Video Game Storytelling

These four elements—consistency, coincidence, spectacle, and surprise—are the primary factors that can affect believability in a fictional work.

Each arc includes a beginning point (who is this character and what is his situation when we first meet him?), a middle point (what happens along the way?), and an end point (where does this character and/or his situation end up?).

There are all kinds of Heroes, but they tend to have certain things in common. Once again, this list includes:

▪ Having desires and goals the player can identify with

▪ Changing and growing over the course of the story

▪ Taking action to resolve the conflict

▪ Taking personal risks for stakes that are equally personal

▪ Being willing to sacrifice it all

Every time you decide to have the Villain do something, ask yourself:

▪ What does this Villain want?

▪ What is his plan for getting it?

▪ Does this current action jibe with the previous two answers? Does it seem to be part of an evolving plan?

▪ Does it make sense? Is it believable?

▪ Does it make him look smart, stupid, or just random?

So again, what the Hero wants and what the audience wants should be as closely matched as possible.

The better we as the audience can relate to him, and the more sympathetic we are to his situation, the stronger the emotions the story can potentially elicit from us.

The Shapeshifter is a character about whom the audience isn’t sure—someone who might be untrustworthy, who can’t be relied on, who might betray the Hero and change sides at a moment’s notice.

the most important thing to understand about the Villain is that he’s the generator/defender of the main conflict, and that he exists to present the final challenge to the Hero. The conflict can’t be resolved until the Villain has been dealt with.

Whether snarky, ditzy, clumsy, or flamboyant, a character embodying the Trickster archetype infuses comedy and lightheartedness when the story needs it the most.

Threshold Guardian—or in modern parlance, the Henchman—does exactly what his classical name indicates: he blocks the progress of the Hero.