The Language of Videogames: Part 6 Combined Understanding

Previously I mentioned how the future of videogames lay within ludonarrative resonance, the seamless melding of story and gameplay. The idea was briefly mentioned and championed. Yet, a further look into the realities of how narrative and ludic elements can be combined is needed. To just say they can be without explanation would be incomplete and lacking. To fully comprehend the language of videogames the player must have an understanding of the ludic elements; “win-states”, gameplay and interactivity, as well as the narrative elements; plot, setting, characters. Total fluency amounts from a combined understanding.

After watching the developer commentary on Journey for the first time I was dismayed. The game’s designers, artists and programmers explained how each part of Journey was made. They were all quite proud of the work they had done. Yet I could not accept what was being told to me. I was Dorothy having just seen behind the current. Journey was not the magical, rapturous game that stood as the foremost example of games as art; it was a bunch of men and women behind a fancy screen using cloak and dagger misdirection to make Oz. It ruined part of the experience for me. Of course I always knew that games were made by development teams sometimes ranging into the hundreds of people, but that somehow floated away from my recollection at the time. Here were the people how made Journey explaining that the gameplay worked like this, this art was inspired by this, this level was designed for this reason. They broke the game apart into its individual ludic and narrative elements. I was crestfallen.

Eventually I regained sense of myself and of videogames. When I watched the commentary again I was amazed by the synergy thatgamecompany was able to create with Journey. The ludic and narrative elements of the game work in tandem to create an experience unlike any other offered in videogames. Of course Journey is just a bench mark example of ludonarrative resonance; not perfect, but damn near close. That is because Journey was designed from the beginning with emotion in mind to be the final end goal. The “win-states” in Journey consist of exploration and flight. Both are actions that are intimately tied to joyous feelings. The narrative is one of redemption and rebirth that again builds a strong emotional connection. Journey has very little ludonarrative dissonance because both the ludic and narrative components of the game were designed with the same goal in mind. 

Focused development on the core aspects of the experience is often the best way to avoid ludonarrative dissonance within a videogame. When the entire team is focused on one end goal the total project benefits. The ludic elements of the game must work with each other to further the experience the developer is attempting to make. “Win-states” need to have functioning input from the player to work. Simply put, if the player cannot interact with the game in a constructive way then the “win-states” serve no purpose. A similar manner must be applied to the narrative elements. Story needs to work with art direction and sound design to effectively build a narrative worth exploring through the game play. Finally the two must be merged in a way that benefits both of them. When reading a book, to continue to the next plot point in the story all the reader has to do is turn the page. The action is not very disturbing to the experience at all. However when playing a videogame to progress to the next plot point the player must engage in game world via the ludic elements the developer has designed for the player to use. When done incorrectly the ludic elements can be very disruptive to the narrative and the narrative can be disruptive to the ludic elements. 

When done properly the player should not be able to discern the difference between the gameplay and the narrative portions of the game. A combined understanding of both is necessary for the player to do this. Videogames are a language through which the developer engages with the player.  Just as the developer must put forth to create, the player must put forth to accept. A combined understanding of ludic and narrative elements will make the game experience better. Most ludic elements fostered through the language of videogames can be learned through observation, experimentation and response followed by applied assumptions. I say ‘most’ ludic elements because videogames are still evolving. The language of videogames is in a constant state of expansion and growth. Narratives on the other hand have been around much longer. That is not to say that they have no room to grow, just that they have already been long categorized and explained. Narrative elements such as plot, setting and characters are already well known and understood. The player can be considered fluent in the language of videogames when they have a combined understanding of both ludic and narrative elements of game.

Combined understanding fosters ludonarrative resonance in videogames. The developer must be fluent in the language of videogames to make, write, an experience that the player can then pick up on as someone playing, reading, the game. Engagement between the player and the developer is the basic unspoken pack that all videogames operate on. Both parties expect something from the other for the total experience to work as it was intended. And no matter how fluent either party, developer or player, is the game will ultimately be un-engaging if either one of them does not accept the agreement. Videogames are the developer’s artist and creative expression, the player is there to experience it. True combined understanding is the understanding between developer and player.