, Chris Avellone, of KOTOR2 fame? I guess it's fair to say that he's not bothered if he releases a game with a butchered story then.
There have been way too many times where the music swells and the protagonist runs into a room to be greeted with a cutscene or a long dialogue exchange explaining what you already know. It is basically blue balls.
In fact, most games I play, I usually skip all the cut scenes.
If the story isn't being told to me while I play, I don't care and won't stop to find out if I have the choice.
Integrate it, or (I'll) forget it.
I think Fallout 3 is a good example of how an RPG can have a story without me having to watch a bazillion cut scenes.
You can't have a story on the same level as a great novel if your story is effectively a choose-your-own-adventure book. If the game lets you make your own decisions with regards to so-called moral choices and the like, you are influencing the story as you go, in which case the overarching narrative is always going to be weaker.
A great story is hardly ever "created by committee", it's usually the work of a single inspired author. But games aren't made like that. When a story is forced to fit around a bunch of interactive action scenes, what you end up with is a Michael Bay movie. And yet, those interactive moments are essential to keeping the game entertaining. Without them, you might as well be watching a movie.
Essentially, story is a secondary element, in ALL genres. The more linear a game, the easier it is to have a quality narrative, but you are virtually always forcing the author to come up with excuses for nonstop action scenes.
...In less delicious terms, story has become less and less focused on. Most mainstream titles seem to push either a similar story with a few name changes and gameplay mechanics, while it could easily become a lot better if it had a more original one. I.E Moar story please, less steak.
...Mmm...
Just like it's: "Show, don't tell" for movies.
KOTOR 2 had a great story. Unfinished, but the first 2/3 were brilliant. Not Obsidians fault either, Lucasarts made them change release date from Feb '05 to Nov '04.
Anyway, Avellones point is right on, he means expositin type storytelling isn't the most important thing.
I agree that too many games have stories that are absorbed passively as opposed to being integrated into gameplay. It is possible that I have just played too many games, but I find myself more annoyed at cutscenes than in the past. I don't want to stop playing to watch a movie, especially if it is a bad one.
Yeah Chris Avellone who created one of the greatest RPGs ever released, with some of the greatest writing and story ever told.
Planescape: Torment. Also Avellone created the New Reno block of Fallout 2 which most people thing was absolutely brilliant.
So yeah judging a man by one game is just plain ignorance.
Or the first 3 Metroid games. The story exists at the beginning to set up the "Kill all the Bad Guys and Monsters" reason for the game.
These are two series that are GREAT in spite of their stories, not because of them.
Now look at Mass Effect. The gameplay is terrible. The controls are clunky, the inventory system is atrocious, and your teammates are useless except to fill in the powers that your main character doesn't have. And yet people still love it, myself included. Bioware managed to create a universe that compels me to keep playing the game, at least until it ended. After that, I couldn't play another 5 minutes of it.
This is a game that is good despite it's gameplay.
This is just obsidian saying pre-launch "Story isnt important"
Then when it releases, we realize "Hey, what the hell, the story here sucks"
Then we give them hell for having a crappy story and they respond "Oh but wait, we said earlier that we don't need a GREAT story"
excuses excuses...
you need to keep this in mind, when reading Avellone's comments: he's speaking from the perspective of a western rpg maker. a strong desire amongst fans of this genre is, often, for substantial choices and consequences, and an integration of the gameplay with the story/dialogue. it's precisely these things which make this genre so appealing to many - due to these things, the designer tends to be *required* to meld gameplay and story to a fairly large degree. look at a game like Planescape: Torment, for instance - a large portion of the game, you'll be reading a lot of text. but there are various conversation chioces you can make during a conversation which can have meaningful effect... your stats come into play, possibly opening up new dialogue options (raising your Intelligence is always recommended in these sorts of games). and, of course, the game gives you the freedom to explore the world more fluidly and advance your main quest or subquests in multiple ways.
... eh, anyway. as a side note - i'm not sure why KOTOR2 gets such flak, particularly for the later parts of the game... frankly, i rarely see a game that doesnt end in a bit of a mess (same goes for lots of movies, too, for that matter). what particularly baffles me is how people let the first KOTOR off the hook, when *that* game had substantially worse writing (not *terrible* writing, but nowhere near as interesting, and generally lacking much of the insight that was evident in the second game), and it hardly ended any better than KOTOR2 did... and, as far as the ENDING of the two games - KOTOR1 shows a short cinema which (at least, for the light-side ending, havent seen the dark-side) directly rips off the end of Star Wars: A New Hope. KOTOR2's ending actually allowed you to step to the side, and interactively ask a number of questions to tie up many of the loose threads - something that games NEVER do! i'm not trying to argue that there werent a number of unfortunate loose ends that came about due to the project being rushed in the end, but i honestly fail to see how most *other* games did things better.
Im OK: KOTOR2 was Obsidian's first game - since then, they've made Neverwinter Nights 2 (how good it was depends on who you're talking to, though most agree that the engine that the game uses is too old and clunky), and two expansions: Mask of the Betrayer (which is widely regarded as an excellent work, akin to a spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment) and Storm of Zehir (personally, i think it had some things going for it, but it failed to keep my attention. there wasnt so much of a focus on telling a story in that one, and iirc, Avellone didnt directly have anything to do with it).
You people must be real bright bulbs...
Avellone is one of the best writers in the RPG biz. Planescape
Torment gushes with his greatness, not to mention Fallout 2(do
you kids know of it even?).As for Kotor 2. The writing is top notch,
better than Kotor 1, but it was rushed by Lucasarts. The game has
a myriad of bugs, how the heck can the writing be "buggy"?!