Have I Got a Story For You

I once heard a well known video game journalist describe stories in video games as nothing more than “fan fiction”. That comment has never sat well with me. For some games, it’s true. You can definitely see the cinematic influences in many of the popular games of today. Heck, the Modern Warfare series is a veritable archive of famous movie moments. Yet on the whole, I feel the “fan fiction” comment sells games and their history short. Storytelling in video games is something I discussed in my review of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. That game stood out to me because of the unique way it chose to tell its story, wrapping the plot around the player and the decision they make; allowing the players to feel as though they themselves are guiding the story to its destination, rather than just being led there. This is something Mass Effect 2 also does to great effect, though it’s less subtle about the methods it uses. I also mentioned my love of Uncharted 2 and the “blockbuster movie” feel of its story. These games are helping the medium as a whole gain respect for its storytelling abilities. Yet stories in games have quite the legacy, and to ignore that history would be a shame.

There is a reason why people could think that stories in games never had a great history. If you look back at the Atari, those games didn’t have in-game dialogues or fancy cutscenes. You were lucky if you got a text scroll during the demo video. (Remember when those were always in games? Those demo/intro videos to this day have conditioned me to wait a few minutes at the title screen when I first boot up a new game. Vagrant Story especially comes to mind, as it placed some vital background info into those post-title screen movies, so it was very easy to jump into the game and realize you had no clue as to what was going on.) If you wanted backstory or context for those games, you had to pull out the manual and read the first couple of pages. That was where the story in the game was relegated to in those days. The thing was, those games didn’t really need a detailed story. You could read about whatever the hell Yar’s Revenge was all about, but when you plugged that game in, what you were playing probably didn’t look anything like what the intro story described.

When the Nintendo arrived, the story got a little bit more important, but only a little. Consider Super Mario Bros. That’s a game that you might think could benefit from some exposition. When you sit down to play that game, you find yourself in the shoes of some little dude with a hat and a mustache. He’s running around, smashing bricks with his head, fighting creepy mushrooms and turtles, and sliding around in sewer pipes. Mushrooms make him bigger, and flowers let him hurl fire. What the heck is going on in this game?! Well, if you look into the backstory of the game, it turns out Mario is a plumber in the Mushroom Kingdom (though originally from New York? Maybe? I’m not sure what the canon on Mario is anymore) trying to save Princess Toadstool from Bowser, the Koopa King. …Well, of course. Now it all makes logical sense. The Legend of Zelda has a story, but all you really need to know is that you have a sword that shoots energy when your health is full. Although it will rarely be full.  Also, it's dangerous to go alone.  That's important to know as well.

So you can see why some people might say stories in games didn’t use to be all that important. What you need to understand, though, is that when people say that, they are referring to their experiences with console games (i.e. Nintendo, Genesis, Atari 2600, etc.). This leads me to believe that these people don’t have much of a history with PC games. The PC has had a rich history with storytelling in video games, and you cannot ignore this past. This history goes back to some of the earliest games on the PC. Zork is a name that still resonates with many people. This was a game that was pure text, no graphics. Two of the earliest games I ever played were Space Quest and King’s Quest 2. Space Quest may have relied mostly on parody for its story, but it was some fairly brilliant parody if I may be so bold. And the King’s Quest games went on to be widely praised for their stories. But I’ll get to those in more detail when I talk about adventure games. Where the console games focused on action and reflex-based skills, the PC’s strong points relied on critical thinking and detailed storylines. Obviously there were plenty of exceptions, but I’d say this is where the main divide was. Over time, though, the lines have blurred, and now the consoles are home to most of the great stories and ideas (though you cannot discount the impact indie PC games have on the industry).

As there is such a long history of storytelling, I’m going to take an extended tour. Each post will focus on a different genre, and look at where it has come from and where it is now. I might even take the liberty of injecting my own ideas of where the storytelling devices could go in the future. I hope you’ll indulge me for a bit and join me on this journey. When I’m done, you just might see video games for the incredible and unique storytelling medium that they are.