The Value of Video Games for Storytelling

An explanation of how engaging storytelling can be in gaming

I also published this story on Medium.

Photo by Onur Binay on Unsplash

Video games have come a long way since the days of text-based adventure games and simple pixelated graphics. I adore them as they stimulate my imagination and broaden my horizon.

Today, they are a highly versatile medium that can be used to tell stories in a personal and immersive way.

In fact, one of the defining characteristics of video games is their ability to allow players to actively engage with the story and characters, making choices that affect the game's outcome.

Early Examples of Storytelling in Gaming

One of the earliest examples of storytelling in video games is the text-based adventure games of the 1970s and 1980s, such as “Zork” and “Colossal Cave Adventure,” which featured simple stories and required players to type in commands to progress through the game.

These early games laid the foundation for future developments in the medium, but it wasn’t until the introduction of graphical elements that video games began to truly shine as a storytelling medium.

The introduction of the CD-ROM in the 1990s allowed video games to feature full-motion video, voice acting, and other cinematic elements, which greatly enhanced the storytelling potential of the medium.

Games like “Myst” and “The 7th Guest” used these new technologies to create immersive and atmospheric worlds that players could explore and helped pave the way for more advanced storytelling in video games.

As technology continued to advance, video games began to feature more advanced graphics and sound, which allowed for more complex stories and more immersive gameplay.

Games like “Final Fantasy VII” and “Metal Gear Solid” featured rich and complex storylines, fully-realized characters, and intricate world-building, allowing players to become fully immersed in the story.

These games also introduced the concept of cutscenes, which were used to convey story elements that couldn’t be shown through gameplay alone.

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