As a person who enjoys video games quite frequently, I find that there are a lot of different ways video games can be excellent. Personally, the quality of story telling and the emotions put into said story are powerful and make for an immersive experience. There are many games that I have played in the past that just simply worked when it came to such story telling.
Immersion Boosts the Story
One of the most beneficial pieces to video game stories is the fact that they’re immersive. It’s not just simply reading a book or watching a movie–though those can also be immersive–it’s about being able to physically play the story. Video games back at their beginning weren’t really such immersive cinematic pieces of media. They were more like what we’d think of when we hear “arcade games.” As our technological advancements increased over time, so did the quality of video games. With this quality, the immersion only goes up and creates a fully interactive story. RPGs are especially good at making such immersion even more intense with choice-based gameplay.
Nostalgia is part of the Deal too
Remember when Halo first came out? People were stoked beyond belief and it instantly became a hit success amongst people with the first Xbox to ever release. Over time, Halo continued onwards and recently released their newest addition: Halo Infinite. This game has proven to be a nostalgia trip for many older players of the game. You may wonder why, but I think the answer is simple: A story that was part of your childhood is back after nearly ten years. That’s something that’s not simple for most people to just ignore. The same is true for many games like Call of Duty or Assassin’s Creed. We tend to look at these games from a nostalgic lens and remember the story for what it was.
Games are Intense. Very Intense.
It’s true. Video games are typically full of conflict and action. Most popular video games are either action-adventure or first person shooter. FPS is by far the most popular video game genre in the world. FPS games are not only about shooting a bunch of pixels that move because of some code. No, there are many FPS games that deliver powerful and immersive stories full of memorable action. Call of Duty, Battlefield, Crysis, Far Cry, and so many others come to mind. They’re intense and truly deliver upon their promised action-packed gameplay.
My Favorite Story-Based Games
Okay, time to take a dive into my favorites. You see, I will eventually write full analyses on why these games are great, but for now, let’s just take a basic look at the whole thing:
Assassin’s Creed
The Assassin’s Creed franchise published by Ubisoft has long been my favorite franchise. It was the first true video game I’d ever played and I couldn’t get enough of it. I currently own every single Assassin’s Creed game and some I own on multiple platforms (I may be biased towards Ubisoft’s games just a bit lol). It has always been a pinnacle of video game storytelling for me, as there is not a single game of that franchise I have played where I was bored or annoyed or wanted to quit. Every single one of those games is my absolute favorite. From the first to Valhalla, I have found myself immersed in the powerful lore of this series. I mean, it’s about Assassins and Templars and ancient aliens and assassinating and all that cool stuff. As an author of SciFi/Fantasy, yes, aliens will get me involved a little too much in a story.
Far Cry
Aha, another Ubisoft game. Yeah, you caught me. No, but seriously, Far Cry is a franchise that I can’t forget about. I started with Far Cry 5 and am planning on playing 3 and 6 next. I love Far Cry because it’s an FPS, but it’s also a powerful story. Yes, the gameplay formula is the same across the franchise, but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Far Cry 5 was amazing in my eyes. It had psychology, cults, Montana, rural areas, basically all the things I find interesting. I love psychology and occultism and I frequently interject those ideas in my own books. I invent cults in my stories all the time and frequently watch documentaries on them because they’re just that darn interesting. And I grew up in a rural area, so there’s that.
Call of Duty
Now, here’s a game not published by Ubisoft. This one’s published by Activision Blizzard. Call of Duty has always been a franchise I value because it had the ability to immerse me into a story and its characters and literally make me nearly cry on several occasions. And the music makes me cry sometimes. I’m lookin’ at you, Modern Warfare 3! No, but seriously, Call of Duty is amazing. Its intense and action-packed gameplay paired with their character development makes for a wonderful story. I feel like I can definitely get inside the mind of some of these characters and feel the same way they feel during certain scenarios. I especially loved the Modern Warfare series, because the stories just felt so real to me. Modern Warfare 2019 was probably the hardest to play, as the scenes in that game eerily resembled things I’ve seen on the news before. It was well done to say the least.
Conclusions
In the end, if you’re an avid video game player, take a step back and look deep into the story. I guarantee you that you’ll begin to notice how amazing it truly is. I’m currently playing Death Stranding, Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, A Plague Tale: Innocence, and a few others. To be very honest, I love them for more than just their gameplay. Video games for me are a way to live the story, just like I do when I write books.
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