How can we combine gameplay with storytelling? Perhaps with synergy, flow & story arc... maybe. Follow Game Design Wit for more content! Facebook ► / gamedesignwit Twitter ► / gamedesignwit Created by: / daltrey.waters
I can't say for the entire game, but it makes me think near the end of portal, where you're slowly sliding towards the incinerator. You spend the whole game slowly building up your skill and reflexes, and on the story side of it you find the ominous warnings hidden throughout the levels letting you know there's no good about, and then you use that increase in skill and reflexes directly to get over the very apex of the storyline. The feeling immediately afterwards of 'am I suppose to be here? is this what the game designers intended to happen?', I just remember it feeling like one of the more genuine gaming experiences I ever had, and was very much linked to the gameplay and player skill up to that point.
The Spider-Man PS4 DLC, The Heist, has a chase sequence between Spidey and the Black Cat, and I really love how it's played out. Basically, as the tension of the chase rises, the scope of the gameplay broadens in response. The chase starts with Spider-Man's webshooters being disabled by an EMP and the chase being taken down a cramped and crowded route through the city. Then, Cat jumps on a train (literally) and the webshooters come back online, and you have to swing down a subway tunnel to keep up with the moving train. Finally, an opening in the subway is reached and Black Cat jumps off onto a rooftop and Spider-Man follows, now chasing her above the city in its wide-open skyline. Only in that third part can Black Cat actually be reached.
+Elijah Potter Yeah, but not only that it's contrast between the players choices and the narrative is a phenomenal example of the types of experiences only games can do.
No More Heroes is an example that comes to mind. A lot of the gameplay is actually commentary of games or tied to the story in some way. For instance there are tedious challenges you have to perform to raise money for entrance fees to certain fights and the character you play as is constantly complaining about how much they cost or how much of a pain it is getting the money
Great analysis ! Bastion would be an interesting case, as the narrator voice comments what the player does. It's not directly the same, but well, I tried many things to see if that voice would comment that, and it did !
Hi, thanks for adding the spoiler warnings to the videos. I would like to see a video about feature creep or also, why sometimes games with one fleshed out mechanic seems to work better than a game with several features. Another interesting topic, I think, is how some developers take a situation or a feeling or whatever and forge gameplay out of it. Like Miyamoto with Zelda because he explored caves as a kid or a more modern example is The Witness, were you experience to look at things with different eyes or change your perspective. So, how do these people do that? What do I have to do with my "real life experience" to transform it into a gameplay concept? I watch your stuff since you had 3 videos on the channel, so be nice to me :D
+AnnomaLee Hey, thanks for being a long time supporter! =) Those are great ideas for articles! Regarding your first paragraph, I have a script I'm working on to cover exactly that -scope in game design. As to your second paragraph, I have a script on how to instill emotions in the player via gameplay, which is what the creators you mentioned where intending to do. I liked your remark that sometimes this intention by the designer may come from personal experience, so I'll keep an eye for that idea as well as I flesh out the script. Take care!
Caesar III pictured for 1998? Why not Baldur's Gate. Or Tribes. Or Fallout 2. Or Pokemon Red/Blue. Or Rainbow Six. Or Unreal. Or HALF-LIFE. WHERE IS HALF-LIFE? Of all the Sierra-published games of 1998, why would you go with Ceasar III over Half-Life!
+Benjamin Carter I was focusing on lesser known games =) BUT WHERE IS TENCHU STEALTH ASSASSIN ON YOUR REPLY? OR BANJO KAZOOIE? HEART OF DARKNESS? MEDIEVAL? MEGAMAN LEGENDS? FALCON 4.0?!
