Games for a Video Game Storytelling Class?

[Boggelz]

Bastion, Bastion, and more Bastion. But yes, Bastion. Great game, with an interesting take on storytelling

 

[Da Orky Man]

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.

As a small piece of this, try Homeworld. It used a rarely-seen method of introducing the story to the players, yet it really works. I'll post a couple of vids:

 

[SpaceBat]

Journey would be my first recommendation for sure.
If that is not an option:

Planescape:Torment
Ico
Shadow of the Colossus
Knights of the old republic 2 (1 did fine, but its story was far too shallow)
Bastion
Bioshock
The Stanley Parable
The Portal series
Chrono Trigger
Deus Ex
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
Beyond Good and Evil
Psychonauts

Those are the ones that come to mind right now. I wanted to mention Braid, but it's not really a fine example of videogame storytelling.

 

[Guffe]

Okay, here's the story.

As my senior project in college, I developed a college course entitled, "Video Games as Literature."

I'll give you something, not sure they suit what you think but here goes anyways:

Okami (I have the one for the wii)

Tales of Symphonia (GameCube)

Blazing Angels (you're a war-pilot in WWII going through real scenarios/missions so also history based, maybe not deep story thou)

Legend of Zelda (for mind fuck go with Majoras Mask, the time warp and everything but I'd Twilight Princess or Skyward Sword are the most straight forward linear ones in tought of story.)

Warcraft III and The Frozen Throne, This could be a good one.

There you go.
Those are ones I've played, then there's of course the Final Fantasy games which are pretty heavily story-based I guess.

Good luck and Have Fun!

 

[Darknacht]

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.

Planescape: Torment is rated teen everywhere except Australia, you should definitely check it out. You can even do a comparison between its as a game and it as a book since the game come with the book version as well.

 

[WorriedSandwich]

Seconding everyone who says Bastion.

It has a man with the most arousing voice evar narrate all your actions, plus it has a decent story. It's also an indie game, which means it's not too long and not too expensive.

 

[Bvenged]

I'm not sure what rates as "mature" as here in the UK we just have U Universal, PG Parental Guidance, PG12, 12, 15 & 18.

I take it 15 is a no-no?

Fable 1 had a good story.

Portal 1 / 2.

That's really a tricky question, the best stories usually require some form of maturity to go about them.

If 18's a no-no: ME series. Hell, even the Halo trilogy and Modern Warfare 1 were epic in an engaging and expressive way.

 

[Thaius]

First of all, to those involved in the "Dear Esther" debate, I have yet to play it, but I will check it out and consider including it. Whether or not it's a "game" is irrelevant; this is about interactive narrative art. Games are not the only way to contextualize this interactivity, nor is any meaningful interaction necessary for it to be an example of this medium due to the fact that, simplified down as low as it could be, it does require the player to interact, even if only by walking. Again, I have yet to play it, but on principle I find the "not a game" argument to be a waste of time since that does not disqualify it from being a meaningful work of digital interactive art.

I don't have any specific suggestions that haven't been included here, but have you considered the actual logistics of your students playing the games?

It is something I thought about. I thought about it when I designed the course and brainstormed with my Game Design professor as to the best solution. It looks like I will be organizing the course into studies based on genre, perspective, etc., and allowing the student to pick between a few potential options. That way, I can have games available on multiple systems so students will always have the means to play at least one game on the list. The only downside is that it eliminates whole-class discussions on specific games (though I do have the whole class play Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time), but it seems to be the best solution.

 

[Fappy]

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

Ninja'd in the first post. The ONLY issue I see with Kotor is its reliance on basic Star Wars knowledge. I'd imagine most those kids have seen the Star Wars movies though anyway.

 

[Freechoice]

A bit off topic (I would also suggest Planescape: Torment and Bastion), but I would like to congratulate everyone that actually READ THE FUCKING OT and listed a game that fit the criterion.

Jesus.

 

[sageoftruth]

I think for a class like this, you'd want to use a mixture of titles that tell stories in different ways. Games like Portal and Bastion tell it through the setting and in-game dialog (monologue?), whereas games like the Metal Gear Solid series or recent JRPGs do it more through cutscene exposition. Games like Uncharted or Enslaved tend to use a bit of both.

I would make sure to use both types to compare and contrast. You'd also want to mention the good and bad points of both methods, as well as ways to make the most of them, or ways you can make them less effective. For example, having overly-specific criteria for continuing the plot can make players forget the plot and focus on searching for the waypoint. Meanwhile, if the game is more cutscnene-driven it can hinder the plot if the gameplay seems completely disconnected from the cutscenes.

Anyway, I think I got a bit excited there. I haven't written a report in a long time and this was a subject that I found interesting. I'll leave the rest to you. Good luck.

 

[go-10]

you could either go with Majora's Mask or Wind Waker, if you take apart all the implications of human psychology and how it all comes together in a world faced with its destruction, keep in mind neither of these games take place before or after the apocalypse these games literally take place DURING the apocalypse and the amount of people that have given up on life and how they act during these final hours/days and the uncertainty of them dying from a falling moon or being swallowed by the sea, not to mention the amazing villains and their reasons for putting the world in the state it is.

If I was to compare them to any written novel it would be Don Quixote of La Mancha, where the human mind is explored to numerous personas and its all presented in a fun whimsical way to hide the bigger picture of life being nothing more than a constant repetitiveness of itself with random moments of happiness and a shared goal for all, and how we as individuals chose to cope with that reality



or if you rather do something simpler you could play Brave Story and read Brave Story, there's both a game and book and both are REALLY good. http://www.amazon.com/Brave-Story-New-Traveler-Sony-PSP/dp/B000R39IKI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1332187297&sr=8-2 http://www.amazon.com/Brave-Story-ebook/dp/B004GXB46G/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1332187297&sr=8-4

 

[hewhocommunes]

No M rated...well, I was going to suggest God of War, even though I haven't played it Extra Credits had an episode [http://extra-credits.net/episodes/no-redeeming-value/] where they explained the story structure really well.

And while talking about Extra Credits, how about you mention telling a story through mechanics alone using Missile Command [http://extra-credits.net/episodes/narrative-mechanics/] as example.

I second the suggestion of missile command! The episode there is really well put together, as is the game.

 

[AlternatePFG]

Journey (it's available on the Playstation Network) - Words can't do this game justice. Seriously, this one's truly something special.

Just beat it earlier today, loved it. It was an art game that was actually fun, and it used multiplayer in such a unique way, it gave the same kind of lonely experience that games like Demon's/Dark Souls do so well despite being multiplayer.

Seriously disappointed that there aren't more people talking about it, but then again it's still "Why the Mass Effect 3 ending sucked/didn't suck" topics ad nauseum.

I pretty much agree with all of your other choices too. Stanely Parable is also rather underappreciated, I felt like it pretty much satirizes arty games like Dear Esther pretty well. Would throw Shadow of the Colossus in there as well.

 

[Ryank1908]

I would absolutely have to start with something simple - I'm talking really simple, like the old-school. Toejam and Earl, Mario, e.t.c. You need something, you go through the journey of getting said thing, you get thing and you escape happily.

Then I'd move onto the start of complicated storytelling like the RPG's of the 90's and how they told their stories, using Baldur's Gate as a strong example, and using the comparisons to D&D. Finally, I'd use more avant-garde examples like Bastion, or Braid, or Journey - games that use their mechanics or their visuals to tell stories in ways that only videogames can.

 

[blizzaradragon]

*snippity snip snip*

Hmm...no M rated games makes it a bit more difficult, but there are enough good stories throughout the medium's lifespan to bring up some good games.

My biggest recommendations are for KotOR I and II, especially if students are able to get the restored content mod for II. I is a great example of a plot twist, while II deals in some very interesting ideas(mainly through Kreia).

I agree with your use of FFVI, but disagree with using VII. X could still work, but it is also kind of basic. The twist is really cool, but if you're going to use a Final Fantasy game then VI or IV would be better choices.

It may be because I really enjoy Blizzard games, but I think the Warcraft series and Starcraft series have some good stories. Especially the changing perspective by having different races take the spotlight in each different story arc, and all the lore that the universes have. Plus Warcraft 3 and both Starcraft games would be pretty easy for students to get, so ease of access could easily throw it into the class.

The Jak and Daxter series shows some interesting story elements, and watching Jak corrupt through the series was very interesting. Ratchet and Clank or Sly Cooper could also work, really comes down to personal preference there.

I'm sure there are others that I could think of, but having some trouble right now. I'll make another post if I can think of more.

One question though: are you simply using game stories as they're presented or are alternate theories to the stories accepted? Because you could have a very interesting discussion in your class using FFVIII by comparing the presented story to the "Squall is Dead" theory.

 

[zephyron]

First of all, to those involved in the "Dear Esther" debate, I have yet to play it, but I will check it out and consider including it. Whether or not it's a "game" is irrelevant; this is about interactive narrative art. Games are not the only way to contextualize this interactivity, nor is any meaningful interaction necessary for it to be an example of this medium due to the fact that, simplified down as low as it could be, it does require the player to interact, even if only by walking. Again, I have yet to play it, but on principle I find the "not a game" argument to be a waste of time since that does not disqualify it from being a meaningful work of digital interactive art.

I mostly agree that it shouldn't be disqualified from being a "meaningful work of digital interactive art," but your class is a "Video Game Storytelling" class, not a "Digital Art Storytelling" class. It sounds like I'm just being pedantic here, but I think the difference is actually much larger than you give it credit for. The one key thing that separates video games from other mediums is the interactivity and the control the player has, neither of which are really present in Dear Esther. It's that key difference which makes video game storytelling so unique.
To give you what I feel is a good analogy about how they're different, imagine you were teaching a class on storytelling in animated movies. Would you include comics or graphic novels in your curriculum? On a lot of levels, they seem very similar, but the fact that movies aren't just still drawings with speech bubbles actually makes them a very different medium than comics which can accomplish things comics couldn't dream of. But I'd say the difference between movies and comics pales in comparison to the unique element of interactivity that games provide. It's a totally radical, new dimension in storytelling (even if it's often poorly used, mostly because it's so new that people don't understand how to use it right, but that's a whole 'nother topic), and frankly, Dear Esther doesn't exist in that dimension.
As many have already mentioned, the Stanley Parable is much better example of the sort of thing Dear Esther is going for, at least on the dimension of interactivity in games. I'm not necessarily saying Dear Esther shouldn't be included in your curriculum, but if it's there, it should be there to contrast how video game storytelling is different than it, similar to how a comic might be included in a animation course to contrast the two different media.

 

[J-Alfred]

I recommend Hotel Dusk: Room 215, if only as an example of creating strong, compelling characters that you come to care about over the course of the game. Louis DeNono in particular is a fine example of how to execute a fantastic character arc.

 

[shadow skill]

@OP
Sorry about that, didn't realize Persona 3 was rated M. Damn shame too because it is so thematically rich. Vagrant Story might also be worth a look. Not too sure about this but Mirror's Edge may fit in there too. Soul Reaver which was rated T in the original PS one release would be a good choice if you get a bit of wiggle room. This was probably mentioned already but Arkham City could be a good choice. Disgaea 3 could be worth a look as well and a nice change of pace from deliberately serious games since Disgaea is a parody franchise. Blazblue could be worth a shot too.

 

[ChildofGallifrey]

I just commented on another post about the 'Tales of' game series, so I might as well keep it going here.

'Tales of the Abyss' is generally a well regarded game. The story is fairly cliche (stop the bad guy who used to be good, save the world from generic apocalypse), but the characters are what bring it to life. I very vocally hold up the central character, Luke fon Fabre, as having the best character arc of any video game character I've ever seen. You start out with a spoiled rich noble and end with a gracious, self-sacraficing hero. The drastic change is brought about in a believable way, not just for the sake of the plot, and you really do go from wanting to hang the little bastard to genuinely caring about his quest and motivations.

It's certainly worth a look, at least.