At least for me, the story, whether it's twists and turns or a straightforward Hero's journey, isn't the prime motivator of pushing forward in one - it's the music that's the key component of narrative for me to have emotional resonance. It works in concert with the other elements of presentation, but it is the music that gels the narrative beats into place. This probably stems from ye olde days when games couldn't rely on movie-esque CG cutscenes, nor had voiced dialogue, so the music was the only way to convey emotional depth through sound.
Two immediate examples that I think of are (please forgive me for only posting Square games, there are plenty others that have great examples too)
Yes, it's 17 minutes of narrative driven primarily through music. Uematsu exploited this to it's limit on the humble SNES hardware. It's a testament to music's ability to drive a game's presentation.
I've often wondered why I like so many games that have cheesy dialogue, tropey characters, and sometimes nonsensical or overly convoluted plots. I think it boils down to the music, at least for me. I don't know if it's just my imagination or what, but the soundtrack tells part of the story. So, even if you have some corny dialogue in a scene that's meant to be impactful, the music aids it and gives me that emotional connection. I don't think it's all powerful as to override straight up contradictory elements like murderous dialogue or something during a peaceful track, but it's like an alternate narrative thread as I interpret it. Music can't solely carry a game if none of its other parts match up for the player, but it can elevate the game to higher heights. I think the most distilled form is games that are more like interactive art, like Journey, wherein there's no dialogue at all and the game relies on the ambient sound design and the score to create emotional resonance.
I don't want to discount the effect of visual presentation. It's unquestionably more important from an overall perspective. But music is the thing that can take a story-driven game from good to great. Or at least, is a massive, no less than crucially important, part of it.
Two immediate examples that I think of are (please forgive me for only posting Square games, there are plenty others that have great examples too)
- Chrono Trigger - Reaching the kingdom of Zeal after first traversing a barren ice scape with only the sound of wind, and then hearing the music kick in when you take the teleporter
- Xenogears - Reaching the city of Shevat after seeing it pass by several times through the course of the game, having climbed the ruins of the Tower of Babel and hearing the theme start as you ascend the elevator
Yes, it's 17 minutes of narrative driven primarily through music. Uematsu exploited this to it's limit on the humble SNES hardware. It's a testament to music's ability to drive a game's presentation.
I've often wondered why I like so many games that have cheesy dialogue, tropey characters, and sometimes nonsensical or overly convoluted plots. I think it boils down to the music, at least for me. I don't know if it's just my imagination or what, but the soundtrack tells part of the story. So, even if you have some corny dialogue in a scene that's meant to be impactful, the music aids it and gives me that emotional connection. I don't think it's all powerful as to override straight up contradictory elements like murderous dialogue or something during a peaceful track, but it's like an alternate narrative thread as I interpret it. Music can't solely carry a game if none of its other parts match up for the player, but it can elevate the game to higher heights. I think the most distilled form is games that are more like interactive art, like Journey, wherein there's no dialogue at all and the game relies on the ambient sound design and the score to create emotional resonance.
I don't want to discount the effect of visual presentation. It's unquestionably more important from an overall perspective. But music is the thing that can take a story-driven game from good to great. Or at least, is a massive, no less than crucially important, part of it.
