![]() Writing this outline often means noting all the major events every character-regardless of their decisions-must go through and listing three different ending possibilities. However, it’s important you have a major outline of the canon story, despite all these possibilities. If your story has a lot of different endings or outcomes, you may find this difficult. Whether you have several different possibilities for an ending or one canon story, you’ll want to start out writing your script by outlining the major storyline. And of course, always keep that player-character dynamic in mind. This means starting big and broad, then getting specific as you know more and more. Though writing a video game isn’t as simple as just following a few steps, there is an approach that is the most efficient and leads to fewer problems in the long-run. Though this element may not be the first thing you think of when writing a story, it is just as important to remember when writing your video game script as the player-character dynamic. In Persona 5, it can be something like choosing to water plants versus watching TV, or it can be the exploration of an entire world like it is in Skyrim, where every item can be touched and picked up. This interactivity comes in many different forms. How interactive the game and story can be varies, but every video game story must offer some form of interaction, otherwise it’s a movie, albeit a very long one. In addition to the strong player-character dynamic, there is also interactivity. It makes that player-character dynamic easy. This is so often why many video games rely on the crutch of amnesia-something to avoid, for the most part. Sure, she may have certain traits that are unlike the players, but she never refers to instances that the players aren’t aware of or speaks of things in her past they didn’t already know about. While we’ve already discussed the player-character dynamic, to dive into it a bit further, this dynamic ensures that the player never has a moment when they think to themselves, “Wait, my character wouldn’t do that.” (Which is often why second-person in prose hardly works.)Ī good video game story understands that balance, even if their main character has a distinct personality, like Aloy in Horizon Zero Dawn. Interactive space for the player to explore The two elements of any good video game narrative are: ![]() What are the elements of a video game narrative? ![]() In other words, the player is playing a video game-versus watching a movie-because they want to feel they have control, and every good video game story gives the player that sensation, even if there aren’t any choices to be made or no visible story to follow. No matter your preferences, a good video game keeps this unique dynamic in mind, the dynamic that says both you-the player-and the main character are one, so no matter what, you cannot allow the main character to do something the player does not believe they would do. Some people can’t stand a game that is all story-they want exploration and time to pursue random side quests or odd jobs-whereas others would be okay if video games didn’t have combat at all!ĭespite all these differences, there remains one element that every video game has and must consider-the player-character dynamic. This doesn’t even account for preferences, which always dominate what we believe makes a good story, no matter the medium. One video game can have turn-based combat, last over 100 hours, and have zero choices for the player to make, whereas another game can be 20 minutes long and have nothing but choices. Just like with any storytelling medium out there, there is no secret formula to what makes a good video game story. But these features aside, what makes a good video game story? There are so many features of a good video game-the combat, the world, the mechanics, the interactivity. Then, you’ll be ready to write your first quest and eventually the whole story! What makes a good video game story? In this post, you’ll learn how to write a good video game story-meaning the exact order to approach your writing-and in the following two posts afterward you’ll learn more about world building and character development. The trick is in the organization of your approach! Using this three-part series on how to write a video game, you’ll have the foundation you need to start writing your first video game script. And while you shouldn’t just dive into a 100+ hour video game script on your own, writing a shorter game is completely plausible. But the barrier to entry is much lower than you may realize. Like with any storytelling skill, writing a video game story takes practice.
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