Interactive Narrative - Gameplay (THE WOLF AMONG US - REVISITED)

Week 7 - Day 4 (7/4/2016)

Back in week 5 I addressed question 3. How does morality influence the choices you make in the game? in regards to my gameplay of The Wolf Among Us. While I still stand firmly by what I'd previously spoken about in regards to moral influences and choices made during the playthrough, I'd also like to add story, or more specifically question 2. Unpack the first level of your chosen game (including cut scenes) – how does it tell its story, and how is the player involved in the telling (consider all of the narrative elements discussed so far in the course)?

The game opens up with the title screen and a scene of Bigby walking amongst the people of Fabletown and, upon starting the game, transitions over immediately to a cutscene of him walking into an apartment where a domestic quarrel seems to be occurring on the second level. The impact of this transition is small but as you play the game you'll see a lot more of this as Bigby seems to favor walking from one location to the next, possibly implying that the size of Fabletown is quite small in relation to New York as a whole. The opening cutscene between Bigby and Toad is largely multiple choice and on a timed basis; the player is constantly involved because they have to make quick, snap decisions on the fly and if you're a little too slow with your response then the game will also take your lack of action as silence, a kind of non-answer. This is very reflective of real life because we can't just pause and take our time thinking every little thing over as most conversations require an immediate reaction and back-to-back dialogue. The Wolf Among Us displays "A harmonious fusion between action and narration. [Gamasutra]" throughout the entirety of the game.

In terms of level design and linearity of gameplay, The Wolf Among Us follows an easy enough script that anybody can follow, with the exception of the quick-time events that require the player to input keys to encourage more player involvement and to also progress the story along. The first fight between Bigby and Woodsman, also reflective of time in real life, is quickly executed with button and mouse gestures one after another and, if done incorrectly, could spell the end of Bigby's life as well as player interaction. With regards to choices made by the player, the game will still progress in a linear fashion regardless of what you choose to do as a person, whether you decide to give Faith the money to help her with her troubles or not as "Not all choices need to be motivated...‘not choosing’ is regarded as a further option which is in this case considered less desirable than ‘choosing to choose’. [Sebastian Domsch]" The player is given a statistic breakdown at the end of the chapter of what other players did within the game and they're able to see which percentage they fall under. This helps reaffirm player involvement as you can see the decisions other people have made in relation to your own choices.

The closing of the first scene ends with Bigby walking the streets of Fabletown amongst the crowd, bringing us back to the title screen with the inclusion of an opening credit scene and coming back full circle to the fact that despite the sheer size of New York City, Fabletown is small enough that Bigby can get to most places without the use of a vehicle. This also speaks of his character as a creature of nature (being that of a wolf), preferring to walk on his own power rather than use other means of transportation. This whole section of the first game level is very reminiscent to that of an opening of most television shows and is a great pull to draw players into the game as it feels like you're watching a drama unfold but you're also given the option of interactivity where the game will also take your choices and decisions into consideration to feed into the continuing scenes.

The Wolf Among Us follows a fairytale-esque route mixed with high drama that creates a strong pull that not only drags the player into the Fabletown universe but also immerses them into the story and gameplay as soon as the first scene occurs. Its use of multiple choice actions and reactions give the player a feeling of involvement and participation even within cutscenes where the game takes your answers and even non-answers into consideration for your gameplay, tailoring the scene leading into the next and so on.

Interactive Narrative - Gameplay (GRIM FANDANGO)

Week 6 - Day 3

This week we'll be addressing question 1. As the player, do you interact with a character or an avatar and how does this affect your involvement in the narrative? for the game; Grim Fandango.

The definition of character and avatar is interchangeable; you are playing an avatar, a representation of self, but you are also playing as the character themselves from an omnipresent point of view, like a consciousness hovering over their shoulder helping them make decisions or choices within the game narrative. During gameplay, I gain maneuverability and control of the character which is now acting as an avatar until we reach the next cutscene in which case I relinquish control of said avatar who then takes over with their distinct personality until the end of the cutscene. The roles between character and avatar switches between myself, as the player, and to the game's narrative to paint a broader picture of the game itself.

And look at this quote I found in this week's reading: Player-operated characters are often referred to interchangeably as “characters” and “avatars.” which handily enough, describes almost exactly what I mentioned in the first half of the previous paragraph.

Everybody within the game, with the exception of Manny Calavera, is a character but of the non-playable variety (as mentioned and described in the Westerado NPCs video on the Interactive Narrative Youtube Channel). I'm free to interact with them with my character/avatar to further develop the game narrative but I am free to ignore developing that narrative if I so choose. I don't think this would affect gameplay too much as I could've gone without speaking with Domino Hurley but then I wouldn't have been to able to see the somewhat passive-aggressive/antagonistic relationship between Manny and Domino.

The game itself is easy enough to understand but the gameplay itself is a little bit harder. I wasn't aware that I had to go outside of the building, go around the building, and go UP the building and into a room to activate the next cutscene and help progress the story until someone told me what to do. Grim Fandango is quite similar to The Wolf Among Us in terms of playing the game by clicking on things, examining it and picking them up to be used later on, but this game is a little less linear and a little bit harder to play through. Grim Fandango does allow you to adventure outside of the game narrative and explore new bits and pieces of the game itself but it's not very clear when you're trying to get from Point A to Point B.

Interactive Narrative - Gameplay (THE WOLF AMONG US)

Week 5 - Day 4 (24/3/2016) (Edited for final submission - 13/4/2016)

The question for this week's gameplay of The Wolf Among Us is...3. How does morality influence the choices you make in the game?

Morality is tricky as it's subjective to personal opinion and external influences. The way I play the game is to be as honest and empathetic as possible, although the choices I make are played through with the character's distinctive personality, as in: I probably wouldn't have been as rude or as forceful as Bigby when dealing with Woodsman but I shouldn't have expected Bigby, as the sheriff, to be as placate as me in that situation.

Bigby is a rather aloof character at first glance but I feel that my choices, as the player, helps mellow him out so that he warms, ever so slowly, to the people he seems familiar with. He was pretty chill with Colin, whom we'd found sleeping on his couch, by the end of their conversation.

"Often, the result is that only extreme moralities - flawless good or evil - are substantially rewarded. Playing any sort of middle-ground is a poor decision, from a gameplay perspective." (Gamasutra - Ethical Dilemmas and Dominant Moral Strategies In Games.) I agree with this because I've noticed that as I played my sense of morality occasionally made me miss opportunities. I feel that if I'd been more quick with my answers or questions, or even in taking on more of Bigby's personality into my decision-making, I would've been able to find out more about certain non-playable characters within the game.

Because I'm playing how I would personally make these choices, I feel more involved with the game especially when it comes to the growing companionship between Bigby and Snow. Because of this I feel like I have a bigger stake at wanting to solve the case as well as keep relations between these two characters as amiable as possible, if not more romantically inclined. While I don't go out of my way to make Bigby sound assured about who the suspects could conceivably be and, in turn, assure Snow, I do my best to make Bigby as encouraging as possible towards Snow, although it helps that she seems just as taken by Bigby as he is of her. "Non­player characters can react according to a player's reputation." (Gamasutra - Moral High Scores.) In this case, even though you're playing as the "big, bad wolf" of Fabletown which, in and of itself spells bad news, it doesn't always need to be reflected or be true. The relationship between Bigby and Snow proves this.

Interactive Narrative - Gameplay (THE BANNER SAGA)

Week 4 - Day 3

The question I'm choosing to address with this week's gameplay of The Banner Saga is: 4. Do the choices you make in the game contribute to the sense of meaningful interactive moments?

I feel that my choices make a more meaningful interactive with the game because I'm playing in accordance to my own personality so I know that the choices I make, at the time, feel right according to who I am as a person. I could've asked Alette (because she's a girl) to go find safety in the great hall rather than have her stay with me for the next fight, but as a girl myself I would want to prove my worth and to show that I am capable of not only fending for myself but also for others. In a sense, I'm living my life through hers, hoping to garner loyalty by being noble and humble with myself. Of course, had I know that Alette was my (Rook's) daughter, I might've decided differently. (This calls for another session.)

I do appreciate that I can change the difficulty of the fight simulations without it affecting the overall story. I started off at Normal but had to change to Easy when I realized how poor my strategy making skills really are...

There are many moments during the travelling sequences where I can turn new people away or let them stay and increase my numbers as a caravan. I feel that these decisions will affect my gameplay later on in regards to how well I'd perform in future scenarios and how many fighters I'd have on my side, numbers that could mean the difference between winning or losing against the Dredge.

The narrative switches every other chapter between one party to the next, both on separate sides of the map. I try to make as many good decisions as I can, although I can see that sometimes my input doesn't matter too much; whether I have one extra person on my side against the Dredge, or not. If I lose someone to the opposition, I feel the loss quite strongly and I also feel guilty for not being a better strategist to ensure their life. The narrative changed for me in the beginning of chapter 3 because I was unable to keep Vognir from dying. Hakon has taken over as commander of the troop and it seems like there may be a riot on my hands because the varl there preferred to follow Vognir rather than Hakon...

In any case, I like that the game takes my decisions into consideration, although I'm not sure to what extent this affects my gameplay. It's a lot better than Facade as it doesn't take things out of context because in The Banner Saga I usually have a multiple choice of what to do. Some may not be exactly what I would've chosen for my characters within The Banner Saga but I understand that there's still the game-makers narrative we need to consider. The game wouldn't exist or succeed without the game-makers telling their story through specific story nodes within the playthrough.

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The Banner Saga - 8/10. I really enjoy the art style, and despite the story being occasionally confusing with its shifting narrative, I find it very engaging. I may return for a different playthrough for the sake of seeing whether or not decisions I make will create a bigger impact on the narrative.

Interactive Narrative - Gameplay (PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME)

Week 3 - Day 4

The question I'm choosing to address concerning this week's gameplay will be: 2. Do the story nodes in your chosen game(s) work well to support gameplay and gameplay objectives? Why or why not? I will be playing Prince of Persia: The sands of time. (The movie is pretty nice because Jake Gyllenhaal.)

The game itself has a linear narrative: there is only one way forward. I'm given cutscenes every so often that adds dynamics to my surroundings and it helps remind me, as the player, that I am currently inside a war zone. I feel that these cutscenes do lend itself to gameplay and give me a richer experience despite having limited choices. There is a sense of focus within the limitations and I am reminded every so often within the game that there is an objective I must achieve in order to find a close in the chapter.

Before certain fight sequences there is a cutscene where I scope out the area to count how many enemies I have to defeat before I can progress. This is nice because it reminds me that I'm alone in going forward and that I must be smart about my strategy; I can't simply rush them and attack them one at a time - I have to stun each of them separately before I can incapacitate them permanently, or lest I become seriously injured.

I did accidentally die once during the tutorial of running along the walls and the narrator ends up saying; "No, no, no, that's not the way it happened." It makes me feel like I'm listening to his story but also interrupting him with my narrative and he has to cut in to set it straight. When I saved the story and tried to exit the program the narrator would cut in again to say; "I'll start the story from here next time." making me feel like he's taking a pause until I'm ready to listen to him again. It's different and I find it refreshing to play.

I also find it cool how the game asks me if I'm sure that I want to quit the game; the voice so earnest and sad that I'm choosing to leave the story as it is rather than continue it. While this doesn't add anything to the gameplay itself, it does give me a sense of involvement; that I am part of the story and the story is a part of me. The game is interesting in the sense that I'm playing it as the protagonist but I'm also listening to his story from an outsider's point of view; reliving the moment as it happened in the past.

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Prince of Persia: The sands of time - 6.5/10. I would definitely play the story to the finish but I most likely wouldn't replay it once it's over.

Interactive Narrative - Gameplay (FACADE)

Week 2 - Day 3 (2/3/2016) (Edited for final submission - 13/4/2016)

In this week's gameplay, I'm choosing to address question 3. Does your chosen game(s) make user input feel meaningful in terms of story direction and progression? Why or why not? The game in question will be "Facade" which I played alongside Tea for a few runs and had a discussion over the game as it played out.

Facade is a text parser game where you navigate a discussion between two argumentative spouses by attempting to defuse the situation by inputting text to steer the conversation along to safer pastures. Unfortunately, despite multiple attempts, all of my experiences with the game ended negatively. Since the very beginning of the game and as it progressed, it became more and more apparent that I was rapidly losing control of the situation - Grace accuses me of picking sides and all Trip seemed to want to do was talk about Grace's problems rather than address their relationship as a whole. "We are part of the text ourselves – it needs our input to happen." (Page 7/38 of the week 2 PowerPoint.) However, this is not always the case: if a reply from my end was too slow, the story would progress with or without my input and sometimes a keyword would be taken completely out of context and I would lose my footing within the conversation.

"Video games are first-person storytelling: you are the actor living out the story. Instead of simply being told what’s going on, or watching it happen, you’re experiencing it firsthand" (Page 8/38 of the week 2 PowerPoint.) We are, unfortunately, the awkward third wheel in this unhappy marriage. In many cases, the story seems as if it wouldn't matter what my input would be; either I would get kicked out for being (accidentally) inappropriate, or Trip would leave. I felt that my input was ignored for most of the times except at the very beginning before the situation delved into a kind of domestic disturbance with me in the middle. Little things like what kind of drink I wanted, or how I found the decor; those were acceptable responses for the game. However, as soon as either Grace or Trip begin an argument over the state of their marriage, my input became very limited and were usually not taken into consideration. In the end, I did not find the game very enjoyable. That being said, Facade does very well in making you feel at fault with the dissolution of the marriage and/or angry at the devolving situation.

Interactive Narrative - Gameplay 03

Week 1 - Day 5

This nice thing about Castlevania, starting off, is that if you leave the title screen alone long enough, you eventually get a preview of what the game is about. Isn't that nice?? It's nicer than what Metroid and Legend of Zelda gave me...or maybe it's because I didn't quite give them enough time? Maybe I'm supposed to wait a minute or longer instead of just 30-something seconds. Oh wells.

And, JOY OF JOYS! We get a story!! That's excellent...

Well, kind of. We just see our character coming up to a gate in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. That's about it...and then we're thrown right into the dungeon. Yay. But it's still better than nothing.

From what I gathered in the preview, there's going to be lots of monsters running about and we're gonna have to whip them into shape and hope everything goes well.

Okay, first rule of playing this game; HIT EVERYTHING. Some of the "decorations" can drop items and power-ups! Which is awesome. I'm hoping this'll make the game easier so that I don't DIE within 30 seconds.

MORE HEALTH! MORE POWERRR!!! AAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!

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I'm dying!!!

I die...

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I didn't even get very far but that was only my first run of it and, compared to Metroid and Legend of Zelda, I might as well as halfway done!!! XD (Har-har, I so funny...)

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MANY MORE DEATHS LATER...

Stage 5 SUCKS. So friggin' hard. Raging so much. I don't wike it.

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Quick Q & A for Castlevania. (Here, have some more serious business.)

1. How would you describe the genre of the game? How is this evident in level design, storytelling and gameplay? 

It's an adventure/action game that's not too dissimilar to the likes of Metroid and Legend of Zelda. (Maybe that's the theme. Ah-hah! I get it...) The progress into the game is very linear; just keep moving forward. You're still able to go back to collect items or power-ups if need be after you die but the monsters also respawn very frequently so it might just be up to you to decide if going back for extra items is worth the potential loss of HP or to just go with the bare minimum of what you've got to get to the next stage. Stages 01 to 04 is easy enough but 05 is horrible...(I won't describe to you how much I raged but Tea knows all the details.)

Story-telling wise, it's not very clear either. We did have a beginning sequence of our character coming up to a closed gate with a castle looming in the distance. But that's it. There is no more to this beginning sequence than that. We're then thrown right into the world of Castlevania, although we do have a pretty chill map where we're able to knock off decorations in order to pick up items and power-ups for use. It's also time-based, which forces you to not only be quick about getting to the next main stage, but also to be smart about NOT CONSTANTLY DYING.

Gameplay is simple enough to grasp; you're mostly jumping and hitting and moving forward. Your only obstacles are the monsters within the games and a boss at the end of a certain stage. I met the first one in stage 04. That pretty much concluded that particular section of the map.

2. How does your chosen game(s) tell its story? Is it successful? 

Did Castlevania tell me a story? Yes, albeit a short exposition that involves my character staring at the castle in the distance, under the bright yellow crescent moon and partial clouds. It would've been helpful to know more because, as it is, I think I'm a treasure/vampire hunter killing monsters and collecting money and hearts and weapon upgrades from breaking walls, whipping at candle sticks and jumping over wolves. It reminds me a little bit of Indiana Jones? But Indiana would leave after he picked up the jewel from the boss in stage 04 instead of CONTINUING ON. But that might be just me.

3. Does your game encourage exploration? How does this affect the pace/meaning/structure of the narrative?

Lots of exploration to be had. Although, not quite? There are moments where you must backtrack to make sure your whip is in good enough shape that you can kill the boss easily but at the same time, you can CHOOSE to go without the upgrades if you are so bold. The pace has to be quick due to the time-based nature of the game but there's more than enough time on the timer to allow you to explore the stages fully but also complete it within 300 seconds, which is nice. As for structure? It mostly feels like I'm immersing myself in a Van Helsing movie, although a much older version than the one starring Hugh Jackson and Kate Beckinsale. Although there are a lot more ghosts/zombies and "creatures of the deep" within the game than the movie has.

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That's all for this week's gameplays! Tune in next time when I try to have a go with Facade, Her Story and/or Never alone...

(Always alone...)

Interactive Narrative - Gameplay 02

Week 1 - Day 4

Okay, so, just at a first glance, Legend of Zelda is, currently, a lot like Metroid. I was kind of hoping that it'll at least start off with some kind of story to let me know what I'm actually supposed to be doing but alas. I guess maybe I have to go somewhere to unlock a cutscene? Anyway, here goes my first run of the game.

Like most RPG/adventure games, I get to pick my own name! But I'm going to stick with using Link because I'm unoriginal (and a stickler for being faithful to the character) and I have 3 hearts. I'm going to immediately assume that it's game over when I've run out of them. Hopefully, like with most Mario games, I have the option to regain them come a certain point.

The cave looked a bit ominous so I decided to go to the left, ONLY TO STUMBLE ACROSS A HEARD OF MONSTERS. NOOOOOOO!! It's a lot like with Metroid where you're not THUNKED into the beginning of the map with only one clear route; you have plenty of choices to pick from. The obvious way to go would be the cave but if you're a coward like me, you'd pick the path of the least resistance...

Which is OBVIOUSLY NOT THIS WAY. So I went back to the previous map and went down the cave and got me a sword from an old man. I don't even know how long that old man has been there for, waiting and waiting for somebody to come down those steps to find him...but then HE DISAPPEARED!! Is his only role in this game to arm me with a sword? Such a sad existence!! If you push the A button, you THROW the sword like a LASER. That's friggin' amazing (and also weird but we won't go into schematics here...)

Moving on...

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1 DEATH LATER

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Okay, so I got overly ambitious with trying to kill every monster in the map, but at least I know when to leave things well enough alone now; I know when I'm beat...

Let's try again...but BETTER...

(On another note, monsters do not respawn if you ever wanna backtrack to a previous map. Very nice.)

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ANOTHER DEATH LATER (where the music sounds suspiciously like the battle theme in pokemon...)

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Obviously, I didn't learn my previous lesson all that well...

The nice thing about this game is that you can continue after you die with the things in your inventory and the crystals you picked up without losing them. The downside of that is you'll go back to the very first map you appeared in. A bit annoying, but not bad considering the benefits!

It'll be handy if they provided a map so I knew WHERE TO GO, otherwise I'm kind of just...bumbling around hoping for the best. Although, if I go to the left of the map enough times to find another cave, I do get told to find an old man at the graveyard. Spooky...

I'm assuming that this game relies a lot of visual memory so you know where to go. I don't see the option of a map so unless you actually take note of where you're supposed to go, you'll most likely just end up going around in circles.

I feel like drawing myself a map to keep a track of where I am.

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DRAWING MAPS ARE SO HARD. I DIEEEEEEEEE. I ALWAYS DIEEEEE. I'M ALWAYS LOSTTT!!! Oh mah gaahhhhh...I always die before I can get very far into the game...this is so hard. DX Whyyyyyyyyy...

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Quick Q & A for Legend of Zelda. (Time for some more serious business.)

1. How would you describe the genre of the game? How is this evident in level design, storytelling and gameplay? 

Legend of Zelda is an adventure/role playing game. While the world itself is simply designed, the objectives within each map is clearly defined. It reminds me a lot of Pokemon where the moment you try to venture into the tall grass and vast outdoors, you are stopped and given a pokemon to help your journey along. In Legend of Zelda's case, you're free to go about as many maps as you want but you are weaponless and more likely to die than not. You're required to go into the cave, putting your faith in a shadowy place, in hopes it'll turn to your benefit which, indeed, it does. The storytelling is not immediately clear but the gameplay is easy enough to follow through - just keep going until you hit your next destination.

2. How does your chosen game(s) tell its story? Is it successful? 

Much like it was with Metroid, I'm not sure what the story for the Legend of Zelda is actually about. I know enough backstory passed from word of mouth from other players but, in my own personal experience with the game, I am utterly lost. This seems to be an ongoing theme but I'm hoping the next game I play will be more forthcoming with the story details. At the very least, enough to give us a basic idea of what we're doing.

3. Does your game encourage exploration? How does this affect the pace/meaning/structure of the narrative?

There are so many routes to pick from and, if you're able to keep yourself alive for long enough, you're more than able to explore through each map and defeat the monsters within them. Like with most RPG games, you are forced to explore the maps to get a general overview of what's to come. In the case of the Legend of Zelda, you're placed in a world full of monsters and your only way forward is to arm yourself and fight. How many fights or maps you have to go through (without a guide) is entirely up to the player. If the player so chooses, they can simply take their time with the maps, exploring every nook and cranny to their liking. It should not affect the storyline in any way as the amount of time you play the game is not counted by the second or the minute. You can spend as little or as long as you want and you'll still possibly get the same result in the end.

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Well, all in all, I actually like playing Legend of Zelda a lot more than Metroid...(sorry, Samus). I'll be trying to play Castlevania next time and, apparently, it's going to be hard...I'm not looking forward to that. XD

Interactive Narrative - Gameplay 01

Week 1 - Day 3

Gaming! I haven't played all that many games outside of my current obsession: Guild Wars 2 and Avengers Academy. Yes, this totally says a lot about me...But anyway, this week we have a choice of playing Metroid, Legend of Zelda, or Castlevania. I'm gonna be totally honest with you; I've only ever heard of the Legend of Zelda out of the three mentioned, and YES, I will also totally admit that I thought the guy plastered all over the front of the game covers was actually called Zelda. This is wrong...His name is Link...(Don't be a doof like me...)

Right, so we're gonna jump into playing Metroid first, just because it's on the top of the list. I have NO CLUE what the game is about so I'm going in completely blind. It's an adventure game that looks a lot like Mario and Pokemon and that sounds pretty awesome so I'm gonna go ahead and try for at least a couple of hours of actual game-play before moving on to rescuing Zelda.

Now, first impressions. THIS IS SO RETRO. Really reminds me of Mario and growing up in the mid 90's with these kind of games. I'm an 80's kid but I didn't actually get to start playing around with games until I moved to New Zealand when I was about...8ish years old. The music is also funky. I wike it.

So, 5 seconds into the game, I am lost. Yay...I couldn't quite figure out the keys of how to play it...I know the arrows work and enter but that's it! I actually thought I died when I hit the START button because everything stopped moving. Little did I know, I simply paused the game...

I changed the keys to the ASDW format and the A and B buttons to something else but, uh...I only confused myself a bit more and that wasn't cool. I'm gonna have to change it again because I JUST DIED...Far out, this brings back memories of frustration.

What does this password even do? Can I continue from where I last was? Is this like a save point? There's only one way to find out...BACK INTO THE FRAY.

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4 DEATHS LATER

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Okay, so I figured out how to DUCK! You push the down button twice...Yay...

I honestly couldn't figure it out and I didn't actually manage to get past that first couple of rooms without dying. Stupid monsters...

Also, the character reminds me a lot of Samus from those Mario battle games. (After a quick google, it turns out it IS ACTUALLY SAMUS. Wow, I suck.)

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Quick Q & A for Metroid. (Time for some serious business.)

1. How would you describe the genre of the game? How is this evident in level design, storytelling and gameplay? 

This is an action/adventure game where the goal is to go from one end of the dungeon to another until it is completed. Along the way, you can defeat monsters, pick up items, and open doors by shooting at them. The design is very simple and the world is very flat and 2-dimensional; typical of most games within this generation. Take Super Mario for example.

It's not overly complicated; the only way forward is...well, forward. There is only one route in which you can lead your character to the end of the room/dungeon and it's impossible to get lost. Winning the dungeon and completing it is an entirely different subject. Getting to the next part contributes to the storytelling and narrative, although it would certainly help if the game started off with some actual exposition. I'm not a big fan of exposition but going in blind is just very silly, and asking us to die a many violent death.

The game-play itself is easy enough - you have your arrow keys, you have your A and B buttons as well as your SELECT AND START buttons. Each key does it's own thing and it's easy enough to figure out which is which. Of course, making sure you shoot at the monster rather than jump towards them is another matter. The endgame is easy enough to figure out, but I still don't know how Samus' particular story actually starts. This is something that either the game within the website is missing, or it was left out either by accident or purposely. In any case, I'm a confused game player.

2. How does your chosen game(s) tell its story? Is it successful? 

Currently, I don't feel that it's very explanatory. As soon as I clicked ENTER, I was thrown into the game without any backstory. I'm in a cave and I don't know why or how I got there. I have a gun and there are monsters all around me and they are definitely not the friendly type like Yoshi is for Mario. Most of the games I've played will at least tell you a little bit of what's going on but for Metroid, I am completely blank as to what I'm supposed to do, where I'm supposed to go, and what my objective is for being where I am. In terms of exposition, the game mostly failed, although that would be either of our faults (maybe the game on the website didn't load properly and the starting story is missing or I rushed the STARTING MENU SCREEN too much).

With Mario, you KNOW WHY we're traversing the world, squashing mushrooms, kicking turtles back into their shells or throwing fireballs at man-eating flowers - it's all for the sake of rescuing Princess Peach! But with Metroid? I have absolutely no clue where I am or why I'm there. I simply...am.

3. Does your game encourage exploration? How does this affect the pace/meaning/structure of the narrative?

Yes, indeed it does. It wasn't evident at the beginning of my play-through, but after the first few attempts at trying to understand the mechanics behind the game, it became easier to stop thinking about which keys and buttons to push and more on the question of; what will happen if I go to the left instead of the right? The answer was that I found a sphere or perhaps a power-up on the left side of the first map I was thrown into. I'm not sure what it does for my character but it shows that exploring the map does help, in some way.

The fact that you don't immediately spawn at the beginning of the map says a lot; you need to think about exploring; you can't simply shoot and keep moving forward and hope for the best. Exploring opens up new possibilities (and items?) for your character to use and take advantage of as well as the use of strategy. It's not like with Mario where the only thing you can do is go from point A to Z.

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Thanks for tuning into my play-through of Metroid. Catch you all next time when we try to attempt Legend of Zelda!!