Videogames as Narrative Medium
© 2003 Nich Maragos

  1. Chapter I - Are Games Art?
    1. The Case Against
    2. The Case For
  2. Chapter II - Narrative Components of Games
    1. Imagery
    2. Sound
    3. Movies
  3. Chapter III - Conventional Narrative in Games
    1. Plot
    2. Character
    3. Point of View
    4. Setting
    5. Theme
    6. Sidequests
    7. Metanarrative
  4. Chapter IV - Interactive Narrative in Games
    1. The Arbitrary Choice
    2. The Burdensome Choice
    3. The Interpretive Choice
    4. The Behavioral Choice
    5. Rewards
  5. Chapter V - Conclusion
  6. Works Cited

If there’s one thing Final Fantasy X has in abundance, it is plot. The game contains dozens of hours of recorded dialogue devoted to advancing the epic story, which takes the protagonists through an overland journey across the world of Spira, which is roughly equivalent to the landmass of North and South America. Their objective is to halt the current cycle of destruction by a supernatural force called Sin, so named for its origins in the misdeeds of civilizations past.

Tidus, the main character, appears to have been transported forward in time from the very civilization which gave rise to Sin, and so a parallel plot involves his attempts to discover what happened to his homeland, and whether he can return to his own world.

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