We first discussed what is narrative? It's not only the story, but its also the characters, dialogue, pictures, locations etc. In short, narrative is anything that follows from something else e.g. action/reaction. It's all about one event being followed by another.
Throughout the module we will be constructing structures, skills, tools, roles and other such resources for creating our own narrative for games.
Video game narrative is very different to say a movie's narrative as a video game is interactive and therefore the characters' actions are the players. Thus it is important that the narrative matches the game play, after all, in 'Grand Theft Auto 4' the protagonist is trying to get away from a life of crime, but this focus is broken when the player can choose at any time to just go on a murder spree before carrying on this same unaffected story.
Also, if the characters actions don't match how the player has been playing e.g. the characters become overly aggressive or vise versa, then this can also confuse the player and distance them from the game play. Thus, it is important that what the player does in the game play reflects what their character does during cut scenes or other non interactive moments.
The game 'Missile Command' was all about how there are no winners in a nuclear war. Despite the player shooting down all the missiles they clearly won't be able to defend all of them, and thus will end up losing, but not before sacrificing other cities whilst their focus is on one primarily. This underlines that sometimes sacrifices have to be made in wars, and not everyone can be saved.
We then had to split up into groups and pick four examples of narrative that we loved.
You can see my group's choices below.
- Final Fantasy 6 - Jim: "The characters made the game as each one had their own back story and clear motivations."
- The Pokemon Games - Chris: "You make up your own narrative after you leave home in order to become a Pokemon master."
- Bastion - Bonnie: "Whatever the player does it is narrated to them, thus making the player feel as if everything they do is relevant."
- The Last of Us -Myself: I love the narrative for this game and was able to talk to the group about it. For you see, the protagonist Joel is not really a hero, he's rather an anti hero because looking back on his actions they are in fact selfish, yet human. As you play the game you grow attached to Elle, the girl you are protecting, thus your actions whilst protecting her also match Joel's, as she reminds him of his dead daughter. Everything he does for her is brutal, yet very human and thus when you look back on his selfish decisions you can only agree that you would do the same. Our lecturer agreed with my choice saying that the game presented characters who were neither completely good nor evil. In fact, they were just characters trying to survive and therefore doing harsh things to protect the ones they loved.
The lecturer then discussed the three act structure with us, using 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'Star Wars' as examples. For example, Luck Skywalker says he can't leave the farm where he lives and works but, when he finds his aunt and uncle dead, he is motivated to leave.
We then regrouped and were asked to pick a movie and figure out its three act structure. Therefore, our group chose 'Shrek' as we thought for a family movie it would be easier to predict. However, this was not the case as our group had conflicts on where each act went.
We eventually made this list.
Shrek:
Act 1:
- Shrek is happy living on his own in the swamp.
- Lord Farquaad wants all the fairy tale creatures gone and living in Shrek's swamp. Thus, Shrek leaves to see Lord Farquaad.
Act 2:
- Shrek is told to go to the Keep and rescue the princess, in return the fairy tale creatures will be removed.
- Having had a relationship building with the princess, the two break up.
Act 3:
- Donkey convinces Shrek to stop her wedding and tell her he loves her.
- The princess and Shrek get married and live happily ever after.
Later, I decided to work on two more examples in order to see if I could repeat the process. You can see my work below.
Indiana Jones: The Raiders of the Lost Ark:
Act 1:
- Big opening in which Indy runs away from a boulder.
- Indy discovers the Nazis are after a treasure that is connected to an old love of his.
Act 2:
- Indy rescues Marian and takes her Egypt.
- Marian appears to have died and Indy is sad.
- Marian tuns out to be alive, but the two are trapped in a tomb by the Nazis.
- The two escape and make off with the Ark of the Covenant.
Act 3:
- All seems well as the two seek safety on a boat.
- Boat is boarded by Nazis and Indy follows.
- Indy is reunited with Marian and after the Nazis kill themselves with the Ark they escape. The ark is then put into storage and never opened again.
King Kong (2005):
Act 1:
- Crew journey to Skull Island.
- The heroine on board is taken by King Kong and the crew follow after.
Act 2:
- Crew confront Kong on a giant log and fall into a riving.
- All seems lost as the crew are killed one by one by giant insects.
- Crew are rescued but the hero decides to continue to try and rescue her.
Act 3:
- Kong is captured and brought back to New York.
- Kong escapes and fights fighter planes on the Emperor State Building before dying.
Harvard Referencing:
- Krueger, F (2008) Atari Missile Command Released for iPhone - and it's as Good as Ever [Online image]. Available at: http://www.appcraver.com/atari-missile-command-released/ (Accessed: 30/9/2013).
- Unknown (2013) Last of Us Poster [Online image]. Available at: http://thelastofus.wikia.com/wiki/Ellie (Accessed: 30/9/2013).
- Unknown (2012) Indiana Jones Poster [Online image]. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Raiders.jpg (Accessed: 30/9/2013).
- Unknown (2012) Poke'mon box art - Red Version [Online image]. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pok%C3%A9mon_box_art_-_Red_Version.jpg (Accessed: 30/9/2013).
- Unknown (2011) Shrek Poster [Online image]. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Shrek.jpg (Accessed: 30/9/2013).
- Unknown (2008) King Kong Poster [Online image]. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kingkong_bigfinal1.jpg (Accessed: 30/9/2013).
- Unknown (Unknown) Bastion Art [Online image]. Available at: http://steamcommunity.com/app/107100 (Accessed: 30/9/2013).
- Unknown (Unknown) Final Fantasy VI Wiki [Online image]. Available at: http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_VI (Accessed: 30/9/2013).
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