Interactive Narrative

The Witcher Sage is a series renowned for intricate and in depth story telling which changes depending on the stance or action of the player in certain scenarios. These attributes; the actions and effects are key components to interactive narrative within video games. However, the term can be much broader, broad enough to encompass any video game with semblance of a story line, for the simple fact of the player playing is an interaction within the universe the story is taking place. Taletale games are considered to be among the vanguard of the interactive narrative genre due to the focus on player choices and the effects they have upon the game’s narrative, taking the course of the story in completely different direction.

Personally I believe that interactive narrative still has a big place within the games industry. It is a brilliant and sometimes astonishing way to have an individual interact and engage with a narrative on a personal level, different from that of written narrative, television or cinema. Though this may not be a celebrated reason for the interactive narrative genre, the stories and worlds they create enable individuals to escape the monotony of life for a brief few hours, taking them from their sofa in rainy Southampton into the war torn regions of the Witcher fighting all sorts of monsters, or into the depths of space saving the galaxy in games such as Mass Effect or Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic.