Interactivity Evolving: Narrative Structure in "Heavy Rain"

In my last blog, I discussed how the mechanics of a game helped create the narrative of the game, such as Limbo, this time I am discussing a game that has a very strong, almost cinematic narrative, Heavy Rain and how in both games, there is a trend emerging in the narrative style of video games. Narrative evolving through interactivity.

I came across an article in my research, an article from Gamasutra about the game's creator, David Cage. Cage describes how Heavy Rain's narrative structure sets it apart from other games, " I want to make games for a mature audience, and I think you need to go for stories, characters, and emotion.There are so many games out there where you shoot, or you run, or you jump. The industry doesn't need one more. So, yeah, try to create something emotional." Cage seems to imply that that emotion is another narrative element that draws people into the game. "I think what really matters is to create characters that the audience can resonate with. As long as you have characters that you like, and when you feel they are part of yourself in there, you get interested in what is happening to them, and then it resonates with you. That's the most important thing. And you don't need to shoot or kill anyone. There are other ways of interacting that are just as interesting."  This definitely holds true in the structure for Heavy Rain, at the very beginning of the game, you play as the main character and you learn him. You get to know his emotions, his daily routine, the people that are most important to him in his life. You get to actually play his life, and you actually in a way become Ethan Mars ( the main character) through the gameplay, with immediate environmental feedback  of his activities and his day-to-day interactions. Your actions and decisions as the player matter! It inspires how the narrative evolves throughout the story. Different actions can lead to different consequences.

In this game, characterization becomes key to caring about the narrative, we are intrigued not because the game has us performing exciting actions or taking us to exotic locations or situations, but because we care about the story and we want to know what happens next. "My approach is sometimes not well understood: I am interested in creating emotions through interactivity. I chose to use storytelling because I love stories and I think it is a very powerful and universal way to create emotion, " says Cage. He also talks about the concept that the strongest narrative is that which the player can discover and learn for himself. Narrative then becomes so intuitive, so woven into the game that it engages on so many different levels. "How can we enable the player himself to tell the story he wants through his actions, rather than forcing him to watch cinematics? Defining a language to tell compelling interactive stories without using repetitive mechanics is really the goal of my work, " Cage says. And it really makes me think about the experience that I want to have with this medium. From Cage's point of view,  it seems that stories, good stories, beg for an audience that can get immersed in them. We want to have a shared experience with the characters, or even give ourselves a presence with in the story. All these things, I think Cage would argue add meaning and depth to the video game world.