But as he is often reminded, one of the most important rules of the game is to trust your partner. Neku's growing bravery can be clearly seen throughout the story, but like the rest of THE WORLD ENDS WITH YOU elements, it is reflected in the gameplay. As with other stats, characters' bravery can be raised over the course of the game, but gradually, just as their bravery slowly increases throughout the story.
I've been to many meetings where the publishers wanted sprawling stories - the kind that allow (and encourage) multiple iterations of the game. What do you consider to be several of the most important and influential games in the history of gaming storytelling and why? This distinction is one of the difficulties in the actual development of original game stories.
Let's spend some time explaining the nature of dramatic stories and how they function differently in the mind of the player/audience. Novels/fiction take place in the mind of the reader, and the reader generates all the images for the story (setting, characters, props). The reader is completely in control of the way the story is consumed.
The story unfolds in front of the audience, and the audience must follow along.
The Ordinary World
It's crucial to understanding the structure that you think of these stages as emotional signposts rather than actual events in your story. That is, you are looking to evoke the feeling of a departure or the feeling of a death in the belly of a whale rather than having a character die in the belly of a whale. It is the emotion of the moment that the audience responds to, not the outer packaging.
The Call to Adventure
The call is anything that takes the hero away from normal life and makes him or her wonder if he or she even belongs in the normal world. Depending on your story, the summons can be a sudden and immediate event, such as an unexpected enemy attack, or something slow and gradual, such as the hero becoming dissatisfied with his or her life. However, in video games, where you generally want to get the player into action as quickly as possible, a sudden call is often the best solution.
Usually the call is something related to the main plot, such as rumors of a treasure or an attack by the main villain, although in some cases the call itself is relatively unimportant, serving only to lure the hero away from the ordinary world and in a position in which later encounters will involve him or her in the main conflict. What the call is and how the hero responds to it will say quite a bit about the hero's personality and motivation, so make sure you don't gloss over it. A retired spaceship might be eager to jump into battle during a surprise alien attack, but a young boy is probably scared and more interested in survival than anything else.
Refusing the Call
The best way to deal with this in a game is to have others tell the player how dangerous this path is. Of course, the player will never reject it, but the danger can be made ready.
The Mentor
The First Threshold
Luke's first threshold was escaping Tatooine on the Millennium Falcon, which involved skill and some degree of danger; Harry's happened when he stepped through the barrier on platform 93/4 and began his journey to Hogwarts, which required nothing more than willpower on his part. The threshold can also be an event triggered by the hero refusing the call (as mentioned earlier). Often the hero will want the mentor to help with this stage of the journey and this is also one of the more common times for the mentor to sacrifice himself to save the hero, but at other times the hero will have to take this. first step into the great unknown alone and without help.
This is also a good time to give the player the first real challenge in the game itself, perhaps in the form of a difficult puzzle or boss battle. With the first threshold crossed, it is time to move on to the second act, which makes up the majority of the story.
The Journey
This is a time for heroes to strengthen or affirm their resolve and show what they are truly made of. Although the Star Wars movies and Harry Potterbooks can actually be broken down into a series of small hero's journeys, each occupying a single entry in the series, when taken as a whole, the journey phase in Star Wars begins when Luke leaves Tatooine and it doesn't end until he and the rebels begin plotting the destruction of the second Death Star in Return of the Jedi (the third film in the first trilogy). Harry's journey is also a long one, starting when he boards the train to Hogwarts in the first book and continuing until the beginning of the seventh and final book, when he begins his quest for the Horcruxes.
This is your chance to take full control of the story, develop your locations and characters, and explore the events that lead to the final confrontation. Pretty much anything can happen at this stage, with the only limit being your imagination (and possibly your budget). By the time this stage is complete, the main characters (both heroes and villains) should be known, most of the mysteries and secrets should have been revealed, and the hero should be almost ready to move on to the final battle or final challenge and adventure to bring. to the end.
The Final Dungeon
Just as Luke had a different challenge at the end of each movie, Harry had a new villain to face, and a mystery to solve at the end of each book, game stories can be broken down into volumes or episodes of sorts. In some games, these points serve only to divide a long story into easily recognizable parts; in others, they actually mark the end of a volume or episode and try to leave players with a partial sense of closure and a great anticipation for the sequel.
The Great Ordeal
The Prize
However you choose to present it, this phase should be fairly short, and regardless of whether everything turns out as the hero had hoped, it should at least give the player some measure of success and achievement.
The Road Home
The Return
Each change to the MDQ organically changes the story and moves the story forward. Even in the slower parts of the story, you have to do your best to keep it interesting and/or entertaining. If any part of the story feels tacked on or unnecessary, it will likely hurt more than help.
None of the NPCs in the game mentioned these fragments, so most players sold them as junk. One of the most popular spin-offs, FINAL FANTASY TACTICS, was originally released on the PlayStation (and later re-released as a downloadable title on the PlayStation Network) where it became a cult classic and went on to inspire a series of spin-offs hers. own (FINAL FANTASY TACTICS ADVANCE). Although the story is quite clear about the events of the war, its heroes and its.
Finally, learn which parts of the story are okay to leave hidden and which are not. One of the hallmarks of a good story is the way it makes the player (or reader or viewer) feel. Ultimately, a good writer can reasonably expect the majority of the audience to feel specific emotions at certain points in the story.
Even after thirteen years, FINAL FANTASY VII (which we'll discuss in Chapter 6) remains one of the most popular and beloved entries in the series. Stories with multiple endings only allow the player to change the main plot in a single (although important) way; Branching Path Stories (see Chapter 9) provide the player with a series of choices to make over the course of the story. The strengths of interactive traditional stories lie in the fact that it is the writer who determines the flow, progression and outcome of the main plot.
The first part of the story focuses on Elc, a bounty hunter and mercenary. Even worse, the destruction of the world and the deaths of Arc and Kukuru are entirely the heroes' (and by extension, the player's) fault. The following events result in the opening of the last part of the castle, which leads to the true final boss and the best possible ending to the game.
But as Dawn of Sorrow showed, there's no reason to limit endings to the end of the story. CHRONO TRIGGER features one of the most unique and eccentric lineups in any game. Talking and forming relationships with other characters is a very important part of the game.
Ultimately, it's about making sure the system supports the types of endings you'll have along with the rest of the story and gameplay.