As someone who is always interested in stories, and in particular the ways in which video games attempt to tell stories, I made special note of all the various panels at the 2020 MAGFest event with a narrative focus. The first day was packed with such panels, including "Games as Story Machines" and "Layering Leitmotif: Telling Stories Through Musical Ideas." But the panel that most captured my attention was "Playing With Your Stories," presented by Dillon Chan.
I both attend and conduct these kinds of panels with some regularity, and I try to keep a very open mind about them. There is no real "correct" way to conduct these things, so I'm always interested to see both the approach taken by the panelist, as well as the examples they use and the way they make connections with the audience. I sometimes struggle with explaining a more niche example to a wider audience, and conversely, I sometimes find myself bored sitting through yet another explanation of how The Legend of Zelda (for instance) illustrates some shop-worn premise. So, it is always very exciting for me to see someone successfully bridge an unusual example with a clever approach or description. I always enjoy seeing someone take chances with their ideas.
Dillon Chan’s panel, "Playing With Your Stories," was certainly no safe bet. While it may not have had the strongest presentation of the panels I attended at this year's convention, the ideas presented therein were, without a doubt, some of the freshest and most interesting that I encountered, and the choice of examples was a refreshing departure from the classic games and blockbuster franchises that even my own panels typically revolve around. Chan took some interesting risks with his ideas, and the payoff was some of the best time I spent at MAGFest 2020.
The basic thrust of the panel was that, due to their interactivity, games have a unique way of reinforcing narrative decisions. If the mantra for books and films is "show, don't tell," then the mantra for video games is "experience, don't show." Chan illustrated this concept with several sequences. The ones I found most interesting were from the Chinese mobile game Girls Frontline and from Nier: Automata. Chan, as a first-time presenter for MAGES, dealt with a few challenges, but overall put together a tremendous outing, and I look forward to seeing what else he might put together for MAGES in the future.
Chan uses Girls Frontline to demonstrate a narrative betrayal through the game's interface. Per the Girls Frontline wiki, “Girls' Frontline is a mobile Tactical SLG for Android and iOS where the player takes the role of a newly recruited commander in a Private Military Company named Grifon&Kryuger and completes various tasks by commanding highly advanced androids known as Tactical Dolls.” The game is essentially divided into development and combat phases. Development phases are used to gather resources, while battles consume them. Players navigate a tactical map, and when the player moves onto enemy nodes, battles begin. The player is given an overview of their own forces, as well as the units in play, which are displayed as “allied” or “enemy.” The player and their allies attack the enemy based on pre-set formations and unit-specific attacks. The player manages resources during this time to best support their team, with the goal of preventing the enemy from progressing across the screen to the player's territory, while pushing the enemy back and ultimately eliminating them.
In one of the late-game levels, the player must make their way across a grueling tactical map littered with several large-scale encounters. The use of allied units becomes critical here, as the basic units the player has access to are far insufficient to deal with the scope of the campaign. As the player reaches the final encounter, the allied force initiates a betrayal, switching their alignment mid-turn to an enemy force, depicted through a swap of the icons on the board. Chan expressed his growing unease as the narrative progressed, and his near panic when the reveal was made, as a result of the subsequent loss of resources for the next encounter. Up against impossible odds, the player is wiped out in short order, although the game considers this a victory for the purposes of advancing the story. However, in Chan’s words, “the game calls this a win, but it doesn’t feel like one to me.” Here, Chan shows how much more effect the betrayal has as an experience, rather than simply being conveyed through a cut-scene.
The marquee example for Chan’s panel was the tower hacking sequence in Nier: Automata. In order to gain access to the final area, the player must fend off waves of enemies in order to gain enough time to complete a short mini-game. However, upon actually reaching the end of the mini-game, it is demonstrated that there is no way for the player to complete it, kicking the player back out onto the battlefield. The game's unending waves of foes, coupled with the impossibility of completing the mini-game, reinforces the player's sense of frustration and urgency. Ultimately, however, story-driven reinforcements arrive to help you continue your journey (albeit in a cut-scene). The relief that accompanies this arrival is directly predicated on the sense of difficulty and danger that the battle sequence evokes in the player. The idea that these interactive play hooks intensify even out-of-play narrative elements is extremely compelling, and Chan did an excellent job of connecting these concepts with the examples he used.
Even with some minor hiccups, I found Dillon Chan’s ideas very interesting, and I really enjoyed his use of unconventional game examples. This panel was definitely the most fun I had on day one of MAGFest 2020, and set a great bar for the rest of the event. Chan has real potential as a MAGES panelist, and I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent with "Playing With Your Stories."
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Dr. Daniel Gronsky is a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and Cultural Science, focusing on media studies in film and video games.