narrative
Latest
‘Batman Unburied’ will be Spotify’s first exclusive DC Comics podcast
Spotify's first DC Comics podcast series will explore the darker side of Bruce Wayne's psyche.
Makers of ‘Life Is Strange’ announce psychological thriller ‘Twin Mirror’
Studio Dontnod came back from its embattled game Remember Me with 2015's Life Is Strange, a critical darling lauded for its rich characters and themes. Last week, the developer released the very different Vampyr, a WWI-era science-meets-supernatural game. Dontnod's next project is a step back to our world (or so we assume) with Twin Mirror, a psychological thriller published by Bandai Namco that's headed to modern platforms next year.
'Thomas Was Alone' developer launches another sci-fi text game
Here we go again. In August of last year, developer Mike Bithell, responsible for popular games Thomas Was Alone and Volume, did something rather unique. He released a small, $5 narrative game called Subsurface Circular -- first on PC and Mac and then on iPad. It was apparently successful, as Bithell just announced its sequel: Quarantine Circular, which has similar mechanics but a entirely new cast and story.
'Life is Strange' comes to iPhone and iPad December 14th
If you haven't had the chance to play 2014's Life is Strange or its recent sequel Before the Storm, now's your chance. The brilliant episodic narrative game revolves around teenaged Max and her ability to rewind time, returning to her hometown only to find it and her previous best friend Chloe in very different straits. Beginning December 14th, a whole new audience will be able to experience their story on iPhone and iPad.
How 'Life is Strange' landed in Deck Nine's hands
Idol Minds had been making video games for 20 years when it rebranded as Deck Nine in May. It's not just the studio's name that changed -- its entire mission refocused. Instead of working on titles like Cool Boarders 2001 and Pain, developers built a suite of storytelling tools ideal for crafting narrative-driven games. Deck Nine hired experienced writers and shopped itself around to major publishers, offering to take on emotionally complex projects with branching dialogue paths. Game director Chris Floyd didn't expect much to come of these early meetings. "And it was Square [Enix] that came back to us and said, 'What do you think about making the next game in the Life is Strange franchise?'" Floyd said. As fans of the series, developers were floored. And they were in.
Contemplate life in 'Far From Noise' on PS4 November 14th
Next week sees the arrival of Far From Noise, a narrative game for PS4. The game takes place over a single day and night and during that time, your character is trapped in a car balancing on the edge of a cliff. As you rock back and forth over the edge, you'll have conversations -- with yourself and with a companion that approaches your car. You can discuss all sorts of things including why you ended up where you are, where the stranger is from, nature, life and death.
'Bury Me, My Love' brings a Syrian refugee's tale to your phone
After creating a big buzz within the indie gaming community, interactive dialogue-driven game Bury Me, My Love launches today on iOS and Android. Based on real life stories, the game tells the tale of Nour and her husband Majid, both caught up in the violent and dangerous Syrian conflict. Nour has decided to flee their war-torn country while Majid stays behind to care for elderly relatives. With only a smartphone to communicate with her husband, she begins her perilous journey, telling Majid a Syrian farewell saying: "Bury me, my love" (which means, in essence, "don't die before me").
Motherhood, nature and technology in 'Horizon Zero Dawn'
Horizon Zero Dawn is Guerrilla Games' first original creation since releasing the original Killzone in 2004. Not only is it Guerrilla's first foray into a brand-new universe in 13 years, but it's a completely new genre for the studio: an open-world, action RPG. These are generally massive games with intricate narratives and winding sidequests, as opposed to the constrained, linear nature of most first-person shooters. In order to make sense of a story in Horizon's vast open world, Guerrilla brought on Fallout: New Vegas lead writer John Gonzalez. Gonzalez helped create Aloy, Horizon's protagonist, and the massive landscape that she inhabits -- robot dinosaurs and all.
'Lifelogging' startup Narrative isn't dead yet
Narrative, the company behind the lifelogging camera of the same name, was all set to die, but death is no longer on the agenda. Instead, six of the moribund wearable firm's employees, including its co-founders, have mounted a rescue out of their own pockets. In an interview with TechCrunch, CTO Björn Wesén revealed that he and his friends have purchased Narrative's assets in the hope of launching a new company that can carry on the name and legacy of the Narrative Clip.
'City of the Shroud' is an RPG with a truly player-driven story
Adventure and role-playing games have always focused on telling stories, and that tradition has permeated into almost every other genre. Whether with linear plots or with branching, adaptive tales, developers are putting story everywhere. And just as the technology powering games is evolving, so too are the narratives within them. One game, however, is pushing forward into entirely new territory: City of the Shroud. Partially funded by a small-scale Kickstarter campaign earlier this year, City of the Shroud is being developed by Abyssal Arts, a small team strewn across the US and UK, with some assistance from Japan. It's a hard game to categorize. It's an RPG, yes, but it blends tactical elements from X-Com, The Banner Saga and Final Fantasy Tactics with a real-time combat system that borrows from classic fighting games.
Narrative shuts down its lifelogging camera business
Remember the Narrative Clip, that wearable camera that let you document your day with a steady stream of photos or video? It was a novel idea, but it doesn't look like many people embraced the concept. Narrative is telling customers that it's filing for "voluntary dissolution" following financial trouble that came to a head this summer, when it restructured in a bid to stay afloat. That will put an end to Clip sales and support (a Facebook group will offer help), but the company is promising a solution that prevents your lifelogging camera from becoming a paperweight.
Storytelling in video games doesn't have to be scary
Benjamin Rivers believes in the dramatic, emotional appeal of the video game industry. He's the man behind Home, a surprisingly complex, pixelated horror game that found great success once it debuted in 2012. It's praised for impressive narrative arcs that branch in twisted, unique ways depending on the decisions of each player, and this is precisely the type of story-centric design that delights Rivers. He sees video games' potential to convey convoluted human experiences through strong narrative design, and he's bringing these sensibilities to Alone with You, a science-fiction adventure due to hit PlayStation 4 and PS Vita in the spring. Alone with You stars a lonely survivor on a planet due for implosion in a few weeks; players have to escape with help from the colony's AI system, which eventually takes on the personalities of dead crew members. And, it's a romance. A futuristic, interstellar romance starring just one actual human -- because that's the kind of storyteller Rivers is.
Global Chat: Can MMO stories rise above mediocrity?
Players have long debated the importance, relevance, and quality of stories in MMOs. Some have called for an abolishment of dev-driven narrative entirely, some enjoy what's there, and some have pressed for better writing and storytelling techniques. This week we'll hear from one blogger who is struggling with "mediocre" stories in MMOs and what might be done with them. But wait, that's not all! We'll also hear from writers about MMO inventory systems, aging games, and how pretty much nobody in the world was shocked when Elder Scrolls Online ditched its sub.
Simogo launches The Sensational December Machine on PC, Mac
Hot on the heels of launching its last narrative-driven game roughly one month ago, Simogo offered another game today for free, The Sensational December Machine. The Device 6 developer just teased the PC and Mac game on its Twitter account yesterday before offering it as a holiday gift to its fans today. Simogo's last game, The Sailor's Dream, was received rather well in our review and is available on iPad for $3.99. The Sensational December Machine is a "short interactive story about an inventor and her unusual new creation." The brief interactive story took three weeks to create and includes hand-drawn art and text as well as "dynamic music" that evolves alongside the story provided by Daniel Olsén, the composer for Device 6 and Year Walk. "We hope you'll snuggle up with this little seasonal, and very three-dimensional, tale in fullscreen mode," the developer added. "Perhaps with some good headphones, and a warm drink by your side." The Sensational December Machine can be downloaded through Simogo's website. [Image: Simogo]
Guild Wars 2's Leah Hoyer discusses the importance of story
It's fair to say that Guild Wars 2 sells its story pretty highly, as living world progress and story updates are a major part of its content strategy. Head of narrative Leah Hoyer stated in a recent interview that this is one of the core things that games as a whole need to embrace: Story is important in getting players invested. Hoyer went on to say that while story lacks the central importance in games that it has in media like television, it's still an important element of player investment. Still, she argues, it's harder to tell a good story in a game than it is in a television show, simply because the latter is focused only on story while the former cannot be. This doesn't mean that it's less important, nor does Hoyer feel that it justifies using lore and background as an excuse for not telling a story; a good story requires immediacy. While she believes that lore is highly important, it should help support storytelling rather than replace it. There's a lot of interesting thoughts in the full interview, so whether you like Guild Wars 2's take on story or not, it's well worth a look.
The Borderlands timeline unfurled
With the recent release of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, Gearbox knows it may have some fans with questions on how the series' timeline is organized. That's understandable when your latest game is sub-titled "The Pre-Sequel." To bring order to the chaos, the series developer offered an "ultimate Borderlands timeline" on its blog late last week. The comic-style timeline divulges major plot points from before the original Borderlands through its direct sequel, Borderlands 2. Viewers beware: Gearbox didn't shy away from spoiling those major events in the timeline, including that of The Pre-Sequel. Our review of the latest game noted that the game is "missing just a bit of soul," but still "has the makings of a pretty great Borderlands game." The series' overarching story will continue with The Walking Dead developer Telltale's adventure game, Tales From the Borderlands, which is expected to launch this year. [Image: Gearbox Software]
Joystiq Weekly: Destiny's loot cave, Shadow of Mordor review, building narratives and more
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. Season passes that add content to separately-sold video games that also offer bundled in video games? Ubisoft's dollop of Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China on top of this year's double-portion of Assassin's Creed is interesting, both due to being bundled in a season pass and its sidescrolling platformer nature. We're already looking forward to when season passes include trilogy HD remasters, which will in turn include their own season passes, complete with spinoff-pack ins. Everything is connected, you see. There was a lot more to this week than alternative business strategies though. Have you heard of a little series called Super Smash Bros.? What about Lord of the Rings? We've got reviews of the latest (interactive) installments in both, as well as news of Destiny's loot cave, features on developing narratives and what developers and YouTubers think of Steam Curators. They're all joined by many other stories, waiting for you after the break!
The war between narrative and game mechanics
I've long had a complicated relationship with the story of Warcraft. Once, I was enamored by the world they've created -- I was one of the earlier contributors to Know Your Lore, eager to share my love of the franchise's narrative. I'm no longer so enamored. I don't hate it, but neither do I love it. I'm not angry, I'm disappointed. Yes, I often disagree with the narrative choices Blizzard has made with their story, but moreso I come to realize World of Warcraft is burdened by itself in respect to its narrative. Story and game mechanics are in constant conflict, and when you're looking at a game like WoW and a company like Blizzard (with their focus on tight gameplay), story will lose that battle every time. Blizzard has mentioned more than once that orcs versus humans is the core element of Warcraft. Whenever the narrative tries to move back to the roots of the franchise, that's where it goes. And that's the problem. The war between the Alliance and the Horde can never end. Worse, it can never progress -- and the characters involved in that war story cannot progress unless removed from it. Mists of Pandaria made this more obvious than it has ever been before. Boneheaded heroes For the sake of parity, let's look at both Jaina Proudmoore and Thrall. These two characters have had a history together since Warcraft III. Not a romantic history as some like to claim, but a history. They were allies. Both of them held out hope for peace between the Horde and the Alliance for years. Both of them made sacrifices in the hopes of accomplishing it, Jaina moreso than any other, allowing the Horde to kill her orc-slaying father. They were both powerful, influential people in their respective factions. The events of Warcraft III made us believe they might achieve that peace. World of Warcraft showed us otherwise.
Firefall drops a launch trailer
After what seemed to be an interminable period of testing, Firefall is finally officially launched -- and in a very different state from its initial testing, at that. Did you play the game once and step away? Are you wondering what it's even like these days? The launch trailer is meant to address exactly that. A two-minute trailer can provide only a top-level overview, but this one does so while keeping its narrative entirely in-character, which is commendable. Click on past the break to get a picture of just what you can do within the game now, and if it sounds like your sort of shoot-happy armor-swapping festival, you can start playing the game now.
Device 6 developer drops anchor on The Sailor's Dream
The Sailor's Dream is a melancholic, introspective game that features a lot of writing – most likely good writing, considering developer Simogo's previous work – the open seas, a series of islands and a splintered story that you piece together in whichever order you see fit. The Sailor's Dream is in the same vein as Simogo's most recent games, Year Walk and Device 6, but the studio says it's softer and carries less of a classic challenge. "We're throwing out some more traditional game challenge-elements; in fact, The Sailor's Dream won't feature any puzzles at all," Simogo writes. "That doesn't mean you won't find playful things in the game, though – there are plenty of things to touch, play and tinker with. And it definitely doesn't mean that we want it to be easily digested! We hope it will leave you pondering and wondering and find reasons to talk about it with friends, and hopefully even return to it. It's a fractured story told in different ways, from different perspectives. When it comes to telling the story, we're drawing inspirations from both books, radio plays and even musicals." The trailer for The Sailor's Dream shows navigational coordinates over beautiful, seemingly hand-painted landmarks on an open sea, and a series of interactive objects. Text mentions a lonely girl exploring the ocean and perhaps a bit of love lost, but not forgotten: "Seal our love in ink forever, on my heart and on his arm." The final touch of gramophone music in the trailer is haunting. The Sailor's Dream launches on iOS in late 2014. [Images: Simogo]
