Interactive Storytelling

for Video Games

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 Interactive Storytelling
for Video Games
A Player-Centered Approach to Creating
Memorable Characters and Stories

Josiah Lebowitz
Chris Klug

AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON

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Contents

Special Thanks ........................................................................................................................................... xi

Chapter 1 Game Stories, Interactivity, and

What Players Want ......................................................................... 1
The Importance of Stories..................................................................................... 1
Stories in Video Games .......................................................................................... 5
Interactive Stories vs. Traditional Stories: The Great Debate ................. 8
Summary ................................................................................................................... 11
Things to Consider ............................................................................................ 12

Chapter 2 A Brief History of Storytelling in Games ........................ 13

The Beginnings of Game Stories ..................................................................... 13
Text Adventures and Interactive Fiction ...................................................... 16
RPGs, Adventure Games, and the Growing
Importance of Stories........................................................................................... 18
The Cinematic Evolution of Game Stories................................................... 23
Game Stories Today .............................................................................................. 26
The Limits of Storytelling in Games ............................................................... 34
Summary ................................................................................................................... 37
Things to Consider ............................................................................................ 38

Chapter 3 The Hero’s Journey and the Structure

of Game Stories ............................................................................ 39
Types of Stories Best Suited for Games ....................................................... 40
The “Best” Story Types .................................................................................... 43
Using Nonideal Stories .................................................................................... 45
The Hero’s Journey ............................................................................................... 46
What Is the Hero’s Journey? ......................................................................... 46
Structure of the Hero’s Journey .................................................................. 47
Modifying the Structure .................................................................................. 56

v
CONTENTS

Common Themes and Clichés in Game Storytelling .............................. 61

Common Clichés and Themes...................................................................... 62
Why Clichés Are Used ...................................................................................... 65
When to Use and When to Avoid Story Clichés................................... 66
Summary ................................................................................................................... 68
Things to Consider ............................................................................................ 69

Chapter 4 The Story and the Characters ............................................... 71

Story Flow and Progression .............................................................................. 71
The Importance of Proper Flow and Pacing .............................................. 71
Don’t Neglect the Little Things ....................................................................... 74
Keeping the Player Engaged............................................................................. 76
General Pacing Do’s and Don’ts .................................................................. 78
Character Development ...................................................................................... 81
Common Character Archetypes ................................................................... 81
Advantages of Using Archetypes ................................................................ 84
Disadvantages of Using Archetypes .......................................................... 85
Making Characters Believable ....................................................................... 88
Character Actions and Decisions ................................................................. 89
How Much to Tell and Not Tell Players ....................................................... 94
The Importance of Backstory ............................................................................ 95
How to Tell the Backstory .................................................................................. 96
Deciding What to Tell .......................................................................................... 98
Sometimes a Mystery Is Best .......................................................................... 101
Summary ................................................................................................................. 105
Things to Consider ......................................................................................... 106

Chapter 5 Making Stories Emotional .................................................... 107

Connecting with the Characters .................................................................... 107
The Fine Line Between Drama and Melodrama ..................................... 110
Making the Player Cry........................................................................................ 111
Summary ................................................................................................................. 115
Things to Consider ......................................................................................... 116

Chapter 6 Defining Interactive and Player-Driven

Storytelling ................................................................................... 117
What Makes a Story Interactive? ................................................................... 117
What Makes a Story Player-Driven? ............................................................. 119
Interactive Storytelling as a Spectrum ........................................................ 119

vi
 CONTENTS

Fully Traditional Stories ................................................................................ 120

Interactive Traditional Stories .................................................................... 121
Multiple-Ending Stories ................................................................................ 121
Branching Path Stories ................................................................................. 121
Open-Ended Stories ....................................................................................... 121
Fully Player-Driven Stories........................................................................... 122
How Stories Are Classified .......................................................................... 122
Games Without Stories ...................................................................................... 123
Summary ................................................................................................................. 123
Things to Consider ......................................................................................... 124

Chapter 7 Fully Traditional and Interactive

Traditional Stories .................................................................... 125
Fully Traditional Stories ..................................................................................... 125
Fully Traditional Stories, Video Games,
and Why They Don’t Mix ............................................................................. 127
Interactive Traditional Stories ......................................................................... 130
Creating Interactive Traditional Stories ...................................................... 134
The Strengths of Interactive Traditional Stories ................................ 140
The Weaknesses of Interactive Traditional Stories ............................ 144
Summary ................................................................................................................. 147
Things to Consider ......................................................................................... 148

Chapter 8 Multiple-Ending Stories ......................................................... 149

Creating Multiple-Ending Stories................................................................... 151
What Types of Endings Should
a Game Have? .................................................................................................. 151
Choosing Where to End the Game ......................................................... 155
How Many Endings Does a Game Need? ............................................. 159
Determining Which Ending the Player Sees ........................................ 163
Multiple-Ending Stories and Sequels ...................................................... 166
The Strengths of Multiple-Ending Stories.................................................. 171
The Weaknesses of Multiple-Ending Stories ............................................. 175
Summary ................................................................................................................. 178
Things to Consider ......................................................................................... 180

Chapter 9 Branching Path Stories .......................................................... 181

Creating Branching Path Stories .................................................................... 184
Types of Branches .......................................................................................... 185

vii
CONTENTS

Deciding Where to Place Branches ......................................................... 190

How Many Branches Should a Story Have?......................................... 192
Japanese Visual Novel Games ........................................................................ 192
The Strengths of Branching Path Stories ................................................... 197
The Weaknesses of Branching Path Stories .............................................. 200
Summary ................................................................................................................. 203
Things to Consider ......................................................................................... 204

Chapter 10 Open-Ended Stories ................................................................. 205

Creating Open-Ended Stories ......................................................................... 209
The Main Plot ................................................................................................... 211
The Branches .................................................................................................... 212
The Distractions ............................................................................................... 212
The Strengths of Open-Ended Stories ........................................................ 217
The Weaknesses of Open-Ended Stories.................................................... 220
Summary ................................................................................................................. 224
Things to Consider ......................................................................................... 225

Chapter 11 Fully Player-Driven Stories .................................................. 227

Creating Fully Player-Driven Stories ............................................................. 231
Creating a Setting........................................................................................... 231
Creating Rules of Interaction ..................................................................... 232
The Problem with Fully Player-Driven Stories
in Video Games .................................................................................................... 234
Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOs) .......................................... 237
The Strengths of Fully Player-Driven Stories ............................................ 242
The Weaknesses of Fully Player-Driven Stories ....................................... 243
Summary ................................................................................................................. 244
Things to Consider ......................................................................................... 245

Chapter 12 The Argument for the Supremacy of

Player-Driven Storytelling .................................................... 247
The Evolution of the Art Form ....................................................................... 248
Giving the Writer Greater Freedom ............................................................. 249
Strengthening the Player–Character Bond ................................................ 250
Giving the Players What They Want ............................................................ 250
Summary ................................................................................................................. 253
Things to Consider ......................................................................................... 254

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 CONTENTS

Chapter 13 The Argument Against the Supremacy of

Player-Driven Storytelling .................................................... 255
The Fine Art of Storytelling ............................................................................. 256
Time, Money, and Player Interest ................................................................. 257
The Added Time and Expense of Creating
Player-Driven Stories...................................................................................... 257
Adding Interaction at the Expense of Other Elements ................... 257
Who Is Going to See It All? ........................................................................ 258
Keeping the Story Interesting ........................................................................ 259
Story Structure and the “Ideal” Chain of Events ............................... 259
The Problem with How We Think ........................................................... 261
Trying to Correct a Mistake ........................................................................ 262
Loss of Impact .................................................................................................. 264
The Illusion of Control ....................................................................................... 265
Giving the Players What They Want ............................................................ 266
Summary ................................................................................................................. 266
Things to Consider ......................................................................................... 268

Chapter 14 What Players Really Want: The Most Important

Issue ................................................................................................. 269
Do Players Know What They Really Want? ............................................... 271
The Survey .............................................................................................................. 272
How Important Are Game Stories to Players? .................................... 272
What Players Say They Want ..................................................................... 273
Story Preferences by the Numbers ......................................................... 274
What Players Really Want ............................................................................ 275
Further Analysis ............................................................................................... 277
Do Stories Sell Games? ................................................................................. 278
Summary ................................................................................................................. 283
Things to Consider ......................................................................................... 284

Chapter 15 The Future of Storytelling in Games .............................. 285

Stories Then and Now ....................................................................................... 285
The Key Arguments ............................................................................................ 286
What Players Want .............................................................................................. 286
Looking Toward the Future............................................................................. 286
The Most Popular Types of Storytelling ................................................ 287

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CONTENTS

A Future for Everyone ....................................................................................... 290

Things to Consider ......................................................................................... 292
Glossary .................................................................................................................... 293
Appendix A: Game Writing Groups and
Other Useful Resources ..................................................................................... 295
Appendix B: Survey Data .................................................................................. 297
Bibliography and References .......................................................................... 309
Index ......................................................................................................................... 315

x
Special Thanks

First off, I’d like to thank Laura Lewin and Anais Wheeler at Focal Press for all
their help during the proposal and preparation of this book, Chris Klug for his
excellent contributions, and Beth Millett for her editing.
I’d also like to thank the entire teaching staff at the University of Advancing
Technology for all they taught me and for their help when I was researching the
material for the papers that eventually became the basis for Interactive Storytelling
for Video Games. Extra-special thanks to Michael Eilers, Ken Adams, and Derric
Clark for their knowledge and advice on game design; Sharon Boleman, for infor-
mation on story structure, clichés, and archetypes; and Kathleen Dunley, for help-
ing with my research, introducing me to some new types of interactive stories
along the way, and coming up with the perfect subtitle.
And I can’t forget the great licensing, marketing, and legal staff at the various
developers who helped me obtain permission to use so many great screenshots
in this book. In particular, I want to acknowledge the extraordinarily helpful folks
at Don Bluth Games, Nippon Ichi, XSeed, Game Arts, Konami, and Square Enix,
who really went above and beyond the call of duty.
Finally, I’d like to thank everyone who participated in my research surveys and,
of course, all the writers, designers, artists, programmers, and the rest who created
the many excellent games mentioned throughout this book.

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CHAPTER
One
Game Stories,
Interactivity, and
What Players Want

The Importance of Stories

Since the dawn of time, people have been telling stories. What started out as
retellings of hunts and tales of their ancestors soon expanded, bringing forth myths
and legends. Some stories sought to teach, others to warn. Some attempted to solve
the great mysteries of the world; others strove purely to entertain. All across the
world, all throughout time, no matter how they lived or what language they spoke,
every race, every culture, and every tribe has created and passed on a wealth of
stories. And while some stories have slowly faded away, others have been told and
retold for centuries, shaping our thoughts, religions, philosophies, and the very
world itself.
Looking back at our history, few things have had as much influence on human
development and civilization as stories. They’ve driven us to explore, to fight, to
hope, and to dream. They’ve been the inspiration for art, music, technology,
and, of course, more stories. Today, thanks to powerful printing presses, TVs,
and the Internet, we have access to a nearly endless supply of stories covering
every subject and genre imaginable. No matter what your interests are, there’s a
story out there for you – probably hundreds or even thousands.
Unsurprisingly, having so many different stories at our disposal has made
many of us rather picky. If a story isn’t well written or if it features characters
or situations that we don’t like, why should we spend time reading, watching,
or playing it? After all, there are lots of other stories out there waiting for us.
Because of this overabundance of stories, modern writers often work hard to
attract an audience. Many carefully study what people already like and tailor

# 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1

CHAPTER ONE • GAME STORIES, INTERACTIVITY, AND WHAT PLAYERS WANT

their settings, plot, and characters to match. Others work hard to perfect
their writing and master the many nuances of language, pacing, and character
development. Some simply write what they enjoy and hope that it will find a
suitable audience. And then there are the brave few who strive to create new
and different types of stories and storytelling methods. They push forward
with new media and new ideas, many of which challenge the very foundations
of storytelling itself. Only time will tell which, if any, of these approaches is
the best. Perhaps there is no best method. As long as the author enjoys creating
the stories he or she writes and his or her audience (however large or small it
may be) enjoys them as well, does anything else really matter?
My name is Josiah and, like most others, I was introduced to stories at a young
age. Fairy tales, fables, history . . . when I was a child, they filled my imagination
and inspired me to create stories of my own. Because my family lived far out in
the country, I often wasn’t able to spend a lot of time with other kids, so I threw
myself into my favorite stories. I read them, acted them out, and dreamed up
new ones. Over the years, I created hundreds of stories, many of which stretched
into epic sagas of exploration and adventure. Perhaps that in and of itself isn’t so
unusual, but – unlike most kids, who grow up wanting to become an astronaut
or a fireman – I wanted to be an author.
Over the years, that desire waxed and waned as I grew and learned about
other people, places, and things. But throughout all that time, I never lost my
interest in stories and I always returned to writing. There were two things in
particular that drew me back and brought me to where I am now. The first
was a book I read long ago. Looking back, I no longer find the story all that
different or exciting. I don’t even own a copy of it anymore. But I’ll always
remember that book and be grateful to it for introducing me to one of the
most important elements of writing: the plot twist. Today, that simple twist
would likely elicit no more reaction from me than a nod or an “I thought so,”
but back then it was enough to make me put the book down and pause in
wonder, thinking back over the rest of the story and how that one shocking
revelation had changed everything. Since then, I’ve come across countless
other plot twists, created some of my own, and become rather good
at predicting them long before they take place, but that first simple revelation
was where it all began.
After that, looking for more stories with shocking plot twists and big reveals,
I gravitated toward mystery and fantasy novels while simultaneously trying to
work those elements that so intrigued me into my own writing. Due to a series
of unrelated incidents, I also became interested in video games, primarily due to
the sheer fun and creativity of Nintendo’s early Super Mario Bros. games. Though
much different from the stories I loved, games also attracted me, and I began to
dream up and draw out plans for my own colorful platforming games. It wasn’t
until much later that those two separate interests – games and storytelling –
collided, all thanks to a game like nothing I had ever played before: a game called
FINAL FANTASY VII.

2
 THE IMPORTANCE OF STORIES

FIGURE
1.1

FINAL FANTASY VII: the game that changed my life. „ Square Enix Co., Ltd. All rights
reserved.

My Life as a Game Designer

I have been a professional writer/designer in the game industry since 1981,
and my stories have been enjoyed by the gaming public from almost the
beginning of that career. For a very long time, I did not consider myself a
writer, but simply a game designer who happened to use stories in his
game designs.
Like many, I had been the GM (game master) in my own fantasy role-playing
campaign for years, and, truth be told, it was the fact I was running that very
campaign that got me my first game job. I had no inclination to go into the
game business at all, as I was making my living as a lighting designer in the
NYC theater. I was passionate about games, especially role-playing games,
mainly because they were much akin to improvisational theater. I had
recently switched the role-playing game I was playing to a new one, called
DragonQuest, which was published by a game company in New York called
Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI). One Friday night, I had gone into NYC to
test one of their new games, as they held open public testing of their new
titles every Friday night. I sat down to play a game (a game about the battle
of New Market in the Civil War), and at the end of the night, a staff designer
came over to chat with me about the experience. His name was Eric Lee
Smith. “Well,” he began, “what did you think?”
I described in great detail what I thought worked about the game and what
didn’t. Little did I know, but the more I talked, the more Eric became
impressed. I suppose I demonstrated knowledge of games and design with
my descriptions. Or maybe I just showed him I was more mature and
literate than his average tester. Or maybe Eric was exhausted after a long
week at SPI. I may never know.

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CHAPTER ONE • GAME STORIES, INTERACTIVITY, AND WHAT PLAYERS WANT

He furrowed his bushy red eyebrows. “What kinds of games do you play?”
I told him that I had just switched my fantasy role-playing campaign to his
company’s DragonQuest. I went into why I liked it and why my group had
switched from AD&D.
“That’s fascinating. So you really like DragonQuest?” I assured him that I
did indeed. I asked him if the designer of that game were in the office that
evening. Maybe I could talk about the game with him a little bit?
“Well, funny you should ask. He just resigned from the company this
week and we’re looking for someone to replace him.” I was stunned. That
particular designer was well known, his games were popular, and the
people who played SPI’s games had bought many copies of that designer’s
games.
“It seems like you know the game very well, and we need someone
to write adventures for the game. Might you be interested in a job as a
freelancer writing a DragonQuest adventure?” I was stunned again. I had
never been to SPI to test their games, they didn’t know me, Eric certainly
didn’t know me at all, and here I was being offered a job. Sort of. I told
Eric I was interested and came back the next week to meet with Eric’s boss,
David Ritchie, who indeed gave me a freelance job to write a DragonQuest
adventure.
But, see, at that point, I didn’t consider myself a writer. Not at all.
My friend Bob Kern, who played in my campaign, now he was a writer,
and so I asked him to join me in this assignment. Bob and I wrote the
adventure (me coming up with the story structure and Bob coming up with
the words); we submitted it, they accepted it, and I got a co-author credit.
That was my first taste. I was hooked.
Later on I joined the staff of designers at SPI, helped write the game fiction
for their new science-fiction game Universe, and then got to head up an effort
to redesign DragonQuest for a second edition, wrote more adventures (this
time on my own), then moved on to a new company called Victory Games,
where I won awards for both my role-playing games and my role-playing
adventures – all story-based gaming.
Since then, I have written many game stories, been lead writer on
a number of titles, and been Creative Director on two MMOs – and all
these games have been story-driven. My reputation in the industry is
that of a content-centric designer, and if you need a game that has a
deeply rooted engrossing story, you should really consider me, Chris Klug,
for the job.
That introductory experience mirrors how I got involved in co-authoring
this book with Josiah. I will bring to light how the theories Josiah
mentions are applied in the “real world” of game writing. I might use
examples of my work; tell how we managed sometimes to screw things up;

4
 STORIES IN VIDEO GAMES

and reveal how, on our better nights, we managed to make things a little
bit better. It’s possible that Josiah and I might disagree on certain points,
but hopefully the ensuing discussions will give the reader a deeper
understanding of the process of making a story work for the audience,
because, after all, that is the only thing we writers should care about,
making the audience feel something at the end of the day.
—Chris

Stories in Video Games

Unlike books and film, which can be considered mature forms of media, video
games are relatively new, with the first arcade machines appearing in the early
1970s, and are still growing and evolving in nearly every way. Every few years,
new game consoles are released promising more realistic graphics, higher-quality
sound, and a bevy of new features. On the PC side, changes happen even faster,
with newer and better hardware being released every few months.
But gaming hardware isn’t the only thing that’s changing. Games themselves
are evolving as well, with new control schemes, gameplay elements, and genres
appearing on a regular basis. Like all other aspects of video games, their stories
are in a state of change as well. Game stories have evolved from the simple
kidnapped-girl plot of Donkey Kong to the complex novel-length tales of modern
RPGs. In addition, the ability of the player to interact with and affect the story
has created many new and different types of stories that are difficult if not impos-
sible to portray in other kinds of media.
Although games are an excellent medium for many types of storytelling, their
interactivity makes them far different from more traditional media such as books
and film. Interactive stories themselves have many unique and challenging issues that
aren’t encountered when writing a more traditionally structured tale, which we’ll be
discussing all throughout the rest of this book. Game writers also need to think
about many other factors, such as the synthesis between the story and gameplay and
how to maintain a proper pace when the story’s progression is, at least to a certain
extent, controlled by the player (a subject we’ll explore in depth in Chapter 4).

Old Media and New Media

Although it is true that interactivity creates a new art form, it is crucial to
understand that stories in games are dramatic stories (akin to film, television,
and theater), unlike novels and short stories, which I’ll call fiction. All these
stories are fictional; they are just consumed in a different way. Dramatic stories

5
CHAPTER ONE • GAME STORIES, INTERACTIVITY, AND WHAT PLAYERS WANT

are performed for the audience; novels and short stories are “read.” Drama ¼
performance; fiction ¼ read. Games, though interactivity does indeed change
things, work in the player’s mind in a fashion much closer to screenplays,
television, and live theater, and not much like fiction at all. I will talk more
about this as we get deeper into the book, but keep it in mind. In fact, it would
be useful for you to think about what makes things different between novels
and drama. How do you experience both kinds of stories?
—Chris

Make no mistake: whether you’re a novice or an experienced writer, writing for

games is a very difficult and challenging experience, though it can also be extremely
rewarding. If you’re new to game writing, this book will help you learn about proper
story structure, the types of storytelling methods used, and the particular problems
and challenges you’ll encounter when creating your stories. Even if you’re already
an experienced game writer, the breakdown of different story structures may help
you more clearly define the types of stories you’re called to write and the later sec-
tions on the pros and cons of highly interactive stories and the types of stories that
players like best should provide some interesting food for thought.

Writer as Emotional Architect

We will, of course, ultimately focus on what the players want, but let us not forget
the role of the writer/designer as it meets these desires of the audience. At the
end of the day, what any consumer of any kind of entertainment is paying for
is to be manipulated into feeling something. Consumers (especially gamers)
may not like to admit that they are paying to be manipulated, but that’s the
truth. The worst thing you can do as a designer/writer is to create something
that leaves the player unaffected emotionally. In other words, the last thing
you should be is boring. It’s better, honestly, for you to create something that
makes the players angry than to leave them unaffected, because at least if
they are angry, they’ll be talking about you, and they cared enough to want
something from the story in the first place. Think about the reaction when
David Chase ended The Sopranos midscene – how the switchboards at the
cable companies lit up with complaints at the abrupt ending. Regardless of
whether they liked the ending, all people were talking about the next day was
how he ended the show. His did his job in spades.
Entertainers are paid to make the audience feel something. This is a
foundational concept to understand what I try to do as a writer. It is not
only our job; it is our mission.
—Chris

6
 STORIES IN VIDEO GAMES

We’ll be starting out in Chapter 2 by exploring the history of storytelling in

games and how the different storytelling styles appeared, grew, and evolved
over the years. We’ll also be examining some of the games that helped define
the storytelling styles of their generations and how they’ve affected current
storytelling trends.
In Chapters 3, 4, and 5 we’ll delve into the basics of any good story: the struc-
ture and character development. Important topics include common story themes,
maintaining proper flow and pacing, and creating interesting and believable char-
acters. Throughout all three of these chapters, we’ll also be looking at a variety of
different games to help get a better idea of how these elements work in practice
and the different ways they’re used in games. If you’re new to story writing, pay
close attention to the material in these chapters and you may be able to avoid
many of the common mistakes made by beginning writers. If you’re already an
experienced writer (for games or any other medium), think of these chapters as
a refresher and a look at how the story elements you’re already familiar with are
adapted for use in games.

My Approach to the Job

Game stories are drama, and drama is about structure first and foremost and
character secondarily. What this means is that unless you are paying a writer
to help design the sequence of events in a game, you are only getting a small
piece of what he or she can bring. The real work of a writer is to design the
setups, the payoffs, the reversals, and the surprises – to design the “gap
between expectation and result,” as Robert McKee said.
—Chris

Chapter 6 builds on the previous chapters by explaining what elements really

make stories interactive and/or player-driven – things that even many experienced
writers have trouble properly defining. It will also provide a brief overview of the
different story types and structures used in games, giving you a hint of the things
that will be covered later on.

You Can Have Both

We’ll talk about how you resolve the conflict inherent in designing a story
that makes the players feel something, that manipulates them, and that can
be player-driven at the same time.
—Chris

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CHAPTER ONE • GAME STORIES, INTERACTIVITY, AND WHAT PLAYERS WANT

Once you know the basics of story writing and have a grasp of the different
types of interactive stories and their histories, it’s time to move on and learn
how to actually create those stories. Chapters 7 through 11 each take a particular
interactive storytelling style and examine it in depth, explaining how that type of
story should be planned and structured, its unique advantages and disadvantages,
and any unusual challenges you may come across. Throughout these chapters,
we’ll also be studying a wide assortment of games that use these styles. Those
games will show the many different approaches that game writers take with their
stories as well as give you a sense of which elements do and don’t work well
and the things that may need to be improved upon in the future.
Though you’ll probably be familiar with many of the games discussed, there
will likely be a few that you’ve never played or possibly never even heard of. Keep
in mind that to properly explain and discuss the stories of these games, I’ll often
have to summarize many different parts of the plot, including big twists, endings,
and the like. Naturally, the best way to become familiar with a game’s story is to
play the game for yourself. Even though I’ll be pointing out the occasional flaw
or problem section in some of these games, they’re all excellent titles and, if you
have time, I highly recommend playing as many of them as you can. Although
I may have to give away some parts of a game’s plot for the sake of discussion,
there will always be plenty of surprises left untold. So even if you’ve already read
about a game here, don’t be discouraged from picking it up and giving it a try for
yourself, even if it’s a type you don’t usually play. You never know, you may find
out that you enjoy that kind of game a lot more than you thought.
As I said before, game stories are an evolving art form and, like any art form,
there are a variety of opinions on which styles and methods are the best and which
should be discarded, which brings us to the last part of the book.

Interactive Stories vs. Traditional Stories:

The Great Debate
The first big game storytelling debate was centered on the question of whether games
even needed stories to begin with. However, at this point that debate has all but ended.
The answer? Yes, no, and maybe. In the end, it all depends on the game. Sports and puz-
zle games, for example, focus primarily on their core gameplay. As long as the game-
play holds up, little need is seen for a formal story. On the opposite end, even though
people often do enjoy the gameplay in adventure games and role-playing games
(RPGs), many fans of those genres have little interest in titles without interesting char-
acters and deep storylines. In the end, games don’t “need” stories. If a game is fun, peo-
ple will play it. However, nearly any game can be improved – often significantly – by a
good story. Although it’s taken time, the majority of the game industry seems to have
finally realized this fact, as evidenced by the rising amount of story-focused games in
genres that were once known for having very basic stories (first-person shooter
[FPS] and action games, for example) or even no stories at all (like puzzle games).

8
 INTERACTIVE STORIES VS. TRADITIONAL STORIES: THE GREAT DEBATE

There’s a Story Behind Every Game

Man’s natural desire to make sense of his world is so strong that if game
designers abdicate all authorial responsibility and try to create a game
without a story, players will impose a story upon the game anyway,
regardless of whether the designers had one in mind. Because of this
reality, designers must make story-related decisions (even if it is simply on
the level of what the game pieces look like or what the background music
sounds like) in such a manner that supports all the other game elements
and forms a coherent whole. To do that successfully, they must understand
how story works in the audience.
—Chris

However, with the debate on the need for stories over, a new one has sprung up
to take its place. Now that it’s been decided that stories have their place in games,
the question is what types of stories are best? Unlike books, TV, and movies, games
are designed to allow the player to take an active role in the story, be it the hero, a
group of heroes, or an undefined guiding force. At first, the player’s role in the
story was only to help his or her heroes succeed by fighting monsters, solving puz-
zles, jumping over gaping pits, and the like. Assuming that the player successfully
got the heroes from Point A to Point B, the story would continue the way it was
supposed to and that was that. But it wasn’t long before game designers and wri-
ters started experimenting with the familiar formula. They sought to give the
player control of not only battles, exploration, and puzzles, but also of how the
story itself played out. In real life, if the princess were locked in a castle waiting
to be saved, the brave hero doesn’t really have to save her. He doesn’t even have
to try. Maybe he’d rather stay home and drink, hook up with her younger sister,
or even defect and join her kidnapper, the evil vizier (which is a redundant title,
because – in the world of video games clichés – it can generally be assumed that
all viziers are evil). In a book or film, that type of interaction is extremely difficult
and inconvenient to create. In a video game, however, which is built around inter-
activity and player choices, the technical limitations all but disappear (though
other problems, which will be discussed throughout Chapters 7 through 14, still
remain), allowing designers and writers to create many different paths for the
player to take.
Over time, there’s been a stronger and stronger drive to create games that give
players more choices and more control over the story itself. Some of these games
have been fairly successful; others have not. Many people in the game industry
champion these highly interactive player-driven stories as the ultimate form of
storytelling and as the way in which the industry as a whole must head if it wants
to continue to grow and evolve as both a medium and an art form. There are

9
CHAPTER ONE • GAME STORIES, INTERACTIVITY, AND WHAT PLAYERS WANT

others, however, who insist that putting too much control in the hands of the
player is a mistake and that more traditional forms of storytelling are still the best.
But, in the end, no matter how much freedom is given to the player, he or she still
experiences the story in a linear fashion (even if the player gets to choose which
line to pursue).
The debate is ongoing and complex, with proponents on both sides weighing in
on a large number of different factors in an effort to prove that their form of story-
telling is superior. To get a better understanding of this important debate,
Chapter 12 looks at the argument from the point of view of the pro-player-driven
storytelling group, carefully summarizing their key statements and points as to
why a high degree of player control makes for a better story.
Chapter 13 will do the same for the traditional storytelling supporters,
providing a detailed look at their primary points and arguments. If you’ve yet
to seriously explore this issue, these chapters will give you a solid summary of
both sides’ viewpoints and help you start to form your own thoughts and opin-
ions on the matter. If you’re already firmly on one side of the storytelling debate,
I recommend that you read through both chapters with an open mind and care-
fully consider the arguments made not only by your side but by the opposing
group as well. Perhaps you’ll even find your own perspective shifting when all
is said and done.
Although the opinions of the game design and writing community are of course
very important, something just as important – if not more so – is the opinions of
the players themselves. In the end, games are made for and supported by ordinary
gamers, so their opinions need to be taken into account. Many industry profes-
sionals claim they know what players want, but how can they be so sure? Having
been unable to find any serious research on the subject, I set out on a mission to
dig deeper and try and discover just what it is players want from a game story
by conducting a set of national surveys on the matter. Do players want freedom
to do as they please or do they want a tightly controlled experience? Do most of
them even care? And how do these preferences affect which games they buy?
The results of my research are in Chapter 14 and provide answers to these all
important questions. Whether my discoveries put an end to the debate is up for
you to decide, but no matter which side of the issue you’re on, I’m sure you’ll find
some interesting things to think about.
Finally, in Chapter 15 we’ll be taking a look back at all the things we’ve
covered and use them to peer ahead and consider what the future is likely to
hold for storytelling in games. Only time can tell whether those theories will be
true, but either way, it’s bound to be an interesting ride. Whether you want
to write for games or just play them, and no matter which side of the debate
you’re on, it’s an exciting time for video games, stories, and everyone who
enjoys them.

10
 SUMMARY

Summary
Stories, whether read in books, watched in movies, played in games, or heard
about from another person, are an important part of our lives. They’ve inspired
us and shaped the ways we act and look at the world since the dawn of mankind
and will continue to do so for as long as we exist. Games may be a new and differ-
ent form of storytelling, but that doesn’t make them any less important.
Writing stories for games is challenging and requires thinking about and dealing
with many issues and challenges that other writers never have to consider. And
although adding a high degree of interactivity significantly increases those chal-
lenges, it can also allow the player a unique opportunity to take an active role
and shape the progression and outcome of the story, though whether or not giving
players that much control is a good thing is a complex issue that is frequently
debated by those in the industry. Being a game writer can be fun, but there’s also
a lot of difficult work involved, so let’s get started.

11
CHAPTER ONE • GAME STORIES, INTERACTIVITY, AND WHAT PLAYERS WANT

Things to Consider
1. What key events in history have been influenced by stories?
2. How have stories influenced your life? Which stories have had the greatest
impact on you?
3. What makes writing for games different from writing for books or film?
4. How much control do you think players should have in game stories and why?
Keep a copy of your answers and see if you still feel the same way once you’ve
finished reading this book.

12
CHAPTER
Two
A Brief History of
Storytelling in Games

Before we start seriously looking at the nuts and bolts of game storytelling, I think it’s
important to pause and take a look at the past. Games have come a long way since the
days of Pong – and it’s not only the graphics, sound, and gameplay that have
improved, but the storytelling as well. It’s interesting to trace the history of game
stories as they evolved from a few lines of text or a couple of pixelated cut-scenes
to the complex high-definition multimedia experiences of today and look at the titles
that helped shape the eras in which they were released. Of course, a complete study
of game history would require an entire book of its own, but we have time to take a
look at a few of the highlights. In the end, no matter how much games continue to
grow and change, they’ll still be partially shaped by the events and titles of years past.
As the saying goes, “To understand the future, one must first look to the past.”

The Beginnings of Game Stories

In the earliest days of video and computer gaming, there were no such things as
stories. Beginning in 1962 with the creation of Spacewar! (which was later renamed
Computer Space and released as one of the earliest arcade games in 1971), the first
wave of video and computer games could do little more than move a few dots and
lines around a screen. Not only could they not display long lines of text, but they
lacked the memory required to store it. The explosion of the arcade market following
the release of Pong in 1972 did little to improve the situation. Due to serious hard-
ware and memory constraints, any story was limited to a few of lines of text printed
on the side of the arcade cabinet. Though some arcade games managed to fit in a few
words or a short cut-scene or two, it wasn’t until the late 1970s (for computer games)
and the early 1980s (for arcade games) that things began to change.

# 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 13

CHAPTER TWO • A BRIEF HISTORY OF STORYTELLING IN GAMES

Case Study: Donkey Kong

Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Designer: Shigeru Miyamoto
System: Arcade
Release Date: 1981 (US)
Genre: Platformer
Nintendo’s Donkey Kong was a game of firsts. It was the first game designed by
industry legend Shigeru Miyamoto (who also created many other Nintendo
series, including Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, and Pikmin), the first
game to feature the iconic Mario (then named Jumpman) and Donkey Kong,
the first platformer game (or possibly the second, depending on whom you
ask), the first game to include multiple level types – and Nintendo’s first big hit.
It was also the first game to use cut-scenes to visually portray a complete story.
Though Donkey Kong wasn’t the first game to tell a complete story (it was
predated by early computer text adventure games, which we’ll be discussing
shortly) or the first game to use cut-scenes (a few other arcade games came
first), it was the first to combine the two elements and marked the beginning of
a gradual movement toward more story-based games in the arcade market.
Donkey Kong’s story is told over the course of four levels. As the game begins,
we see the giant monkey Donkey Kong grab a woman (originally known
simply as Lady but later renamed Pauline) and climb to the top of a tower.
Mario (Jumpman) gives chase but Donkey Kong damages the structure and
proceeds to sneer down at him. At this point, the level begins and the player is
tasked with guiding Mario to the top of the tower while dodging rolling barrels
thrown by Donkey Kong. Throughout the course of the level, Pauline
frequently cries for help, adding to the urgency of the situation. Should the
player manage to reach her, Mario and Pauline stare into each other’s eyes and
a heart appears above their heads. However, that heart is soon broken as
Donkey Kong grabs Pauline and makes off with her. Levels 2 and 3 are similar,
with Mario pursuing Donkey Kong and Pauline across increasingly complex
and difficult areas. In the fourth and final level, Mario is able to remove the
supports from the building, causing Donkey Kong to plummet painfully to
ground and allowing Mario and Pauline to finally reunite.
Although Donkey Kong’s story may seem simple by modern standards, it
was the first arcade game to add any sort of background information or story
to the game itself rather than just printing it on the cabinet. It was also the
first game of any kind to tell a story using a series of cut-scenes. It would still
be a few years before stories started becoming an important part of arcade
and console games, but Donkey Kong was the game that started it all.

14
 THE BEGINNINGS OF GAME STORIES

FIGURE
2.1

Dirk the Daring is off to rescue the princess in Dragon’s Lair. Image courtesy of Bluth
Group, Ltd. (1983), Don Bluth.

Two years later, in 1983, Dragon’s Lair took things considerably further.
Created by former Disney animator Don Bluth, Dragon’s Lair used movie-
quality animation to tell its version of the classic princess-in-distress story with players
helping bumbling knight Dirk the Daring on his quest to rescue Princess Daphne
from an evil dragon. The use of laser discs for storage, combined with beautiful
prerecorded video sequences and voice acting, allowed Dragon’s Lair to achieve a
level of audiovisual quality and storytelling that it would take other games years
to reach. However, the heavy reliance on prerecorded video did limit Dragon’s
Lair’s gameplay. With each obstacle Dirk faced, players could do nothing more
than choose from one of several prompts and then watch the predetermined outcome,
boiling the gameplay down to a combination of luck and memorization and
severely limiting replay value. Despite its flaws, Dragon’s Lair remains an important
title in the history of game storytelling and allowed gamers a very early glimpse at
what the future of gaming could hold.

FIGURE
2.2

Dirk vs. the Lizard King. Image courtesy of Bluth Group, Ltd. „ (1983), Don Bluth.

15
CHAPTER TWO • A BRIEF HISTORY OF STORYTELLING IN GAMES

Text Adventures and Interactive Fiction

In 1976, a few years before Donkey Kong’s debut, computers saw their first story-
based game with the creation of Colossal Cave Adventure (also known as Colossal
Cave and, more commonly, Adventure), the first text adventure or IF (interactive
fiction) game. Though the original version ran only on a massive mainframe
computer, rapid advancements in technology soon allowed Colossal Cave and
other IF games to reach the consumer market.
Text adventure titles were, as their name suggests, entirely devoid of graphics.
Areas, items, and characters were described to the player via blocks of text and
the player interacted with the game by entering simple words or phrases such
as “go east,” “open door,” and “use sword.” As computers of the day lacked
the power and memory necessary to spell-check or otherwise verify multiple
variations of phrases, they could usually understand only one or two versions
of each command. So although “use sword” might produce the desired result,
“swing sword” would instead display an error message, leaving the frustrated
player to try and figure out why a seemingly reasonable action wasn’t recog-
nized. Many text adventures were also famous for their difficult gameplay, which
was often based around complex maze-like areas and tricky inventory-based
puzzles. Character deaths also tended to be a frequent occurrence, often as the
result of seemingly benign actions, and in some games it was even possible to
unknowingly perform a wrong action and render the entire game unwinnable,
something that the player might not discover until hours later. All of these
elements are frowned upon in modern gameplay, but at the time, they were not
only acceptable but expected.
The stories in text adventures varied wildly, covering many different genres and
writing styles. Though most cast players as a nameless generic hero who has to
explore a strange area, others placed more of a focus on character development
and plot-driven stories. From an interactivity standpoint, interactive traditional
stories, multiple-ending stories, and branching path stories were all frequently
employed, and a few titles even neared the level of freedom and choice available
in open-ended stories (a summary of the differences between these storytelling
styles can be found in Chapter 6, with in-depth explanations in Chapters 7 through
11). Text adventures enjoyed a brief golden age during the late 1970s and early
1980s, but as computer technology continued to advance, they were soon replaced
by more visually pleasing graphic adventure games. They retain a small but dedi-
cated fanbase that continues to make new text adventure games under the IF
moniker.
The first computer RPGs also began appearing in the early 1980s starting with
Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness in 1981. Though their stories initially lacked
the depth of those found in the better text adventures, they evolved quickly, offer-
ing better sound and graphics along with deeper gameplay and more complex
storylines, eventually helping inspire famous console RPGs such as DRAGON
WARRIOR (1986) and FINAL FANTASY (1987).

16
 TEXT ADVENTURES AND INTERACTIVE FICTION

Case Study: Colossal Cave Adventure

Designers: William Crowther, Don Woods
Publisher: CRL
System: PDP-10 (later ported to a variety of other computers)
Release Date: 1976 (original version), 1977 (updated version)
Genre: Text Adventure
Created as a hobby by caving enthusiast William Crowther and significantly
expanded the following year by Don Woods, Colossal Cave Adventure marked
the start of the adventure game genre and was the first game to feature a full
in-game story.
>You are standing at the end of a road before a small brick building.
Around you is a forest. A small stream flows out of the building and
down a gully.

And so it begins. The story itself is pretty simple. You play as a generic hero
(or yourself, if you prefer) who finds himself standing in the woods (described
in the previous text quote). Exploring the building will turn up an all-important
lamp and several other useful items; after a little more wandering around,
you’ll come across the entrance to a cave. Loosely based on the layout of
Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave, the cavern is a vast maze of twisty little passages
and strange rooms. An assortment of dangerous creatures roam the area,
ranging from the realistic (a bear) to the fantastical (dragons, dwarves, and
so on), but there is also a plethora of fabulous treasures to be found. Of
course, many of the treasures (as shown by the following quote) are either
guarded or otherwise difficult to obtain.
>You are inside a barren room. The center of the room is completely
empty except for some dust. Marks in the dust lead away toward the far
end of the room. The only exit is the way you came in.
>There is a ferocious cave bear eying you from the far end of the
room! The bear is locked to the wall with a golden chain!

The solution to this bear room involves using some food (which you may
or may not have picked up earlier) to feed and pacify the bear, unlocking the
golden chain (if you previously found the keys), taking the chain (it’s a
treasure), and then getting the bear to follow you, as he’ll come in handy
later on.
Though Colossal Cave almost fits the mold of a fully player-driven story,
just turning you free to explore and do as you please, there’s a loose plot
thread strung throughout the game about the mystery of the caves and why
all these strange things are inside. Also, although the game doesn’t tell you

17
CHAPTER TWO • A BRIEF HISTORY OF STORYTELLING IN GAMES

exactly what your goal is other than exploration and survival, there is an
ending, trigged by collecting all the treasures and solving a final puzzle.
However, as your character has very limited inventory space and is
hounded by treasure-stealing pirates and other hazards, the treasures have
to be safely stored in the building from the start of the game (another thing
that the player must figure out on his or her own).
As with many other text adventures, it’s possible to make the game
unwinnable by accidentally losing or destroying important items.
Completing Colossal Cave without the use of a guide requires playing and
restarting the game many times while making a map of its vast and
confusing tunnels. The game also features a point system with a maximum
possible score that can be obtained only by collecting and keeping every
treasure with no deaths before your lamp runs out of power (which puts
an end to your explorations, unless you previously traded a certain treasure
for extra batteries), a feat that requires detailed knowledge of the cave and
some careful planning to achieve.
Many modern gamers may scoff at the lack of graphics and find Colossal
Cave’s unforgiving gameplay frustrating, but it provides a fascinating look at
the start of the adventure game genre, and its twisty passages and imaginative
chambers are just as engrossing now as they were over 30 years ago. If you’re
interested in exploring the roots of PC gaming, you can find out more
about Colossal Cave Adventure and download many different free versions
of the game at http://www.rickadams.org/adventure/. (I recommend the
Windows version of Adventure 3, which, aside from being based on the most
popular release, also runs well on most current computers.)

RPGs, Adventure Games, and the Growing

Importance of Stories
Today, games with deep stories can be found in every genre, but from the late 1980s
until the mid 1990s, the stories in most games tended to be simple variations of
the “rescue the princess” or “save the world from the evil villain” themes. Though
there were exceptions, deep, complex stories were mostly limited to American RPGs
and adventure games (on the PC) and Japanese RPGs (on consoles).
On the PC side, newer and better hardware allowed text adventure games to trans-
form into graphic adventure games. Though originally nothing but text adventures
with simple static artwork, adventure games soon grew to include detailed animated
graphics and more user-friendly point-and-click interfaces. The so-called golden age
of PC adventure games featured many excellent titles but was primarily dominated
by two developers. The first was Sierra, with popular series, including King’s Quest,
Space Quest, and Leisure Suit Larry. The second was LucasArts, with games such as

18
 RPGS, ADVENTURE GAMES, AND THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF STORIES

The Secret of Monkey Island, Sam & Max Hit the Road, and Day of the Tentacle. Many
of these titles are still as fun and hilarious as they were when first released and are
available in various classic game bundles and from downloadable game services.
Adventure games from this era were often characterized by bright, colorful
graphics and humorous storylines. The gameplay tended to emphasize a mix of
conversations, item collection, and inventory-based puzzles. Though interactive
traditional stories were the most common, some multiple-ending and a few
branching path stories were used as well. Though far less frustrating than many
text adventures, point-and-click adventure games often featured at least a few
puzzles with highly illogical solutions and frequently forced players to engage in
a “pixel hunt,” which refers to the process of moving and clicking the mouse all
over a screen in hopes of finding a missed item or other important “hotspot.”
Although early point-and-click adventure games also retained the frequent deaths
and unwinnable scenarios that plagued text adventures, they soon began to move
away from that (led by LucasArts), eventually reaching the point at which it was
impossible to become permanently stuck and there were few, if any, ways to die.
The genre later underwent another significant change in 1993 with the release
of Cyan Worlds’ classic adventure game Myst. In a significant change of style from
the games that had come before it, Myst used a first-person perspective and made
the player (instead of a developed character) the hero. It also replaced the cartoon-
like 2D graphics with highly detailed 3D scenes, emphasized ambient sounds
rather than a full musical score, and made its puzzles environmental in nature
rather than inventory-based. Myst also took a much different approach to its story.
After being transported to the island of Myst by a strange book, the player is given
free rein to explore and try to solve the island’s many tricky puzzles. The story is,
in contrast to most adventure games of the time, very serious and told primarily
through a series of notes and journals scattered about the islands, leaving players
to track down and piece together the clues and determine why the island of Myst
and the other ages it links to are deserted and how the two brothers Sirrus and
Achenar have become trapped inside a pair of unusual books.
Myst’s sharp departure from the formula used by past adventure games was
a surprising success, making it the bestselling PC game of all time until 2000
(when it was unseated by The Sims, which we’ll discuss in Chapter 11) and spawn-
ing several sequels and a massive number of clones and copycat games. The Myst
style continued to dominate the PC adventure game genre for several years until
the steady rise of FPS, MMO (massively multiplayer online), and strategy games
took over the PC market and forced the adventure genre into near dormancy.
Throughout all this, PC RPGs continued to evolve as well, led by the Ultima and
Might and Magic series, though the changes were nowhere near as drastic as
those seen in the adventure game genre. Primary improvements included better
graphics, the switch to a first-person perspective (for some but not all titles), and
increasingly complex gameplay systems, many of which were based heavily on
the classic tabletop RPG Dungeons & Dragons. From a story perspective, the
increase in available memory allowed for more text, which led to longer in-game

19
CHAPTER TWO • A BRIEF HISTORY OF STORYTELLING IN GAMES

conversations and branching dialog systems in which the player could frequently
choose between multiple responses to questions and inquiries posed by nonplayer
characters (NPCs). An interesting thing to note is that although console RPGs
(which we’ll be discussing in a moment) focused primarily on character-driven
stories featuring well-defined heroes and villains with complex personalities
and backstories, PC RPGs tended to feature generic heroes and focus more on
exploration and character building with broader yet simpler storylines.
Meanwhile, as personal computers were still relatively new, complicated, and
expensive, consoles continued to dominate the game market. The NES (Nintendo
Entertainment System) and later Super NES and Sega Genesis were vast improve-
ments over earlier systems such as the Atari 2600, allowing for games with better
graphics, more varied gameplay, and longer and deeper stories. Though most of
the popular genres of the time, like platformers and action games, kept their stories
short and simple, the storytelling in RPGs rapidly improved. Unlike PC RPGs,
which were developed in the United States, console RPGs were primarily devel-
oped by Japanese companies such as Square and Enix (which eventually merged
to form Square Enix). No one would call the stories in RPGs such as the first
DRAGON WARRIOR or FINAL FANTASY masterpieces, but their epic quests and
twisting tales stood in stark contrast to the brief cut-scenes and scattered lines of
dialog found in other games of the time. In addition, some games such as Castleva-
nia II: Simon’s Quest began to introduce multiple-ending storytelling, allowing
players to have a say in how their stories ended.
When the Super NES and Sega Genesis began their battle for living room domi-
nance, RPG makers took advantage of the increased power and memory to hone
their craft and tell increasingly rich stories. Square led the charge, creating many
classic titles such as FINAL FANTASY VI (originally released in the United States
as FINAL FANTASY III), CHRONO TRIGGER (which we’ll talk about more in
Chapter 8), and SECRET OF MANA, which are still considered by many to feature
some of the best gameplay and stories the genre has ever seen. FINAL FANTASY VI
in particular is known for its diverse and interesting cast of characters (including
fan favorite villain Kefka) and deep story, which touched on many mature issues
such as death, suicide, and teen pregnancy. Other notable titles include Nintendo’s
Earthbound and Super Mario RPG, Enix’s Illusion of Gaia and Ogre Battle, and
Sega’s Phantasy Star series. Although interactive traditional stories still dominated
the period, CHRONO TRIGGER used multiple-ending storytelling to great effect and
Ogre Battle featured a complex branching path story.
Unfortunately, though console RPGs were huge hits in Japan, with new Square and
Enix titles frequently resulting in long lines of fans camping out to await their release,
they remained a niche market in the United States. Whether this was due to a lack of
advertising, their complexity, or their radically different gameplay styles when com-
pared to the market dominating platformer games is hard to say. Regardless of the rea-
sons, this situation led to many Japanese developers refusing to release major RPGs,
even extremely popular ones, in the United States (such as FINAL FANTASY II, III,
and V, FRONT MISSION, STAR OCEAN, and DRAGON WARRIOR Vand VI). Others (such

20
 RPGS, ADVENTURE GAMES, AND THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF STORIES

as FINAL FANTASY IV) were significantly edited or scaled back to make them “easy
enough” for American gamers. Fortunately, the stories mostly remained intact (aside
from occasional translation issues) and began to show U.S. gamers that game stories
could contain the same depth and complexity found in novels and films, though it
would be a few more years until gaming’s story revolution truly began.

Case Study: FINAL FANTASY IV

Developer: Square Co., Ltd.
Publisher: Nintendo of America, Inc.
Writers: Hironobu Sakaguchi, Takashi Tokita
System: Super Nintendo
Release Date: November 23, 1991 (US) (originally called FINAL FANTASY II)
Genre: RPG
Other PlayStation (included in FINAL FANTASY CHRONICLES, 1997),
Versions: Game Boy Advance (2005), Nintendo DS (2008), Wii Virtual
Console (2010)
FIGURE
2.3

The cast of FINAL FANTASY IV (from the DS version). „ Square Enix, Co., LTD.
All Rights Reserved.

Square Enix’s FINAL FANTASY series is one of the most well-known RPG
franchises the world over. Unlike its biggest competitor DRAGON QUEST (also
by Square Enix), which focuses on traditional old-fashioned RPG adventures,
the FINAL FANTASY series has always striven to push the envelope, try new
things, and advance the genre and the game industry as a whole. Many of the
gameplay elements that were first introduced in FINAL FANTASY games have
gone on to become standard features in hundreds of other titles. FINAL
FANTASY games (especially the numbered “main series” entries) have
developed a reputation for cutting-edge graphics, sweeping musical scores, new
and innovative battle and character development systems, and – most
importantly – memorable characters and deep, complex storylines. Because of

21