Reflection:
- The chapter is interesting to me because (as they discuss) Final Fantasy IIV was an iconic RPG breakthrough game that was heavily story driven
- I knew it was big but hadn’t really appreciated the long effect of it’s mechanics and emotionally driven plot
- It was interesting to read how the game made sense despite there being discontinuities between the active nature of the battle scenes and the passive nature of the story. They make the case that the narrative is so effective because it “competently emulates cinema” (pg. 57).
- They also discuss the fact that eventually the game allows for emergent play with the world map and I remember how exciting this felt when I first encountered it.
What next:
- I need to think carefully about the way that I can help the player of my game feel like they are part of a story. I will have to look for simple and effective solutions and perhaps I should also look to cinema to help breathe life into the images and text that I will be using.
Reference
Holmes, D. (2012) “The Greatest Story Ever Told”: Final Fantasy IIV in A mind forever voyaging : a history of storytelling in video games. Createspace Independent Publishing Platform.
