Plot presentation in games (Saturday night with Shibito)
Yesterday someone @rivezico visited my modest refuge in the south-west of St. Petersburg and, eating black grapes on raisins and drinking clean filtered water, snacking on slightly cooled khachapuri, we discussed the latest culturological theories and trends in the world of video games
Specifically, what is life and the influence of the quantum field, the plot in games.
I propose to talk about the presentation of the plot in games without holivar and pulling cotton products. We all know that developers approach this issue in different ways.
I have selected four examples to start with.
Journey - the plot is presented through a visual component (images, changes in the environment over time, player observation) and gameplay. There are no cut-scenes and dialogues in the game. The player controls all the actions of the character throughout the game.
Uncharted - The story is told through cinematic cut-scenes, drakman genius, scripted cutscenes, and character dialogue (within and outside the gameplay). The plot almost does not touch the gameplay (killing 2500 people per hour)
Full Throttle - Play like a book / comic with puzzles. The plot is presented mainly through the text. Dialogues / descriptions.
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Heavy Rain - the gameplay is subject to the plot. The game is like an interactive cut-scene. The player has the opportunity to control the action only at the moments specified in the script. The player chooses the end of the story himself (or is it an illusion of choice).
32 minutes ago, Shibito said:
not really, dialogues are one thing
here is more of a theme - in Silent Hill 2 you go down the stairs to the prison. You go and think that the stairs are down, and now there will be a loading screen. You go further and the stairs do not end. You start to think - how long is it? You go even further. You begin to strive. You go further. Etc. the player's state changes. The player begins to think, realize the meaning and meaning of what is happening. In fact, this descent is a symbolic, ever deeper descent into the subconscious of the protagonist. To create such an effect, the player himself must feel discomfort from the absurdly long descent down.
You are not describing the plot, but the feeling of fear that arises in the player. Anxiety while descending the stairs, the plot and characters are not revealed in any way.
Yesterday I replayed for the third time the magnificent Ghost Trick, a very interesting classic film-book narration from the perspective of the main character in the past tense. The plot is conveyed to some extent through great animation and a classic plot-plot. Do not believe what you have not seen in person.
Shibito, go play.
16 minutes ago, Shepard said:
Anxiety during the descent of the stairs, the plot and characters are not revealed in any way.
why? if a character constantly shits in his pants out of fear and starts to stink, it normally reveals him in the plot as a link
Shepard reveals in the context of the events before and after. the plot is conveyed through the interconnection of the characters and the world around them, especially in the game where the city itself is one of the characters, roughly speaking
ACE well if so it is possible
Shepard reveals in the context of the events before and after. the plot is conveyed through the interconnection of the characters and the world around them, especially in the game where the city itself is one of the characters, roughly speaking
City yes, one staircase no, it's doubtful
Just now, Shepard said:
City yes, one staircase no, it's doubtful
I wrote that in the context
one line of dialogue also does not reveal the character
8 minutes ago, Shibito said:
I wrote that in the context
one line of dialogue also does not reveal the character
Well maybe I haven't played for a long time
Shibito brother how do you spec ops where the plot plays more of an instrumental role, not directly communicating directly with the player himself
2 minutes ago, dozensnake said:
not directly communicating directly
and I'm good
Check it out Shibito, you won't regret it!
(I promise to check out your new movie on YouTube)
I was trying to find some unusual example of storytelling, and Thomas Was Alone came to mind. The game has such a gorgeous storyteller that strongly influences your imagination that then you seriously experience the fate of pixels of different shapes and sizes, and even after passing through, you have a pleasant feeling that you have not spent your time in vain. If it weren't for him (the narrator), the game would turn into an inconspicuous puzzle that you throw after 10-20 minutes of playing. A very cool piece. By the way, voiced by the popular British comedian, writer Danny Wallace (Always say "Yes"), who also took away the BAFTA award for the best performance in 2012
a striking example of unusual storytelling came out this year - Rime
the game has no voice acting, subtitles, dialogues and it may seem that this was done due to the budget of the game, but the more you play, the more you understand that it was precisely this concept that the author was striving for. This is done in order to maximize the association of the player with the main character and to preserve the intrigue until the end of the final, reaching which you have the whole plot mosaic together, which gives incredible impressions of such a deep and complex story that was hidden behind the screen of a colorful, bright and even a little childish puzzle platform game
A good topic was brought up. I thought she was already somewhere, but it doesn't matter. If we find a duplicate, then merge it. I read the page, many polikal not even because I agree, but simply as support for a sane conversation.
Now on the topic. From the discussion about the intricacies of the plot and disputes around this or that example, we can conclude that people put different meanings in the word plot. Let's deal with this and maybe agree on terms.
Here is what is often understood by the word plot:
The main plot is the plot Script and dialogues The main and / or secondary lines of development of situations and / or characters Working out the world Staging and directing - scenes on the engine or CG. Atmosphere and surroundings. The example with SH2 that @Shibito gave is just a game design tied to the atmosphere and, due to the general style / entourage, creates the necessary feelings for the player.Perhaps I missed something, but these seem to be the main ones. Therefore, it is worth clarifying what exactly you mean when you talk about the plot and then there will be less misunderstandings.
As for me, I don't have any special preferences, but I don't like when the storytelling goes to the detriment of the gameplay. I will not give examples so as not to argue about them, for sure it is clear what I 
mean. That is, I normally accept the conventions of the plot. For example, such as in Uncharted, when the main character is a merry fellow and kind-hearted during the gameplay, destroys crowds of soldiers and this is not played out in any way. But when, on the contrary, I do not like. Therefore, I do not perceive walking simulators at all. There are good representatives among them, but it often happens that just because the author uses a new plot move for video games, the project is warmly received, despite the fact that this has already happened in other media. At the same time, connoisseurs of this "genre" forgive the authors for the scarcity of the gameplay.
Here's another example, the game is very beautiful, but at the same time, the dialogues are written intricately. Since the authors did not have money for animation, the scriptwriter pulled back to fully describe the appearance and facial expressions to the smallest detail, even for very insignificant characters. And everyone is happy ... shouting "yes cool", "book storytelling", but to me all this seems a little absurd, simply because you are not playing a game, but reading a book. I mean, the gameplay is completely out of touch with the text. It's like reading a book on YouTube, you can of course ... There is nothing wrong with that, but on the other hand, maybe it would be better then to read the book right away?
It also annoys me when there is a long introduction in the game. Surely there are some exceptions here, which I won't remember right away. And so for me the beginning of Half Life is the saddest moment in the game and how annoying it was when different developers began to repeat it. I do not mind long cut-scenes, just first let me play, get a little imbued with the project, and then when I’m already tightened, let the scene go for at least half an hour.
1 hour ago, Azzy said:
Therefore, it is worth clarifying what exactly you mean when you talk about the plot and then there will be less misunderstandings.
Scenario, dialogues, if this is a non-linear game of the story development branch, in a compartment it is a plot.
Everything else is already separate: atmosphere, peace, ENT, setting, directing cutscenes and wow scripts.
1 hour ago, Azzy said:
It also annoys me when there is a long introduction in the game.
I personally immediately remember MGS1. Before the start of the game, there was an opportunity to launch videotapes with a briefing for the entire special operation of Snake, although they were optional, but it pulled me to start the game with them. After them, you start the game itself, and there is a long cut-scene of the introduction. Well, I endured it all, so Snake climbs out of the water, you think, well, now we’ll run around, we’ll shit from the guards, and then Snake’s codec calls ... I don’t say for sure, but immersion in this very storyline cost me half an hour, at least, and on top of that, the time was late, to get up early in the morning, called to play)
The topic is really interesting.
Silent Hill 2, mentioned above, is a great example for discussion. It very effectively combines the standard tools for presenting the story - cutscenes, dialogues, monologues, but at the same time a ton and a ton of little things that fill the plot are hidden precisely in the elements characteristic of video games - studying and interacting with the environment, inventory items, monsters. It's not even about deep Japanese symbolism, but about the fact that the degree of player involvement in the plot largely depends solely on the player himself. This is what many people so often praise the latest FromSoftware games for, although in their case this approach has reached very critical values.
Just now, DIAL1 said:
Script, dialogues,
the scenario is not only dialogues, but also the location and structure of locations / the appearance of certain characters, enemies, puzzles, events, etc. so I xs, I do not agree that the type of atmosphere is different - the atmosphere is generally an ephemeral concept, which is determined by purely emotional feelings of the player during the game and is in no way tied to anything
it is easier to explain in the cinema - many scenes / episodes are devoid of dialogues at all, but the plot does not go anywhere.
Modified on September 4th, 2017 by Shibito