There has been much debate over the years about the role of narrative in the world of video games. While many games today put a lot of effort into the story, whether it is through the environment, cutscenes, or the general fleshing out of setpieces, story-centric video games have drawn some ire from critics over the years. Many, such as Ian Bogost, have accused narrative-driven exploratory games such as Gone Home and What Remains of Edith Finch of trying too hard to emulate films and television while not being as good at delivering the story as other storytelling mediums. These games, sometimes dubbed “walking simulators,” focus on linear storylines with emphasis on exploration of the game world in order to reveal narrative. 

I feel like some people direct ire towards these types of games due to the lack of typical gameplay elements and the linear nature of the stories, meaning that the player cannot exert as much control over the game world as other games that exhibit complex game mechanics or stories where player decisions produce consequences in-story. However, having less control over the world does not mean the player does not have control at all. The player is still able to control the protagonist of the game, even if there will always be one destination that the protagonist can end up in. In short, I think critics like Bogost are mainly expressing their dislike of a specific type of game, rather than actually delivering criticism on narrative-driven games. 

It is interesting to note that games that are narrative-heavy are receiving debates now when narratives have existed in games since very early on. Aside from the walking simulator, saying that stories do not belong in games calls into question entire genres of games. Off the top of my head, visual novels and role-playing games are both genres where a narrative is central to its games. Expanding outside of video games, tabletop role-playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons, which has been around for decades, rely heavily on some kind of story in order for a session of gameplay to even exist. Even genres that don’t necessarily rely on a narrative, such as platformers, still have some kind of story. If these are all classified as games, even good ones, then there should not even be a debate about whether or not narratives should be in games.

I also disagree that films and television can execute stories better than games. I think that games offer a unique mode of storytelling that you cannot achieve in other mediums, which is to allow the audience to experience the story as a character within. I feel that I am not the only one who has sometimes watched a film or read a book and became so enamored with the story that I wish I was a part of it. People have made fanworks of fictional media where they create self-insert characters into a particular work. For many, it is fun to imagine themselves within a fictional world and interacting with the main cast of characters as if they are a part of it. Games allow a direct outlet into that escapist fantasy through the integration of narrative into its play. 

Sources: Bogost, Ian. “Video Games Are Better Without Stories.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 25 Apr. 2017, http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/04/video-games-stories/524148/.