CONTINUATION TO: Narrative in RPGs - Characters (Part One) & Narrative in RPGs - Dialogue (Part Two)
Well here we are, part three of my three part series on narrative in RPGs compared to movies as a new form of media. In this final section, I'll be talking about interaction in RPGs and how a game can effectively use its interactive elements as an enhancement rather than a hindrance to the story - the video game is the only form of media that can let the player control what is going on, and it should take advantage of that ability.
I'm severely generalizing here, but for the most part RPGs are separated into two main sections: gameplay and cutscenes. The gameplay is the bulk of your game, consisting of combat and exploration, while cutscenes put all player controls on hold so the story can advance through exposition that has become more and more cinematic in modern years. In fact, a game like Final Fantasy X tells many parts of its story so much like a movie that casual observers might not even realize it's a video game. Often, cutscenes use graphic rendering that is much more complicated than the rest of the game's, making characters seem more detailed and different than the way they normally look. I believe that the use of cutscenes as a primary tool of story-telling not only inhibits immersion, but ruins the entire narrative by trying to combine the gameplay of an RPG with the cinematography of a movie. The aesthetic appeal of cutscenes makes designers forget that by using interactivity, they can create a completely unique story that only a video game can tell, rather than some sort of bizarre hybrid of RPG and film.
Despite all of the comparisons I've made so far between movies and games, they are two entirely different beasts. Since you control your character in an RPG, its story should be a much more immersive experience and make you feel as if you are actually playing the role. RPGs like the Suikoden series or Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic really encourage immersion by letting your dialogue choices impact the course of some aspects of the story. A non-RPG, Resident Evil 4, keeps you on your toes by making you actually press buttons at the right time during cutscenes, or else you will die. These are good starts, but the ideal cutscene wouldn't be a cutscene at all; this is a video game - why shouldn't players be entirely in control of their character all the time? So what if people are talking - what if my character gets bored and wants to wander off in the middle of a conversation? Yes, I know, it'd be difficult to tell a story if the hero has ADD, but that's not really my point - I'm just advocating for more interaction. Cutscenes shouldn't suddenly stop everything and make you watch the story unfold - the player's actions should unfold the story.
At its purest form, a video game is just a much deeper version of a Choose Your Own Adventure book. Every decision you make in the context of gameplay will take you down a different path, no matter how small; whether it's equipping a certain weapon or stopping to talk to someone before moving further, every little choice matters. Why can't the story have that same number of options? Having a specific story and round characters doesn't mean that everything has to be force-fed to you. What if I don't want Kain back in my party because I think he's been brainwashed and he'll backstab me again? Why do I have to go to the Emperor's banquet when it's clearly going to be a trap? Contrary to popular belief, a roleplaying game does not need to have a linear story, and in fact isn't really an RPG unless immersion is achieved and the player feels like he is in control of his character's decisions. Yes, I understand that there are limitations on exactly what a programmer can do, but a handful of games are starting to allow for more and more interaction in stories. Games like the upcoming Mass Effect give me hope for a new era of video game stories, and as graphics get better and better, story-telling have and will continue to improve with them.
Video games are still at that awkward stage of adolescence, but continue to grow up as their features improve exponentially every single year, faster than any other form of entertainment thus far. RPGs need take advantage of the opportunity to learn from both the good and the bad aspects of movies, and create cinematic quality in characterization and dialogue while taking advantage of the fact that the player is holding a controller and can interact with the story. If designers can find ways to create a game with round characters, sharp dialogue, and a story that is played rather than told, the roleplaying game will take its rightful place as a new epic form of media that is lauded throughout the coming centuries.
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