"Beyond: Two Souls" and "The Last of Us" Narrative Comparison

Computer games have lamentably been kept to such niche, and exist under a false essence as being immature and a waste of time. While, beyond any doubt, there are in fact whimsical/childish computer games out there, that doesn't imply that there aren't mature, engaging and worthwhile video games out there; just because there are childish films and TV programs out there it does not detract from the more quality shows. By and large, narrative and games share a couple of characteristics; however games are a little different niche due to their interactivity and simulation. Additionally, the improvement of game has demonstrated that stories are only a part of the game. They do not form the key element of game, they help the need to keep games interesting and entertaining[footnoteRef:2],[footnoteRef:3]. Narrative too is kind of representative because it lacks the interactivity and the limitations inherent in using stories and the experience of the game user. Thus, games and narrative both have key roles to play in the service of entertainment, they may have some similarities however, and games are not an extension of narrative. Computer games did not begin as a medium with the capability of relaying convincing stories[footnoteRef:4]. Indeed, the idea of narrative in games was not present in the earliest forms of computer games. Hence, the idea of computer games being a narrative medium is a moderately new thought. While there are computer games that have been in existence for over 15 years that without a doubt relay convincing stories even when assessed by today's standards, video games have only recently come to a point where they can be regarded as a narrative medium[footnoteRef:5]. [2: "Next Level." Next Level. http://gamedev.dmlive.co.nz/page/12/] [3: Grant, Howitt. "Writing Video Games: Can Narrative Be as Important as Gameplay?" 2014. http://www.theguardian.com/culture/australia-culture-blog/2014/feb/21/writing-video-games-can-narrative-be-as-important-as-gameplay.] [4: "Video Games and The Hero's Journey." IGN. December 12, 2013, http://www.ign.com/blogs/marcelinesdad/2013/12/12/video-games-and-the-heros-journey/.] [5: Jan, Simons. "Narrative, Games, and Theory." Game Studies. Accessed July 15, 2015. http://gamestudies.org/0701/articles/simons.]

The issue is that computer games are totally misjudged by the overall population. While there are computer games that can tell convincing stories - drawing in narratives that are on the same level as movies and TV shows. According to Dubbelman, the contrast between representational and presentational forms of narrative as suggested ought to help in making a distinction (an elemental one) in the expansive scope of narrative formats that exist today, yet may not be enough to depict the complicated differences between formats utilizing the same rationale[footnoteRef:6]. What Dubbelman is discussing here is that, notwithstanding these different ways, a player can be relayed to a story either through a 1st person presentational strategy, or a more hands off representational technique, there still exist a typical issue of communicating these distinctions utilizing the rationale one would utilize when converting one narrative format to another[footnoteRef:7]. Coming back to the concept of the role of the player, various video games have distinctive methods to confine the player to a certain world -- something that are not precisely available for other narrative media. By having the capacity to control the protagonist, the player has the capability of assuming different characters or roles depending on the type of video game being played[footnoteRef:8]. Story development in video games is a component of how these distinctive levels of time structure relate or interact in the gameplay or the experience of the game which is the result of the pre-outlined narrative content, the potential of the story and the actual unraveling story made through the action of the player[footnoteRef:9]. This paper focuses on a textual investigation of the game "Beyond: Two souls" concentrating on its characters. The paper also includes an analysis of the game "The Last of Us" to shed light on the differences with regards to narratives in games by looking and comparing different aspects of narrative in games. [6: Teun, Dubbelman. "Playing the hero: How games take the concept of storytelling from representation to presentation." Journal of Media Practice 12, no. 2 (2011).p.169] [7: James, Plyler. "Video Games and the Hero's Journey."p.21] [8: Ibid ] [9: Lindley, E. "Story and narrative structures in computer games." Bushoff, Brunhild. ed (2005).p.1]

The discussion as to whether games are narratives has suffered from a lack of thorough, theoretically grounded arguments and from a fundamental perplexity between descriptive and normative approaches. This, certainly, is not true, but rather the two debates conflated: one is a design-based debate of the failings and the potential of game-based narratives, and the other is the debate of whether games can be considered to be stories[footnoteRef:10]. The former is normative and somehow speculative and discriminating, and the latter is theoretical and descriptive. Despite the fact that it is true that over-speculation can result in a dilution of the logical utility of an idea or concept we cannot disregard the idea that users activate the story components of games. By activated, the idea is that regardless of the fact that games have exceptionally pre-decided storylines, users still needed to interact with the game's system in order for the pre-composed storyline to be actualized[footnoteRef:11]. According to Aarseth[footnoteRef:12], the distinction between narratives and games is not in black and white. Notwithstanding, games and narratives appear to share various components, to be specific events, objects, agents and a world. It is essential to note that these components are likewise the cognitive building blocks of human reality, as well as symbols of the same. It is subsequently useful to find neither narratives or games the priority, but instead to base the model in the essential reality that brought both forth, and that both are a part of, in ways which are somewhat different[footnoteRef:13]. It must be said at this juncture, that "games" are not just merely games, but rather they are sophisticated software programs that are capable of emulating any medium, including text, graphic novels, film and for that matter, other real life sports and games. [10: Ostenson, Jonathan. "Exploring the Boundaries of Narrative: Video Games in the English Classroom." (2013). http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/EJ/1026-jul2013/EJ1026Exploring.pdf, p.72] [11: Calleja, Gordon. "Narrative Involvement in Digital Games." In Conference proceedings from Foundations of Digital Games. Chania, Crete, Greece. 2013.p.1] [12: Espen, Aarseth J. Cybertext: perspectives on ergodic literature. JHU Press, 1997.p.5] [13: Craig, Chapple. "Telling Tales: The Art of Narrative in Games." Telling Tales: The Art of Narrative in Games. 2014. http://www.develop-online.net/analysis/telling-tales-the-art-of-narrative-in-games/0201176.]

We usually make the mistake of utilizing the metonymic term "recreations" for computer programs that are essentially coordinated crossmedia packages, for example, Max Payne (2001), which involves graphic novel pages and film-like cut scenes (brief animated film clips that pop up intermittently during the game, and also other elements.

There is not one, but rather a wide range of strategies which have been employed pretty much effectively to make "video games" to "tell stories," and a ludo-narratological approach of this design space should then be able to account for the differences between "narrative games." Game worlds are physical or virtual (pseudo-physical) structures that are obviously delimited and depicted by topology or geometry. They cannot be equated or likened to fictional worlds in that they have, in contrast to fictional worlds, quantifiable or measurable, extension that can be investigated straightforwardly by an independent agent. Fictional worlds rely upon imagination, whereas game worlds have objective existence, regardless of the fact that they exist only in computers.

In any case, the world exhibited in a game is often not necessarily a game world only. Games can contain two sorts of space, the ludic and the extra ludic; the field of play, and the surrounding non-playable space. In quite a number of games most of the space is extra ludic and the ludic space only makes up small and narrow corridors or trajectories that are encompassed within static landscape. In other games, for instance, chess, the ludic space occupies the entire game world. In yet other games, players attempt to increase the ludic space by creating more of it as part of their gameplay[footnoteRef:14]. [14: Espen, Aarseth. "A narrative theory of games." In Proceedings of the international conference on the foundations of digital Games. ACM, 2012. pp.129-131]

The role of the player in video games can take care of different functions in relaying the game's narrative and comprehension of the different strategies of the player role in narrative-oriented game aid in comprehending video games are a form of narrative medium[footnoteRef:15]. Computer games have so much to offer: they tell convincing stories in a manner that no other narrative medium can, and they help to sharpen the minds or to improve the IQ of those who play them regularly. It is likely that as computer games develop both technically and in narrative they will eventually get the consideration and admiration that they deserve, however until then further approval of their credibility is welcome by both experts in the field and video game fans. [15: James, Plyler, p.21]

Beyond: Two Souls is a game that is delivered in the game world through a series of fragmented recollections, the player controls the character Jodie Holmes, a troubled individual who is linked to another entity, referred to as Aiden. This unworldly link forms the core of the narrative of the game, as the challenging alliance between the two characterizes the protagonist's life. It is disappointing then, that even with the kind of video technological advancements available to the developers of the game, they still could not quite settle on one main theme to explore. The one single narrative failure or flaw in this game is that, the game's narrative attempts to do too much; the storyline awkwardly meanders through romance, horror, sci-fi and more, never actually staying long enough one a particular genre to make a significant impact.

The plot particularly struggles a lot when it ventures outside of Holmes' personal story, flirting precariously with huge brands including James Bond as it blunderingly portrays covert military side stories and more. The strongest moments of the game occur when the emphasis of the game is on the main character. There are various moments throughout the parts of the game focusing on the main character that will give a player goose-bumps, as she or he interacts with the game in a manner that is almost completely different from everything that precedes it. One scene, for instance, involves the player heading to an arrogant teenager's birthday party. A party in which, a case of underage drinking takes an inevitable turn for worse. Another extensive scene sees the player getting ready for a date, and is then diverted into cleaning his up-market city flat while Aiden attempts to scatter his plans. These lengthy scenes will sure not prove popular with impatient gamers, however the precise interactivity combined with Ellen Page's uncovering monologues makes these scenes infinitely more touching and special compared to the intense action encounters[footnoteRef:16]. [16: Sammy, Barker. "Review: Beyond: Two Souls (PlayStation 3)." Push Square. October 8, 2013. http://www.pushsquare.com/reviews/ps3/beyond_two_souls]

Actually, even though character animations are without a doubt the highlight of the game, the scenic imageries, in Quantic Dream's latest release are captivating. Each of the scenes or places in the game world give a sense of real life correspondence and relatedness, with a huge amount of thought and consideration committed to every individual thing and object. Amazingly, since the game takes place over the span of a couple of years, the gamer can actually see parts of the environments evolve, as Jodie Holmes transforms into a boisterous teenager from an innocent infantile. The addition of posters of heavy metal stars in her room signifies the changes. All the animations portrayed in the game are totally relevant, as well, implying that the primary character moves in a different way when she is a child compared to when she is more grown-up[footnoteRef:17]. [17: Ibid.]

In one study, the researcher attempted to conduct a textual analysis to validate the quality of narratives in video games by comparing the narrative of 2 highly renowned video games: The Last of Us and Beyond: Two Souls with the narrative structure that has been classified by Joseph Campbell in his work Hero's journey. The initial step is obviously to familiarize ourselves with his work, its transitions, nuances and steps. The hero's journey is widely recognized by literature scholars as a basic guideline for creating narrative. In other words, the work Hero's Journey is a collection of observed patterns that are found in numerous narratives from around the globe. The book, which is also known as a monomyth is summarized by Campbell himself in his work The Hero with a Thousand Faces. The hero travels into a world of supernatural wonder where he encounters enormous forces and wins decisive victories against these forces: the hero returns from his mysterious travels empowered to bestow boons on his fellow men[footnoteRef:18]. [18: Joseph, Campbell. "The hero with a thousand faces, 2nd." Edition (Princeton, NJ (1968). 23]

The game titles chosen for these analyses are; The Last of Us and Beyond: Two Souls. The explanation behind picking these two titles are the latest and most critically acclaimed titles in quest games - both contrasting from one another in gameplay and player role. The focus here is how the video game genre is similar to the stages of the monomyth, in a manner that other narratives media cannot. For instance, in the stage of the Hero's journey that details the various enemies and tests that the hero must pass, The Last of Us video game gives players a lot of objectives or targets that he must conquer; the player is not a passive observer to the unfolding events, instead he is an active participant. It was this cautious thought of the one of a kind ways computer games have the capacity to exhibit monomyth - through gameplay or other particular forms of interactivity- this is the core of my argument that video games can also be a narrative medium[footnoteRef:19]. [19: "Video Games and The Hero's Journey." http://www.ign.com/blogs/marcelinesdad/2013/12/12/video-games-and-the-heros-journey/.]

The literary examination of Beyond: Two Souls and The Last of Us uncovered that in fact both games demonstrated monomyth, however the technique that every game used to explain certain bits of the Hero's journey differed from each other and also from the more conventional monomyth found in traditional media such as literature and film. The Last of Us had a direct and literal version of the monomyth; it began with a normal man, Joel, who was dealing with normal everyday struggle; he was however soon thrust into the unfamiliar the moment he got an infection spread by a rare parasitic fungi, which caused the patients to turn voraciously feral. The part of the monomyth that this game particularly sticks to is the "call to adventure and thrill" where the game portrays a man who did not pick this thrill, however, accepts its calling. In the build up, the player is given weak guns and low-level player statistics which match the story quite well. As the game proceeds the player is allotted better weapons and statistics allowing the player to deploy a broader range of tactics-at the same time the player becomes more experienced thus more tactful and skilled in playing; just like Joel. In literature, the tribulations of The Hero's Journey are just observed through the narration of the Hero as he overcomes every obstacle in his way. In the game, however, through conventional third-person shooter, gameplay simulations are done is such a way that it feels organic, allowing the player to immerse himself into the character and thus experience the tribulations he is facing first hand. Through progressing through various obstacles the player begins utilizing the strategies learned during the adventure-this learning is a key concept in the monomyth[footnoteRef:20]. [20: Ibid ]