The games industry is built on sequels. They have been around since before a sequel meant adding a bow to the main character and changing its honorific – I’m looking at you Ms. Pac-man. Traditionally, two types of sequels have existed: franchises with stand-alone entries (Grand Theft Auto) which focus more on advancing gameplay and world building with each subsequent entry; and franchises with traditional sequels (Halo) which treat serialised storytelling in a similar way to movies or books.
As the way games are produced and sold has changed, however, so too has the creative side of the industry. This has resulted in some exciting projects which toy with the way games can be used to tell stories. A number of recent titles highlight these trends within the industry, showcasing how developers are tackling the issues involved with serialised stories in gaming.
Telltale Games has been at the forefront of the episodic trend. In recent years the studio has launched new chapters in the Sam & Max, and Monkey Island series’, while also adapting Back to the Future as an episodic point and click adventure game. While these titles were modest commercial and critical successes, Telltale hit a corpse-filled goldmine in 2012 with its take on The Walking Dead.
How much of the success of The Walking Dead is due to its episodic format? Would it work as well as a single, larger game? For television series’, episodic storytelling relies on the momentum of the story to bring the audience back for each new episode. This is certainly the case for The Walking Dead, but other factors are also at play. The interactive, branching narrative structure of the series, combined with the long gaps between episodes has allowed for a collective conversation between those who have played it – comparing and contrasting choices and consequences. While a single, larger game would have come and gone, the buzz surrounding this series has grown with each new release, building throughout the year.
Is the success of The Walking Dead lightening in a bottle, or is it a sign of things to come? It’s going to be interesting to find out.
Player choice is a defining feature of gaming. While many games allow a player’s actions to influence the story, these choices and their consequences have traditionally been confined to a single game. The Mass Effect series famously (and possibly infamously) touted an approach to storytelling whereby player choices would be reflected across a trilogy of games. Mass Effect tracked a host of variables; from alliances, deaths, and romantic entanglements in a galactic war spanning planets and species. The only thing the game didn’t track was the spread of space-STIs.
Mass Effect was loudly criticised for its conclusion, which many felt didn’t adequately or effectively live up to the potential of its branching narrative structure. Previously important plot threads and characters were short-changed in the final game, and previous choices had little bearing on the ultimate conclusion. But was Mass Effect a victim of its own hype and ambition, or are these shortcomings inherent to this style of serialised story-telling?
Branching narratives mean that each subsequent game grows much more complex in terms of how the choices made by players influence the game. And the more choices players are able to make, the more attached they invariably become: it becomes their game, their story anchored by relationships they’ve formed.
When so many story points can diverge, and millions of players each have their own expectations, is it even possible to keep everyone happy? I’m sure this question is keeping many a developer awake with Blue/Red/Green nightmares.
Like Mass Effect, The Walking Dead focuses on branching narratives and player choices. Unlike the expansive scope of Mass Effect, The Walking Dead is a lot more intimate, concentrating on the collective fate of a handful of survivors in an increasingly bleak world. This limited narrative focus lends itself more favourably to the branching narrative model resulting in a more tightly woven story where player choices (at least appear to) have greater weight and consequence.
These two games highlight how successful use of branching narratives can increase player immersion. Both, however, have inherent limitations. This style of storytelling is certainly in its infancy.
Assassin’s Creed is one of the biggest franchises within the gaming world, and there’s definitely an argument to be made that a large part of its success as an ongoing series is due to its narrative structure. The bulk of each game serves as a standalone adventure, with its own narrative arc, locations and (often) time period. Tying the games together is an over-arching mythology told through a single protagonist - Desmond.
This approach means each game can radically change its central focus if it chooses to, leaping across both time and space, and keeping each entry fresh. The overarching mythology provides a thread that ties everything together and keeps the audience wanting more.
On the other hand, this style of storytelling has some potential pitfalls. Firstly, how and when the main mythology is presented needs to be finely balanced. Secondly, the meta story and central character need to be compelling. On both counts Ubisoft is straddling a fine line but mostly pulls off its balancing act.
This model combines the best elements of stand-alone games and traditional sequels – allowing each game to establish new and varied ideas, while maintaining a narrative through-line to create a story (hopefully) greater than the sum of its parts. How successfully this template can be employed by other developers remains to be seen. Expect many developers in the next generation to look closely at Assassin’s Creed as a template for serialised storytelling.
How do you see the state of serialised storytelling in games? In which areas can they improve, where do they currently excel? Hit us up in the comments section with your thoughts.
Scott Clarke is a freelance games journalist based in Australia. He's also a professional rabble-rouser. You can follow him on IGN or Twitter. Oh, and why not come and hang out with IGN Australia's staff on Facebook?
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