Nothing… or at least that’s the way the world is going these days. No matter what you do, you can almost always guarantee 100% of the time that someone else has done it, they’ve done it before you, and they’ve done it better. Not one thing in this world can truly be called unique anymore, and as such we’re losing the individuality that we as a population of humans once had.

Now, I say these things not in bitterness, but in reflection. I’ve witnessed this, and have taken it to heart, in that I no longer truly concern myself in making a truly unique experience anywhere I go. Because it’s impossible, what I instead focus on, is making the best damned experience possible anywhere I go.

When applied to video games, I’ve come to realize that simplicity often works best on the story side of things. Early games especially required one main tenant for their story, and from there on you were good and content to play for the rest of the duration. It was not entirely essential that you throw in a bunch of complicated branching or ickiness that some modern RPGs require of you today. The gameplay was simplistic, the story was simplistic, the experience was simplistic.

But it was fun, and it was by no means truly unique from other games before it. People played and enjoyed them, and that’s because they were easy to grasp, and easy to picture.

The industry rarely thinks like this anymore.

I see a grand multitude of games trying to overpopulate their game with features and an excessively complex story and all kinds of things that the player is just not going to pay attention to, or really care about. They’re adding niche features, but they target mainstream.

Inevitably, these titles fail, and for a reason. No one really wants a unique experience if it’s a complicated one.

The games that remain simplistic, but can compound some added features in a way that retains the simplicity are the ones that succeed. Rock Band fashioned their peripherals to function in a similar way to the actual instrument, and gamers went for it. The experience remained complex, but the method in which it was played was simple to the player. And that simplicity made it fun.

But when we think of mainstream games, the ones that are popular are also rarely ones that focus on story. And the ones that do focus on story, are rather simplistic in the way that their story is established. Assassin’s Creed – Be an assassin, seek and kill targets. WHEE! Mario Galaxy – Bowser stole princess… Saver her… IN SPACE! Mass Effect – Bad guy commits treason to the galactic community, find a way to bring him to justice. Portal – You’re a scientific test subject, you have a gun that creates portals, ESCAPE!

The stories at their core remain simplistic, and are told as such. You’re given control of an iconic character that is designed for a player to feel some connection with, and you pursue their adventures in accordance with the basic general response requisite of the basic story. Each of these stories can be played through on the very basic level and be fun for a mainstream audience. Mass Effect has a fairly complex story, but the majority of it’s complexity is not requisite of the player and is left for the play of those who wish to play it.

So by following these examples it is fairly safe to conclude that a truly good story for a video game, has to retain a core simplicity on the requisite level that ties all the elements to it in a comprehensible way. To tie in other elements it is fairly important to keep them non-requisite, but available for the niche who would want to move into them.

What things can be done, then, to create a more interesting story for the player, while retaining the core simplicity that is requisite to an enticing experience?

That’s a question for a later date.