This past week, we discussed the purpose and effect that narratives have in games. One of the articles, “Video Games Are Better Without Stories” by Ian Bogost, stood out to me in particular. He asserts that films tell stories infinitely better than a video game ever could; therefore, games should forgo complex narratives in favor of straightforward entertainment and settings.
I highly disagree with this article on a personal level. I have been playing games all my life and I can confidently say that some of the most memorable games were the ones with incredible narratives. For example, I played Nier:Automata a few years ago and was absolutely blown away by it. On a surface level, it is a grindy, beat-em-up game about androids with fan service strewn about. The gameplay and story are entertaining enough but what really stood out to me was the multiple endings. Many of the characters and philosophers they’re meant to portray are intended to make the player contemplate where we derive meaning and purpose in our actions. It explores various ways we create purpose for ourselves and highlights the potential dangers in which we rationalize purpose. (Spoiler warning) And once we have completed the game, which took me around 300 hours to complete, we are given the choice to sacrifice our save game in order to help a random stranger beat the final boss easier. And I chose yes. The story’s purpose was to teach us to feel empathetic towards each other, and to sacrifice for each other even if we gain absolutely nothing from it.
From a business stand-point, it wouldn’t make any sense at all to remove narratives from video games. Some of the most successful games of the industry have narratives intertwined within them. To name a few: Skyrim, Warcraft, Legend of Zelda, Metal Gear Solid, and Fallout would be a hollow shell without the intricate narratives that immerse us into their respective universes. If we, theoretically, removed these games from existence, the video game industry we know today would be much smaller and less popular. This would only harm and limit the capabilities of game developers as well as reduce the social acceptance and diversity of games in culture. Also as a side note, I feel open world games like Skyrim and Fallout would be extremely difficult to portray as a film due to their heavy reliance on the player’s decisions.
At the end of the day, why should it matter whether a complex narrative is added to a video game or not? Personally, I see video games as a modem for people to share their creations. Whether it be a story driven “walking simulator” or a mindless, fast-paced shooter, it shouldn’t really matter.
References:
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/.
DMS 448 Spring 2020 
I definitely agree with your point about many memorable games being the ones with incredible narratives. I’ve been playing games for years and I, too, have found that the ones which impact me the most years down the line tend to be the ones that told intricate and detailed stories in addition to their gameplay. This isn’t to say that games without narratives are less important or don’t have their place, because I think that they can be just as impactful depending on the player. I also totally disagreed with Ian Bogost’s idea that games shouldn’t include narratives and should, instead, leave them to books, t.v. and films. I think developers should be able to decide whether or not to include them because, like you suggested, games exist as creative outlets and therefore should not have to be limited to just one way of doing things.
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