The Narrative-Agency Spectrum

"Video games can't be narrative because of agency!" If only it were so simple. And yes, we get it, video games don't operate the same way that film and literature narratives operate. Although Jesper Juul's article about narratives and agency attempts to avoid making end-all, mutually exclusive conclusions are narratives in games, Juul still makes a rather strong statement about the importance of story in games. Juul's points of contention that separate games and traditional narratives operate in a narrow scope. That is, he only considers certain types of games. For example, the problem of translation only/mostly accounts for console games that recreate specific actions sequences and movies that lock down a certain line of play in their source material. The problem with these types of texts is that they don't exist independently of each other, so fans on either side of the translation will always find fault. The loss of agency while watching the Tomb Raider films, as compared to playing the game, is a result of the game's subservience to the film's narrative. And vice versa, the diminished excitement of playing a Spider Man console game [for me at least] is a result of the beloved story's subservience to play.

However, independent texts, including the range of freeware games available online, widen the scope to include all games which compromise between narrative and agency in innumerable ways. This range of games has helped me develop a sense of what I call the narrative-agency spectrum. This spectrum includes any type of game, from MMO's to Tetris. Here's a short rundown of the concept:

Closer to the narrative end of the spectrum are the point-and-click games, such as The Old Tree and The Visitor. While the actions of the player are the catalyst for what happens, the predetermined storyline dictates which actions will be relevant and move the game forward. At each stage, only specific actions in a specific order [such as clicking on the tree branch and THEN the bloody fishing pole] will be of any use. In this instance I didn't feel that I had much agency at all, and looking up cheats/walkthroughs soon followed. I was more interested in seeing what would happen next, as predetermined by the game designer, than what I could actually do in the context of the game. Thus it seems to me that the narrative, albeit run through a deconstructed temporal lineage, was served by what little agency I had as a player. And although there isn't technically a way to win these games per say, the point of playing The Visitor was to see what would happen and how it would end, ie complete the narrative journey.

Closer to the agency end of the spectrum would be games like The Sims. The actions of the player may or may not be of significance depending on how involved the player is in certain activities. Again there is no way to win the game; the point is to see how your range of possible actions play out in a virtual setting. So the narrative-agency balance shifts the other way; while there is no narrative to speak of [except in retrospect] the player has the relative freedom to do whatever s/he pleases. The ludic quality of play is dominant over any narrative elements.

In the middle of the spectrum, from where I sit, are games like Halo [which I use as an example only because it's one of the few console games I've played]. Like games on the agency end of the spectrum, players have a fairly liberal level of actionable freedom [agency] that allows the player to stray from the intended lineage of the game. At the same time, though, only by following the intended lineage of play will players be able to advance. An example is when you first encounter Hunters; play can only move forward by killing them. And then there are cinematic elements that players cannot control to remind us that there is a story behind all this play. Here we have a balance of agency and predetermined narrative. And here getting to the end of the story means winning, and winning means completing the story. So completing the narrative is a result of the players ability to act, of agency.

While terms like 'interactive cinema' fail to characterize games in a fully accurate light, there are undeniable overlaps between games and traditional narratives. And while these overlaps are not clearcut or have yet to be clarified, we shouldn't write off their presence. Even in games where it seems black and white, the multitude of game structures points to the idea that these elements can combine in a number of ways and balances.