When I play video games, one of the things I really look for is an absorbing story. It’s not a make-or-break component in a game, but a great story often elevates a game’s rating in my eyes. I love plot, characterization, the whole deal. So, it’s kind of strange when I look at my video game collection. If you sort out all the puzzle games that don’t have stories (which is most of them), and you filter out the sports titles, you have a massive number of games. And I’ve found that in the overwhelming majority of them, the ultimate goal is to save the world. For all that I love playing all these games, I’m playing the same story over and over again.
This rather quickly depressed me. When I watch movies, I watch for all kinds of stories. I watch stories of betrayal. I watch stories of survival. I watch stories of true love. I watch stories of love falling apart. I watch stories of alienation and finding one’s true place. I watch stories just to laugh at the foibles of those on screen – and my own flaws. And yes, I watch epic stories of good versus evil with the fate of the world at stake. But that last category only comes up sometimes. Yet, when I sit down with a game, I go in knowing that’s probably what I’m going to see.
Ordinarily, I’m quite vocal about the fact that video gaming has some decent writing in there, which goes under the radar. Some of my favorite stories, the ones I keep revisiting, are within video games. Sometimes, these are parts within a whole, like the opera scene in Final Fantasy 6. Sometimes, it’s the whole of the game, like in Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals. Sometimes, it’s heart-rending like in Final Fantasy Adventure. Others, it’s hilarious like in Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga. But if you go looking for it, there’s some great writing in video gaming.
The biggest problem isn’t the quality of the writing. It’s not even the quantity – I’m constantly told of several games which I really need to play because I’d love the story. And yes, I promise I’ll get around to playing Disgaea one day. No, the big problem is that the variety isn’t there. To some extent, I know it’s easy to take comfort in the story you already know. It was kind of nice to pick up The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and know that Hyrule needed an epic bailout. Again. But even as I enjoy all the Zelda games, it occurs to me that my favorite entry in the series was Link’s Awakening. And of course, Link’s Awakening is the one Zelda game in which you never try to save the world. That can’t be a coincidence.
And it’s not just my quirkiness that results in me attaching to unusual games. My wife loves ToeJam & Earl, in which you’re just trying to help two aliens get home. The goal of Katamari Damacy is to make the sky beautiful again, and that game is nearly universally loved. Harvest Moon is an entire series devoted to just running a farm and creating a life for your character. The WarioWare games are as popular as ever, and the main theme of those is to act silly, it seems. Grand Theft Auto, while not my cup of tea, attracts millions of gamers due to their stories of revenge and ambition. Maybe most of the industry hasn’t noticed, but I have. We like different stories. For those that worry that something other than “Save The World, part MMMDCCXLIX” isn’t going to attract a fanbase... geez, look at it. A game is practically guaranteed sales and critical attention if it dares to break out of the standard story.
I think the problem might be, quite simply, that most video game developers don’t involve writers. This isn’t to say that a non-writer can’t come up with a good story. But a non-writer isn’t as adept at as many story styles, and typically falls back on just the one. So developers have gotten really good at the “Save the World” sorts of stories, while neglecting all the others. It’s almost like Stephen King, really. He has his one trick, and he rides it beyond the sunset. And as we all know, it’s not exactly a compliment to be compared artistically to Stephen King.
My suggestion is that video game developers work more on different concepts, and use them to tell a different story. I knew things were out of hand when I had to prevent a complete dimensional breakdown in Pokémon Diamond – how much further could it all go? I’m not saying we abandon the “Save the World” routine at all. Just that we mix things up a bit. Look, if one of the most memorable video games of the previous generation used a drunk celestial being as a major plot point, I think we can move beyond having to save anything to get through a game. There are many ways to move forward with a story. Video games should start using them.
