Game Narrative

Story is very important to me, whether it be in a movie or a game. Most things rely on a good story as their foundation, and I also enjoy playing games that revolve around great stories.

I'll begin with the Legend of Zelda series. This is a great series of games that revolve around recurring themes and storyline. The world of Zelda has its own characters and lore that enrich the game play. The game itself is moved along by the plot, and while you play you feel immersed in the story of Link and Zelda. When I was little I started out with playing the Ocarina of Time. I was hooked to this great N64 game. I was pretty young (and sucked really bad at it) but I enjoyed it nonetheless. For me, I wanted to know the story of these great characters. I so desperately wanted to know how the story would end that I actually had my older cousin beat Ganandorf for me just so I could see the ending! I've been hooked on the franchise ever since, so I like to think that this proves how successful the narrative was in the case of the Zelda series.

A more recent series I have been playing is the Professor Layton Games. Created for the Nintendo DS, these games are set up as playable detective stories. While the gameplay revoves around solving puzzles with the Professor, narrative is the overall driving force of the game. Between each "chapter" of the game there are little movie clips that move the storyline along. The Professor also keeps a journal of his findings and his thoughts on the events throughout the story that you can read along with. Each game ties into the last to move the story along (aside from the most recent, which is a prequel story.) I really enjoy the Professor Layton games and it is currently my favorite series. I am currently playing Professor Layton and the Last Specter.

Another game I have recently started playing is Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon! I was obsessed with the original Luigi's mansion for the gamecube. It is a great combination of my favorite virtual plumber and haunted houses and spooky ghosts! So far Dark Moon has been a really great play. The narrative isn't as engaging so far as the original Luigi's mansion story...but I'm still pretty early in the game.

Comics!

Growing up I had little experience with comics. In fact, I had more experience with the characters themselves. I used to live and breathe Batman the animated series. Looking back, I'm surprised I never got into American comics sooner...especially with my love for Batman and the Justice League.

Honestly, my first experience with graphic novels was with Manga. I was in seventh grade at the time, and began reading series like Fruits Baskets, Saiyuki, Bleach and Yu-Yu Hakusho. They are still some of my favorite series to this day, having been a big influence on my art at the time. I'm not sure what it is about anime and manga, but it sure seems to influence a lot of people in middle school. I know there are some people who look down on manga and anime, but I still really enjoy it. I started reading some DC comics when I became a freshman here at Ringling. Since then, my comic collection has been growing!

In these past few years, I've began to see how vast of a medium comics have become. They are no longer contained by a few pages in thin paper books. They have grown and expanded into hardcover novels and exploded into different mediums like television, movies, games and the web comics!

Speaking of webcomics, they are my current addiction. They are easy to read, and can incorporate all different elements like animation and music! I truly believe that this will be the next big platform for the comic industry. I'm sure there are people pushing to get comics app friendly, but for now the internet is the best place for both new and professional comic artists.

Here is a taste from some of the successful web comics of the past few years:

xkcd

Homestuck

Nimona