Characters: A good story needs to have distinct, believable characters. Many characters within stories will have definitive good or bad personalities so the player can define between the good and evil.
I personally, will often prefer the "false hero" or sometimes the "villain" in a story because their actions and morals are more realistic and easier to relate to. Heroes that are too perfect in their morals can sometimes feel too superior and arrogant or just unrealistic.
A successful story will be able to appeal to a mass audience, the franchise of Star Wars is a good example of this because it has multiple elements. The conflict and battle, best represented by the famous light sabres. It contains the young boy and his struggle and growth into becoming a hero seen through Luke Skywalker, it also contains romance between Hans Solo and Princess Leia. All of these genres appeal to many audiences, and the created world becomes a place every viewer can imagine themselves set in.
Physical story worlds can be seen in Theme Parks. They create a physical fantasy environment for visitors to explore, much like exploring a world in a video game, visitors can be immersed into whichever area they like.
Ludologists are people who believe play is more important in games whereas Narratologists are people who believe the story is more important in games. I believe games need a good balance between the two because if one was without the other, it would have to be exceptionally good to still be a good game. For example, if the game play was not very fun, the story would have to be gripping enough to make the player want to continue, and vice verse, if the story was not very exciting, or lacking, then the game play would have to be really fun to keep on playing. Games which started out with the game play idea, such as Portal and its unique puzzling game play, are proof that a vast and dynamic storyline is not necessary to create a good game, however, when you add a storyline, the world becomes more immersing and the player begins to care about the characters (such as Chell and the ever witty GLADOS) and continuing the game is about finding out where the story will lead, as well as the fun of the game.
A good story will introduce the problem within the first 5 minutes of the game/film/story so as to grip the viewer straight away.
TASK 1: Answer these questions:
a. What is the relationship between the main character and the goal of the game?
b. Why does the character care about the goal?
Answers in the context of the game Dragon Age: Origins
a. Ultimate goal is to survive, must defeat The Blight to do this.
b. The character suffers a tragedy at the beginning of the game, this leads to the joining of a group of warriors called Grey Wardens who are trained to defeat the Blight and it is their duty to protect the people of Fereldon. When another tragedy strikes, your character becomes one of only two surviving warriors, so the character feels compelled to take on the task.
TASK 2
a. Take a franchise (e.g. Star Wars)
b. Jot Down 5 Iconic Elements
c. Why are these elements memorable?
d. Why are they important elements to your chosen franchise?
The franchise I have chosen to look at is the Harry Potter franchise. Five iconic elements I think of are: Magic, the world is set in the real world, but with Magic, this makes almost anything possible, which is why it is both important and memorable. Hogwarts is another big element, it is important because it represents a home and sanctuary. Its memorable because it is where the majority of the story takes place. The third element I thought of is Harry's Scar, it is important for a number of ways, it represents the tragedy of Harry's situation, it identifies him, it is his signifier to both the reader and other characters in the book and it aids in the story (it burns at significant points of the book). All these aspects is what makes it so memorable. Another element I think of when I think of this franchise are the school houses. They are memorable because of their physical representation )colours, names and animals) as well as the characteristics they value. For example, Gryffindor is represented by the colours of Mahogany and Gold the Lion , this house values courage, bravery and chivalry. The houses are also important because they can group people together and give reason for them being together, it is unlikely that the trio would be friends if they weren't in the same house and forced to be in the same group. The final important element I think of is the character or Dumbledore, he is important because he plays so many roles within the story, almost every role of the 8 broad characters Vladimir Propp describes. He is a father figure to harry and many other students, he represents all knowledge and the rival to any evil, he also represents safety as most characters are shown to believe they are safe from the dark evil of Voldemort if he is around. He is almost as memorable as Harry because of all these things and shows a resemblance to what we know of Merlin from children's tales of King Arthur with the long white hair, beard and robes.
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