Monday, January 8, 2018

Why is structure so important in storytelling?

A couple of days ago I was thinking about storytelling in the games that I have played. I was thinking about how important it is that the storylines in these games are well written and that the structure in them makes sense.

After all, when you manage to make the structure work and seem plausible, it's going to be so much easier to create a good story. It's so much easier to come up with a game that people are going to find enjoyable and worth playing.

So when it comes to good storytelling games, in most cases people probably like to refer to the 'Uncharted' series on Playstation 3 & 4. These games have managed to entertain us over the years and have kept us satisfied as players.

One of the biggest reasons that the series has managed to be so entertaining is that it has managed to respect the story structure. In most cases the series has managed to pay attention to this important aspect of storytelling.

When it comes to having a good structure, it's about having elements in your story that keep you entertained and immersed. A well structured story means that the story sucks you in and you can't take your eyes off the screen.

The best way to achieve this immersion is by coming up with a story that is well thought out and balanced. You need to have a solid premise, relatable characters and an overarching storyline, so that your story beats could make sense throughout the length of the game.

In the case of 'Uncharted', the game has been so entertaining, because we get to play a likable, 'Indiana Jones' type character in the game. We get to play Nathan Drake, a likable and relatable character who's always ready for another adventure.

Whether we're talking about him trying to follow Marco Polo's foot steps and trying to find the lost city of Shambhala, or him trying to find pirate Henry Avery's lost treasure and his hidden pirate colony, he's the guy that we want to spend our time with.

The series has worked in most of its installments so well, because the story manages to stay on point. The game pushes our characters to the right direction and most of the sequences in the game are well thought out and balanced.

Still, this is not to say that 'Uncharted' hasn't had any problems as a game series and that it has always gotten everything right. I'm not saying that all the installments in the franchise have been flawless and that the story has always been great.

On the contrary, especially when it comes to the third installment in the series, 'Drake's Deception', it has to be said that there were really big problems with the story. The structure was lacking and it was difficult to enjoy the game in certain places.

By that I mean that even though the main characters were still as likable as we've used to seeing them and even though the main storyline was still okay, that wasn't enough. The game had an awful pacing and the structure was simply not there.

As unfortunate as it is, especially in the second half of 'Drake's Deception', the game went on a such lengthy and unnecessary tangent that the structure of the story fell apart. The game, more or less never got to recover from that storytelling mistake.

In that sense, when you think about the 'Uncharted' series and storytelling in general, we shouldn't forget how important it is to make sure that all the aspects in the story work. We shouldn't forget those crucial things that matter and take them for granted.

After all, even though it's true that characters and storylines count the most, they are not the only things that matter. It's not enough to think that as long as your characters are likable and your storylines have potential, you have everything figured out.

In the end, the truth is that you still have to figure out things like story beats, pacing and the overall story structure. They are going to count too, so you have to make sure that you come up with stuff that fits in with the rest of the elements in the story.

In that sense, even though Uncharted 3: 'Drake's Deception' clearly was a big success saleswise - like those other 'Uncharted' installments - that doesn't mean that it was much of a success when it came to its story and how the story beats were executed.

On the contrary, the game managed to become a hit despite its unfortunate storytelling mistakes. It was a massive hit, even though it was clear that there were a of lot of problems with the structure and that the story as a whole didn't work that well.

No comments:

Post a Comment