Generation Overview: Storytelling Trends
Which stories video games have been telling in the last 7 years?
As the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X arrive, a new game generation start. Although the Nintendo Switch is somewhere in between that gap, it is somewhat of a consensus that, with these new launches, gaming technology takes another big evolution leap. On the one hand, we are curious to see what will come next. But on the other, this is the time when we get to finally stop and analyze what the generation coming to an end has given us.
Since narrative games are a passion, I decided to offer an analysis of what, in my opinion and regard, were the narrative trends in terms of storytelling along the last generation (something spanning from 2013 to 2020). They might grow and thrive in the next generation, serve as a basis for new developments or give way to new trends. Be aware that some mild spoilers might be ahead, since the games will be mentioned according to their plots. That being said, which stories have our games told in the last seven years?
Artificial Life
More than ever, games embraced artificial life as a main topic. The topic is surely not new, but the plurality of representations and the frequency were remarkable. From “Fallout 4” to “Horizon Zero Dawn”, from “Detroit: Become Human” to “Overwatch”, the idea that life can be recreated by men flooded video games.
Never before, so many AAA games decided to focus on that, and especially not in such depth. By discussing how life can be (re)created, games finally joined literature and film in a very interesting philosophical matter: the nature of creation.
And it comes in all sizes and flavors. We saw life recreated through technology and robotics, as well as through supernatural, frightening, profane ways (“Resident Evil 7" has a foot here). “Fallout 4” played with the idea that the artificial, at some point, can no longer be distinguished from the so-called natural (and it´s similarities with “Westworld” are not by chance and already have spawns). If “Detroit: Become Human” went the already well-paved way about robots and their relationship with humanity (their creator), “Horizon Zero Dawn”, took a more daring approach, thinking of a whole world engineered by and for life created by men.
The details here are tantalizing. An example? The Islamic religion doesn´t allow the “recreation” of animals and humans, for those are “God´s work”. This is why Islamic architecture and art normally feature arabesques and abstract shapes. So, how would a Muslim person contribute to the recreation of life on Earth? The game gives a Muslim woman (!!!) the responsibility to gather and secure all the knowledge humanity has ever produced, delivering it to the life to be created. She is therefore not betraying her beliefs, but safeguarding them (and all of humanity´s knowledge with it). A brilliant detail that reveals how deep this game generation went in the matter.
Since this is a traditional trend in every media, it will probably go on to the next generation, although it might not stand out so much as it did in this one. This is not the freshest trend out there and, as much is it can be still explored, it should probably not be in the center of stage that much anymore. If it remains a trend, however, we are probably about to see it pushed even further, maybe to extents that film, TV and literature haven´t yet embraced, since most of it has already been done.
Remakes
This generation saw MANY remakes. Really, a lot of them. “Final Fantasy VII”, “Resident Evil 2”, “Zelda: Link´s Awakening”… They are, except for details, not a new story, let alone a new narrative trend. But they sell. And, oh boy, how they do… That, together with the fact that the critique praises and awards remakes, make them relevant for narrative in games, as they already are for TV and film — books, being a “straight forward” medium, can´t be “remade”, suggesting that it has to do with visuals and not with content.
As the new generation comes with even more powerful engines and hardware, the trend might grow up. Which means there will be a tendency to tell the same story — or plots — over and over. A pity, since it leads more to a very good looking nostalgia than a future that looks really good…
Japan
Being one of the world´s main video game hubs and producers, Japan has always been part of video games stories. But never it was so present and in so many AAA games. “Persona 5”, “Ghost of Tsushima”, “Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice” (Game of the Year 2019), “Nioh”… All of them with a Japanese setting, characters and legends. While western films still struggle to make accurate representations of the country, — that disgrace called “The Last Samurai” being the epitome of it — this generation turned Japan into the “America” of video games.
Of course, representation is not always perfect, especially coming from the west, and “Ghost of Tsushima”, for example, had its share of critics. But all in all, it still brings a Japanese experience to players, much more often than other audiovisual media. And by doing so, it approaches global audiences to a very local reality, exotic to some, but more and more familiar to players.
And the approaches are also many. “Persona 5”, for example, is all about contemporary Tokyo, going to a Japanese school and dressing sleekly. While “Sekiro” offers a fantastic recreation of feudal Japan, bringing it alive with weapons, mechanics and, of course, very, very difficult bosses.
This is a trend that will probably grow, as Japan consolidates its position as one of the world´s greatest entertainment creators. And it´s just adequate that it happens through video games, a media that Japan masters like few others.
America: according to non-Americans
If Japan amplified the representations of itself during the last generation, the same can´t be said about the United States. Yes, they are still very present in a plethora of stories, as they have always been. But what was new in this generation was seeing the United States being portrayed not by themselves, but by creators from all over the globe.
Be they motivated by marketing or politics, those representations resulted in some of the most interesting political, social and aesthetic commentaries we have ever seen about the USA, including literature, film and TV (media in which Americans also play a meaningful role).
Think of “Horizon Zero Dawn” (although written by an American, the main concept and the designers, as well as the studio behind it, are Dutch), “Death Stranding” (Hideo Kojima´s version of an apocalyptic America) or “Far Cry 5” (a Canadian commentary about their neighbors). Very differently from the America portrayed in “GTA V”, “Fallout 4” or “Red Dead Redemption 2”, since those are dystopic versions of the country we grew up watching on TV and movies. But this generation, we took it more to the unfamiliar side. And because the creators are “outsiders”, they also make it “exotic”. An anthropological exercise of strangeness towards something familiar that only an interactive media can provide.
From the trends here presented, this is probably the most discrete one, but its implications are, aesthetically, both huge and impactful. With the growing of the gaming industry around the globe, — but the USA still being the biggest market — we tend to see more and more games that show America through foreigner´s eyes. A vision worth beholding. And thinking about.
Environmental Storytelling
Until now, storytelling in games meant, mostly, telling them, literally. Besides some very special exceptions, dialogues, writing or cutscenes were the way the medium showed the player “what was going on”.
But this generation saw environmental storytelling thrive. We are talking about the story told by the mise-en-scène, the relationship among characters, the backgrounds, a lot of clues you see, gather and infer. Not because you need to. Not because the game progress depends on that. But just because you want to and the narrative was designed in such a way as to allow that.
“Hollow Knight” does that brilliantly, with a dark, gloomy, still beautiful tale. But open world games are the main driving force here, so “Fallout 4” (the whole “Pickman´s Gift” or the “Cambridge Polymer Lab” quests, for example), “Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt” (the full “Ladies of the wood” arc) and “Red Dead Redemption 2” are pretty good examples of environmental storytelling. Some of the “ancient” rooms found in “Horizon Zero Dawn”, are also a perfect example of how much can be told without words.
Since the next generation is relying a lot in graphic processing and loading speed, this could not only be enriched, but developed to whole new levels, including animation and sound.
Family matters
Families have always been present in games, but the degree and depth brought by this generation stands out as a trend that marked some of its greatest games. “God of War” had Kratos fighting gods, as usual, but the biggest struggle was to connect with his own son. Alloy, from “Horizon Zero Dawn”, lost her father figure in the beginning of the game and her whole adventure is a search for her mother and her true identity. “Detroit: Become Human”, had one of the plots circling around maternity and the nature of a family, regardless of what it´s made of. Sam Bridges crosses a country to find his sister in Death Stranding, but also gets involved in matters of paternity and childhood. And of course, Ellie´s and Joel´s relationship sets the tone for almost everything that happens in “The Last of Us — Part 2”.
Because games got so emotional, they opened up to feature topics mostly restricted to media like literature or film. And this is not only welcome: it took the medium to distances nobody could imagine in just a few years span. As the next generation comes, not only this trend could grow, but also the one about amorous relationships, today reduced to the chastity and morals of a Disney movie. Most of it comes from the fact that “the big 3” (Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft) don´t allow “pornography” (meaning explicit sex depiction or nudity) in their platforms, obliging game creators who want to get to the consoles to stay away from sex as a topic. Blowing heads and tearing up limbs is OK, tho…
“Arthouse games”
We are used to see the so-called Arthouse Movies in the mainstream. They get nominated for Oscars, their directors end up doing super hero movies or some actors revealed in Twilight might prove themselves more than just a pretty face making some of those. But when it comes to games, arthouse is mostly labeled “indie”. That is still a reality, but this generation saw some of them arise as big award contenders or even get the promotion and praise of their fabled AAA cousins. Or even were one of them.
Now, “Arthouse” can be a pretty wide term, but generally, it would refer to films that, somehow, don´t fit in the more traditional frame of how a movie should look like and what it should talk about (at least commercially speaking). The same goes for games. Instead of being the hero, you might be the villain. Instead of action, you might be playing with boredom. Instead of killing, you might have to constantly die.
From the “indie” realm, games like “What remains of Edith Finch”, “Abzû”, “Firewatch” and “Everybody´s gone to the rapture” took us to journeys (pun intended) in which we thought about our life, the lives of others and what it means to play video games. We shed some tears — not a very common reaction while “playing” — and we even got some pieces of philosophy here and there.
Being “meta” is also a common characteristic they share with film: most of those games are “aware” of their own medium and invite the player to the same condition. More than just being immersed there, you suddenly see yourself aware of that fact, all implications together — a free game called “Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist” is a fantastic recent example. This trend also include games that use their own language as part of the narrative, like “Return of the Obra Dinn” or “The Witness”.
And of course, having a strong message behind the gameplay is even a category in the Game of The Year Award (“Games for Impact”). Among those, we would find “Celeste”, “Gris” and “Life is Strange 2”, for example, all with important and interesting social content.
And two of the biggest AAA games of the generation took a nose dive on that style: The Last of Us — Part 2 and Death Stranding. A movement that can´t be ignored and that, hopefully, will grow even further, making the possibilities offered by the new generation not only comfort or cosmetic, but also impactful to the very language of games.
Can you think of some other narrative trends that stood out in this generation?
