The time period known as “ludonarrative dissonance” and it’s the incongruity between the participant character in gameplay and the participant character in narrative. Usually, this occurs when the narrative design doesn’t work carefully sufficient with the gameplay design to make sure a cohesive narrative and gameplay expertise. This usually occurs due to the totally different speeds at which these get designed – not all gameplay techniques exist or are mapped out when preliminary narrative design occurs, and we will proceed engaged on gameplay lengthy after main narrative voiceover recording is already set in stone. The participant character complaining about killing a story enemy stands out as bizarre whereas the occasion already slaughters hundreds of anonymous minions in gameplay for ranges and loot.
The alternative idea additionally exists – it’s known as “ludonarrative concord”. These are video games the place the gameplay and mechanics of the sport work in tandem with the narrative to bolster and assist one another hit more durable. The Phoenix Wright Ace Lawyer video games are a reasonably good instance of this – the participant is utilizing detective and interviewing abilities to advance a case and discover a killer. The issues the participant does and the narrative often line up nicely sufficient that the weather really feel congruous and work collectively to turn into greater than the sum of their components.
The final significance of this relies on how necessary the workforce management cares about it. If the artistic and workforce management desires to embrace ludonarrative concord, they must implement it by the workforce’s tasking and prioritization.
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