Storytelling's New Frontier?

Today I want to talk a little bit about storytelling and narrative in non-traditional mediums. Specifically, in computer and video games. 

I’ve been an avid gamer since being introduced to a PlayStation back in the late 90s and am currently part of a 6 console household, with myself and my hubby owning a PS2, Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, a Nintendo DS and a Nintendo 3DS between us. That’s three generations of consoles represented (four if you count the backwards compatibility of the PS2 that allows it to play original PlayStation games) and it’s really interesting to note the different attitudes towards storytelling and narrative drive between the older games and those now appearing on the newer console iterations.

Back in the day, when I first became aware of computers and computer games, the medium was still relatively basic. Console classics such as Sonic The Hedgehog and Super Mario Bros were massively popular but most console titles didn’t really go in for narrative. I mean, does anyone really understand why Bowser keeps kidnapping Princess Peach? And, more importantly, does anyone really care? I think it’s fair to say most people didn’t play Mario for the story. If you wanted a game with a little more narrative depth, you had to look to your computer; long the home of text-based narrative titles and point-and-click adventures such as Broken Sword, Sam and Max Hit the Road (pictured right, with artwork by Steve Purcell) and The Day of the Tentacle.

As consoles developed and became capable of more complex games, it’s surprising of how the focus remained largely on gameplay as opposed to story. I was, and remain, a huge fan of TombRaider II but I can’t say that I was driven to play it by the plot which, if I remember correctly, revolves around a magical dagger that can turn people into dragons (yes, really). And I love the Resident Evil franchise but I’d be the first to admit that story isn’t one of its strong points and efforts to introduce a complex narrative in more recent titles has led the series so far down the rabbit hole that it’s struggling to retain its fan base. You play Resident Evil to shoot zombies in the head is all I’m saying.

Admittedly, there were exceptions to the rule. J-RPGs such as the Final Fantasy series (pictured left) have been telling amazing, complicated and often downright weird stories for many years. And The Legend of Zelda and Metal Gear series' have both put serious investment into their story arcs over the years. But I can definitely see why critics and storytellers stuck their noses up at computer games and saw them as a less complicated narrative form.

All of that has changed in recent years, particularly in the most recent console generation. The game that prompted this post is a curious recent release by developers The Chinese Room called Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture (pictured right), part of a new breed of games known as ‘walking simulators’ (although I prefer ‘interactive narrative, which seems less dismissive) in which the player is placed in an extremely pretty environment and left to explore, with story emerging as you do so. 

Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture takes place in the 1970s in a sleepy English country village where everybody seems to have disappeared, leaving in their wake a mysterious trail of light that encourages you to follow it. The game is unashamedly influenced by classic British sci-fi and playing it led me to the work of John Wyndham, specifically to ‘The Midwich Cuckoos’, his classic tale of aliens in our midst set in, you guessed it, a sleepy English village. In all my long history of playing games and reading books this is the first time that a game has ever led me to a book and, importantly, that the narrative of that game has lived up to the narrative of a book which is very similar in both tone and theme. ‘The Midwich Cuckoos’ is an excellent book and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture is an excellent game. Both of them tell their stories in quietly sinister, creeping way and you get a sense of mounting horror as you progress through both. In short, both are excellent stories.

It is possible to argue that walking simulators are not really games. Many gamers see them more as interactive stories and it is true that there is little agency or player directive in Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture. But, in recent years, there have been a wealth of games that offer similar narrative depth with more traditional gameplay mechanics. The Bioshock series (pictured right) is almost as famous for its deeply involved, extremely complicated lore (which has definite Lovecraftian overtures) as it is for its immense enemies and cool plasmids. The recently re-booted Tomb Raider franchise has a story written by Rhianna Pratchett, which sees Lara Croft develop relationships with other characters and places real emotional force behind your dealings with both them and with her. Even previously gung-ho titles such as first-person shooter series Call of Duty have realised that it pays to have some decent story elements in your single player campaign if you want to encourage people to actually play it.

Games media and pre-release information increasingly focuses on the story as much as it does on the graphics and the gameplay. Developers have realised that a good story helps fans to invest emotionally in the world and that, in turn, encourages them to spend more time in it and to play more games and, hopefully, to buy the next one. Divergent story arcs, dialogue choices and multiple endings, once the preserve only of specialist RPGs, have become the norm across so many games that, to be lauded for your storytelling, developers now have to really push the boat out. I’m not going to say that storytelling in games is as developed as that in a novel or book series just yet because it’s definitely not. But games certainly aren’t cases of style over narrative substance any more. There are some fantastic stories out there just waiting to be discovered and, hopefully, many more still to come.

Do you agree that games have become more narrative driven? Do you see interactive narratives as possible competitors to traditional mediums? Or is a book a book and a game a game and never the twain shall meet? I’d be interested to know your thoughts so drop me a comment down below, tweet me @amyinstaffs or find me on Goodreads! 

February Wrap Up 2016

Yes, I am aware that we're halfway through March but I figured better late than never! February was a month of two halves for me. I started the month by rapidly reading the four really enjoyable books that form this wrap up. I then hit a slump about halfway through when I started 'Gold Fame Citrus', which was a worthwhile but somewhat sluggish read so have, as a result, read very little in the last ten days or so. As a result, my wrap up is slightly shorter for February than usual – but it’s quality and not quantity that counts, right?!

The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham

I’m not usually a huge reader of science fiction and, as a result, most of the classics of British sci-fi have passed me by. Having been drawn to Wyndham’s work by my experience playing the PS4 game ‘Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture’ (more on that in an upcoming post) however, I decided it was high time to experience his writing for myself, especially given that Penguin Books have just republished a number of his works in paperback with gorgeously illustrated covers.

The Midwich Cuckoos follows events in the sleepy English village of Midwich following the events of ‘Dayout’, a 24-hour period in which all of the residents fell asleep and, after which, all of the women find themselves inexplicably pregnant. Taking place both immediately after the events of the Dayout and then returning 9 years later, once The Children of Midwich have grown, the novel is a classic tale of aliens in our midst and the extent that a species will go to in order to survive.

I immediately liked the way that Wyndham combined an alien invasion with the conventional concerns of a quintessential 1950s English village. Whilst undoubtedly frightening and horrific in places, there is a wry humour running throughout the book, which works both to lighten the mood and also to provide a contrast between the warm humanity of the Midwich villagers and the cold otherness of The Children that they have unwittingly played host to. The book raises some interesting questions about how we perceive and deal with the ‘Other’, both as individuals and as a society, and the ending, whilst grimly inevitable, does not provide easy answers to these questions. Packing in a lot more than its slim appearance would suggest, ‘The Midwich Cuckoos’ is an enjoyable and thought-provoking slice of British sci-fi and I look forward to reading more of Wyndham’s work.

Public Library and Other Stories by Ali Smith

Ali Smith is a writer who I have always heard praised but have never got around to reading despite having both ‘The Accidental’ and ‘How to be Both’ on my shelves. Having tried to begin her work in the past, I was put off by the lack of punctuation (Smith isn’t a fan of defining speech in her work) and the occasionally diversion into the realms of the literary highbrow. Basically, I have to date found her work a little daunting.

However, with the release of this; her latest collection of short stories, I decided to bite the bullet and really give Ali Smith a go and I’m so glad I did. The collection, which celebrates the power of the written word and the importance of libraries, intersperses Smith’s weird and wonderful stories with short interviews and quotations from famous types explaining the importance of maintaining and cultivating library services. The two mediums bounce off each other very nicely, with the stories providing a mirror to the interviews. The transformative power of words is an overarching theme, from the opening story in which a woman’s struggle for expression results in her sprouting leaves to the amusing contrast between a complaint to customer services and the long-standing correspondence between two writers.

Smith’s writing is very beautiful and I very much enjoyed her style, although it does sometimes benefit from a little careful unpicking to really get beneath the surface of the words to the meaning. This makes the collection one to dip into and out of, savouring each story rather than wolfing them down in one go. And I still really do prefer to have speech marks and a full range of punctuation as guidance when reading!

Rat Queens Volume 1: Sass & Sorcery by Kurtis J Wiebe

My quest to read more excellent graphic novels and comics continued this month with this fabulously funny fantasy, which combines Tolkien-esque questing and mythical beasties with a lot of swearing, sex and ass-kicking fun! The series follows Elven mage Hannah, Dwarven fighter Violet, atheist Human cleric Dee and rogueish Smidgen Betty as they uncover a conspiracy that could bring down the world around them and result in them being turned into troll doo-doo faster than any of them can down a pint.

Filled with wit, sass and, yes, a fair amount of sorcery, this volume collects issues 1 – 5 of the comic and builds the story nicely, introducing the reader to ‘the Queens’, their messy lives and loves and also to the wider world and story arc around them. The writing is quick, sharp and filled to the brim with adult humour, and the art style is colourful and active, with plenty to occupy the eye in each frame.

My first encounter with an ongoing comic series, ‘Rat Queens’ is definitely a step on from the YA realms of ‘Nimona’. This is definitely an adult comic, with swearing, sex and violence aplenty – although it’s never gratuitous and I loved how the characters stayed at the fore of the story at all times. I’ve already purchased Volume 2 (which collects issues 6 – 10) of this series and believe Volume 3 is too follow shortly. On the basis of the opening, ‘Rat Queens’ is definitely a series to stick with and I’m looking forward to joining Hannah, Vi, Dee and Betty on their next adventure!

The Tomb in Turkey by Simon Brett

I’ve spoken previously about my love of Simon Brett’s cosy mysteries, which always provide an easy-to-read, welcome distraction from the trials and tribulations of everyday life. ‘The Tomb in Turkey’ is the fourteenth in Brett’s ‘Fethering’ series of mysteries and follows laid-back, hippie healer Jude and her uptight, anxiety-stricken neighbour Carol as they take up an offer from the not-at-all-dodgy property tycoon Barney Wilmington to spend a couple of weeks in the sunshine at his luxury villa. It’s not long before the intrepid duo stumble across a tomb that’s far more recently occupied than it should be and, with a disappearing body and a personal vendetta to complicate matters, it soon looks as if Carol and Jude’s holiday is going to be dangerous business!

As always, Brett’s writing is fun, relaxed and wryly observant. Whilst the Fethering mysteries are never too taxing, there are a fair number of false leads and red herrings before the real culprit is revealed and, in ‘The Tomb in Turkey’, the whole thing is bathed in sunshine and a real sense of the summer. Another enjoyable read for fans of cosy mysteries from one of the modern masters of the genre! 

REVIEW: Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins

I have to admit to being a sucker for a good post-apocalyptic novel, so the premise of Claire Vaye Watkins’ novel ‘Gold Fame Citrus’ had me instantly hooked. Desert sands have laid waste to the south-west of America and the vast, rolling waves of the Amargosa Dune Sea have left California, and anyone still living there, stranded. Luz and Ray, survivors of the Mojave population, are not leaving. They survive on water rations, black market food and each other. Then Ig explodes into their fragile lives. Two years old, undernourished and wild, Ig needs Luz more than anyone ever has before. So Luz and Ray steal her and now the only way to survive is to escape the wasteland. Venturing into the dark heart of the Amargosa, Luz and Ray must hunt for a better life for themselves and for Ig. For in the middle of the dunes, there is supposed to be a camp of believers. And they are supposed to be led by a man who can find water.

From the outset of the novel it is clear that, whilst the setting is post-apocalyptic, Watkins is more concerned with exploring the frontiers of the heart than the desert frontier that her characters find themselves in. There is a surprising lack of world-building in the first part of the novel and, at first, I did find myself struggling to understand what was going in. Watkins throws terminology (Mojave, Amargosa, Raindance) around without ever really explaining it and, at first, I felt bombarded with words and situations without anything to ground me in the world of the novel. It also doesn’t help that, at the start of the book at least, Ray and Luz are also frustratingly bland characters, their sole purposes in life to be needed and to be needy respectively.

Get over the first third of the book however and ‘Gold Fame Citrus’ really takes flight. From the discovery of Levi - a prophet-like dowser - and his camp of followers who roam across the desert, moving with the rhythms of the Dune Sea; the novel turns into an examination of the myths that we tell about ourselves and others, the fiercely selfish things that we will do to survive and the ways in which the will to survive leads both the needed and the needy to exploit those around them. Luz in particular, develops enormously as a character as we see her struggle (not always successfully) to develop her own place in the world, one in which she is no longer simply a dependant of those around her. Levi is also an interesting character, both charming and sinister all at once and it is easy to see how he has gathered followers around him, with his romantic tales of the Amargosa and the life it contains.

Watkins’ writing throughout ‘Gold Fame Citrus’ is undoubtedly literary. Her prose is often bare, even verging at times on the vulgar (if you’re not a fan of the f-bomb, the c-bomb and purple prose sex scenes, this might not be the book for you), but for the most part it is effective in conveying her meaning and themes. Sex features prominently in the book for example, and Watkins’ doesn’t hold back in her portrayal of this, but it is always used cleverly as a way for characters to connect with each other in ways they cannot seem to reach though words. It serves a purpose, and it’s often not a romantic one, and is very skilfully done. Unfortunately, other passages do not work quite as well. There are many lists – whole paragraphs or pages where a character is reciting everything they can see or can remember – and this gets terribly dull after a while. And sometimes you can’t help but wish that Watkins would just use a simple word instead of regurgitating a dictionary.

Ultimately ‘Gold Fame Citrus’ was a really mixed bag for me. If I hadn’t been reading for review, I doubt whether I would have made it past the first 100 pages, which I really don’t think work as an opening; but I did very much enjoy the latter stages of the book when it became apparent what Watkins was doing with her characters, her world and her overarching themes. Luz and Ray aren’t likeable protagonists but they become very human, especially Luz, and it is worth sticking with them and becomes very interesting to watch them both develop in unexpected ways. And whilst the language and style didn’t always work for me, Watkins can clearly write, and write extremely well. I’d certainly read more from her in the future, even if ‘Gold Fame Citrus’ wasn’t for me, an unmitigated success.

‘Gold Fame Citrus’ by Claire Vaye Watkins is published by Quercus and is available now in hardback from all good booksellers and libraries. My thanks go to the publisher and to the Real Readers scheme for supplying me with a copy of the novel in return for an unbiased review.