Nonsensical Narrative

    A good story isn't necessarily a good game. I stumbled upon this article earlier which echoes my badly articulated comment on Kayne's blog  entry this week (forgive me for any nonsensicalness, I have the flu) that, despite non-narrative focused videogames being great, there is something about games with engaging stories that truly make a mark on you. Of course, if every game had an intensely innovative story it would not only be overwhelming it would make narrow what is an incredibly diverse medium, it's diversity being what makes it such a flourishing industry. So, that's not what we want.

   Albeit, it is important to notice that narrative does have it's place within videogames-- just not exclusively to every single title. What bothers me is when games that are intended to be either role-playing or immersive in it's storytelling elements overshadows this with high-rendered graphics and makes that the focal point, almost as an excuse to any discontinuities or pitfalls within their stories. Sure it's lovely to play a game that looks beautiful but don't expect the quality of your games aesthetic design to make up for any poor execution of story and character. At the same time however,  relying so heavily on story as well as graphics is how we wind up with cinematic games that may as well be a film for the little amount of agency the player has in the game, the nonexistent amount of say we have in how our own narrative engagement with a title, such as making an in-game choice that ends up being non-canonical to what has been predetermined by the designers.

   That's what makes the story-telling elements within videogames unique, standing apart from other narrative mediums, that the experience a player has with a game - due to being an integral part of it moving forward - is a narration in itself. Every decision you make within a game dictates how your play with it will then develop, what obstacles you may or may not face (for example, whether you take time to level up, train your characters, whether you explore entire areas or just run the most direct course). Thus the player can be perceived as a narrator of the game, regardless of whether that game has a story or not. It's just a different way of looking at narrative.

I don't know if I make sense but hope that someone's catching my wave here.