Game Stories

Story Writing

Aristole
McKee
McCloud
Ernest Adams
Joseph Campbell

Stories in games are important, however, games are more diverse than films and literature. Games tend to be longer, much longer than other mediums. A film can be around 2 hours and a book can be finished in a day or a week. A game can take up to weeks and months even. This allows the stoey and the characters to be more developed.

Stories tend to follow a structure of acts, beginning, middle and end. But games can be more than that. Have a short intro that could only be a cutscene or something like that that sets things in motion and 99% of the game is the middle.

Character development is important in a story but sometimes you make your own character and their backstory and their look etc. Characters in games can be made lovable by the devs or they can be whatever you choose them to be, example RPG's where you have good and evil choices, like Infamous or Elder Scrolls. Characters based on the "real" world can be relatable. For example Spider-Man in the latest game on the PS4, he has a job, rent to pay, things to do and everyone can relate. All of these things can be used in games, it just depends on the type of the game.

The story of the game can be altered or not depending on the game. The player may have an impact. Also games can be quicker than expected like Dishonoured, you can kill the main villain right after the beginning of the game. The story too should be immersive to keep the player playing.

It's important to do things out of the ordinary. Seeing the same story and plot over and over can get boring and it feels like a waste of money. Add plot twist and deceiving trailers etc.