Games for a Video Game Storytelling Class?

[Thaius]

Okay, here's the story.

As my senior project in college, I developed a college course entitled, "Video Games as Literature." It is a college course studying video games as a narrative medium; basically think of the structure and focus of a traditional literature course, but studying video games. I won't go into detail on the course's structure, but I need a good amount of video games (whether AAA or indie, traditional or more "artsy," whatever) with good stories that are told well. These games should be possible to get a hold of in one way or another, and it would be especially good for them to exhibit good storytelling using the interactive nature of the medium.

Here's the awesome part: since I'm graduating this semester, I have been hired to teach the course at a school in the area. I cannot properly express my excitement at the opportunity to help educate kids on the literary value of video games. The catch is, it's a high school. I can adapt the course to the age group perfectly well, but unfortunately it means I am not allowed to use M-rated games in the course. I won't name any specifics to avoid a war over this or that game's artistic legitimacy, but this eliminates many (though not all, of course) great games from the list I had previously developed.

So I come to you, my fellow Escapists, for advice on more games below the M rating that would be worth studying for their narrative and storytelling. What games could you recommend I include? I likely have many on the list already, but I would like help coming up with more than I can on my own.

TL;DR: What video games would you recommend for a high school class (so no M-rated games) studying video games as a narrative art form?

Before you comment, I would like to specify that "literature" is often used in the academic world to signify a form of storytelling art, with courses such as "Film as Literature." Obviously, words are more versatile than their literal definition, so please don't comment if all you're going to do is assert the term's poor application to the subject matter; that is neither valid nor relevant.

 

[spectrenihlus]

Knights of the old republic. Might as well start off strong.

 

[The Madman]

Planescape: Torment is the obvious answer since it's been used as an example during those sorts of things before. More of an interactive book than a game however, but as a book it's pretty good.

""The game's level of detail and its emotional impact have prompted some players to cast about for literary peers."" -New York Times

A less obvious but good strong example of more simplistic story-telling would be Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. It's no Planescape: Torment story-wise and no one is going to have their mind blown playing the game, but what it does it does exceptionally well and it's one of gamings most endearing games as a result. Just because a story isn't complex doesn't mean it's bad, Sands of Time is an ideal example of that. Well paced, well acted, and with endearing characters. What's not to love?

Game has aged well too, plus it's pretty easy to find. Family friendly to boot!

Whatever the case good luck and have fun!

 

[SoranMBane]

Listed in order of most traditional in the way they tell their stories to least traditional, I'd recommend Portal 1 & 2, Bastion, the Team Ico games (Ico and Shadow of the Colossus), Journey, and Flower. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time and Beyond Good & Evil may also be good choices.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is one of the few modern military shooters I've played that realised that less is more. Instead of being a full-on World War 3, there's a few missions that take place in the Middle East and the rest of the game focuses on an SAS group vs. some Russian rebels. What's more, it isn't portrayed as America=awesome, Russia=evil and England=incompetent - the SAS guys are pretty sadistic (watch what Price does with Al-Asad), the Americans get wiped out because of their 'no man left behind' attitude overriding their common sense... It also does Half-Life 2's thing of having some cutscenes, most of which you still retain some degree of movement in.

Sorry about the block of text, but that's just my opinion on the game. Doesn't get as many storytelling accolades as ICO or Bastion, but I think it delivers its story pretty well, and it's even a decent story.

 

[Aircross]

Deus Ex, the Half-Life series, Bastion, and Final Fantasy VI.

I especially loved Half-Life's narrative structure.

 

[shadow skill]

I would seriously consider something like Persona 3. Xenogears might also be worth a look.

 

[Thaius]

I'll start off with this one, since the answer gives more details...

That's a challenge. The greatest stories are few as we still have only about 30 or 40 years worth of titles to draw on. Still, I'll take a crack at a few suggestions. Though I'm a little foggy on the specifics. The course isn't completed yet, but you have been hired to teach it as (I'm assuming) an elective? I'm not trying to be rude, but I'm a little unclear how that came to be. If you could shed some light on that for me, it would help. After that I'll take a whack when I've had some time to pick a list that I think would fit.

The course has been completely designed; it was my senior project that I had to do in order to graduate from my university. So the course has been fully designed, but for college students. I pitched the idea (as well as a few other courses I could teach) to a charter school in my area that is trying to build its selection of progressive, technology-centric courses. I offered game design, audio/video production, and this video games as literature course that I had already fully designed. They liked the idea and hired me to teach the courses next school year. So I am now tasked with taking the class I have already fully developed and adapting it for high school; basically, that just means extending it to a full school year instead of a single semester and taking out any M-rated games. Unfortunately, that of course means quite a few less games to study in the course, which is why I'm posting here asking for more suggestions I might not have thought of.

Knights of the old republic. Might as well start off strong.

Already got it. Great example of storytelling with western RPG sensibilities.

Planescape: Torment is the obvious answer since it's been used as an example during those sorts of things before. More of an interactive book than a game however, but as a book it's pretty good.

A less obvious but good strong example of more simplistic story-telling would be Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. It's no Planescape: Torment story-wise and no one is going to have their mind blown playing the game, but what it does it does exceptionally well and it's one of gamings most endearing games as a result. Just because a story isn't complex doesn't mean it's bad, Sands of Time is an ideal example of that. Well paced, well acted, and with endearing characters. What's not to love?

Sands of Time is actually the only game I require every student to play; most of the course allows students to choose a game from a short list of games that apply to the study topic at hand (ex. first-person storytelling, role-playing games, etc.) in order to avoid problems with availability, but Sands of Time is easily accessible and tells a very well-written story with a simple three-act structure... it's an ideal candidate. So yeah, that's there. As for Planescape: Torment, it's one I've been meaning to play for a while, though I was always under the impression it was rated M. I'll have to check it out.

Listed in order of most traditional in the way they tell their stories to least traditional, I'd recommend Portal 1 & 2, Bastion, the Team Ico games (Ico and Shadow of the Colossus), Journey, and Flower. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time and Beyond Good & Evil may also be good choices.

I have yet to play Journey (this recommendation has put it further into my view), but the others are already on the list. All brilliant titles with great stories/storytelling, or at least fascinating atmospheres and settings. In any case, all are great for this course; good recommendations.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is one of the few modern military shooters I've played that realised that less is more.

Modern Warfare is on my original list for first-person storytelling, not for the quality of the story so much as the quality of the first-person storytelling. Putting the player in the shoes of a dying man as he crawls out of a downed helicopter in the wake of a nuclear bomb was absolutely brilliant, as were many other moments in that game. 2 did some good things, but didn't really live up, and it's a shame the newly-staffed Infinity Ward clearly had no idea how its predecessors made such effective scenes. Unfortunately, as explained in the opening post, I need to adapt the course for high school, meaning M-rated games are not allowed.

Deus Ex, the Half-Life series, Bastion, and Final Fantasy VI.

I'll have to look into Deus Ex; it's another classic I have yet to play. Half-Life is rated M (which, as I specified, is not an option since this is a high school course), Bastion will certainly be in the class, and Final Fantasy VI is the one example of that series I decided to use (the other possibilities were VII and X, but I decided to stretch the students' limits a bit more with an older game).

The Darkness. Oh yeah man. Start off on a high and just...wing the rest.

I haven't actually played that one... I didn't hear much about its storytelling. But in any case, I'm not allowed to use M-rated games because this is for high school.

I would seriously consider something like Persona 3. Xenogears might also be worth a look.

Unfortunately, the Persona games (or at least the recent ones like 3 and 4) are rated M. They're on the original list, but as I explained, I need to adapt the curriculum for high school and thus can't use M-rated games. Xenogears I hadn't thought of; thanks for the recommendation.

 

[Aircross]

I'll have to look into Deus Ex; it's another classic I have yet to play.

That's great!

Here's a guide on applying a graphical mode to the game to make it more playable on newer computers:
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1235278

 

[synobal]

I'd whole heartedly suggest the Legacy of Kain series it is rated M for mature but mostly for the actual game play and not the story itself. If you're simply looking at the story and not actually playing the game you could get away with it. Plus the M rating is really just for gore and it's so old now that it can't even be considered that graphic compared to anything modern.

Bastion could also be interesting, it works with a narrator and is rather unique or was at the time.

 

[Fr]anc[is]

According to wikipedia, Planescape Torment is rated T, so I'm going to of course throw in a vote for that. But be warned, the game really drops the ball hard about the halfway point and it suddenly becomes mostly combat until the last level. It's a pretty big speedbump if you're going to make your students actually play.

Another one I would like to point out is actually a civ game. Alpha Centauri. All the faction leaders have unique personalities, there are ethical questions raised about futuristic technologies, and there is even a bit of plot involving the planet itself. Again, gameplay itself is kind of a factor, its not the most intuitive or simple game to play, and your students probably wont see all the cutscenes for the secret projects or even get the best ending.

I wouldn't have mentioned this one if it wasn't free, but Ur Quan Masters, aka Star Control 2. Beginning is kind of a grind for resources, and its much harder if you don't know exactly where to go and what to do. But the races have unique personalities, including the big bads who actually have a great backstory.

 

[SoranMBane]

Another game I forgot to mention is Echo Bazaar. It's a browser game that you need either a Facebook or Twitter to play, but it's extremely well-written with an absolutely fascinating setting. If you want to provide a few flash game examples as well, Newgrounds has an entire collection dedicated to "art games," a lot of which are pretty narrative and theme-heavy. It's right here [http://www.newgrounds.com/collection/artgames.html] if you want to give them a look and pick out the best ones.

 

[KingofMadCows]

Heroes of Might and Magic 4 has some pretty well written campaigns, especially "Half-Dead" and "Pirate's Daughter."

Games by Spiderweb Software are awesome. The Geneforge series is basically the fantasy equivalent of Fallout in terms of the choices you have available, interesting moral questions, faction politics, and impact you can make on the game world.

I would also recommend Fallout but that's rated M.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

The Stanley Parable would be a great example of how to integrate storytelling and gameplay, and just what free choice in an interactive medium really means.

 

[Nelle]

The Indigo Prophecy, I don't know what ESRB rate is it but it's like Heavy Rain.
Neverwinter Nights is also a great game with a nice Story.
In TES Games, You should try Morrowind. After i finished that game i thought of is "Freedom"
Nox. A kid got teleported to the Medieval Magic Age
The Original Deus Ex, Full of Conspiracy.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Throw some text adventures in there, too. Some of them are actually good and not just good for a game.

I'd recommend Shade [http://iplayif.com/?story=http://parchment.toolness.com/if-archive/games/zcode/shade.z5.js] (it's basically a short story that gives interactivity an interesting role) and I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, which was written by Harlan Ellison.

Also, +1 Planescape: Torment.

Also also, speaking of free and quick stuff that showcases videogame narrative ability, have you considered the Choice of X [http://www.choiceofgames.com/category/our-games/] games? I recall Choice of Dragon being very good.

 

[Chairman Miaow]

Is length an issue? because Planescape Torment is great but a tad long. Bastion on the other hand is great and an example of telling story through mechanics at some points, while still being quite short.

Also, Dark Souls would be an interesting one to show them, considering the wierd way it's story is(n't) told. Not sure what the rating is on that though. It's a 16 here.