I have played many games of varying narratives throughout my life. I have played games with a huge cast of characters and settings with intricate plots as well as games with no traditional stories where they just drop you into the game and allow you to start playing. However, as games become more and more complex over the years, the narratives to these games also becomes more important.

To me, narratives in games are an integral part of a game. The narrative in games consists of the plot, setting, characters, music, and gameplay. It establishes the atmosphere and overall impression of a game and allows players to feel like they are a part of the story. It gives the player context on the situation that the game puts them in and reasons for the player to keep playing the game. It’s what I personally look forward to when playing a new game. Who am I playing as? What are my goals and how can I achieve them? What is the setting like and what can I do in it? Etc. Having this information allows me to understand why my character is in whatever situation the game puts me in and fully immerses me into the story that they are telling. 

Even in games where the “story” isn’t particularly clear, the stories can be made up by the players themselves as they play. An example I can think of would be the online multiplayer PvP survival game Rust. In the game, you spawn into this island literally naked with one goal: to survive. There is a big emphasis on base building and being the strongest entity (having the most resources/weapons/people) in the server before the weekly wipes where it resets the map and everyone starts with nothing again. Playing Rust, you will encounter other players who are most likely going to kill you for no reason, or raid your base when you aren’t around to protect it. This gives players the opportunity to create stories through their gameplay. You log back on into the game only to find your base in shambles with a sign from the culprit taunting you for getting raided. Now instead of just simply surviving, you’re trying to find the player responsible, where their base is located, and build up your resources again slowly in order to take revenge. Even with no real story, games like Rust gives chances for players to make their own which is what makes the game interesting and one of the reasons as to why the player base continues to grow and play the game.