I played the game Never Alone and I really enjoyed it. An interesting thing about it is how the story is told. A narrator introduces the story from the ordinary world and what disruption pushes the protagonist, Nuna, to embark on a quest/adventure. This gives me, the player, a goal. The game doesn't really give me much freedom to change the course of the story (aside from dying) as the game itself is based from an Inuit myth and I have to follow that story. The story is even narrated every now and then. But it doesn't really put me off from playing the game. Even though the story is narrated and I'm aware that I wouldn't be able to make a significant impact, I'm still engaged on playing the game. Uncertainty plays a big part on that because I don't know how the story will progress. Uncertainty infuses the game with dramatic tension. (Salen and Zimmerman, Rules of Play, 2004) The game doesn't instantly reveal the overlying story arc, or what my real objective is; rather it gives me little puzzles to solve in order to progress into the story. The investigative nature of it keeps me engaged. After solving a number of puzzles, it reveals the story little by little. For example is the Terrible Man. I didn't really know who this villain is and what his objective is before helping the Owl Man. After retrieving the drum for the Owl Man, he gives me an item, the bola, which is what the villain is actually after.
The cinematic scenes of the game show the personality of the characters. I don't really have much control over the interaction of the main characters aside from making them run and switching between them. They just automatically follow each other and they both help each other, e.g. the fox can communicate with spirits and Nuna can push objects. I haven't really gone very far in the game to exactly know why the fox is helping Nuna. But from the dynamic of Nuna and the fox, which I can both control, I can deduce that the spirits are guiding Nuna. Like the puzzles themselves, the story is told through discovery. Certain easter eggs are also found when playing the game which contain commentaries, interviews and behind the scene videos. They all reveal a little something about the story such as symbols, the role of the spirits, the Inuit culture and the myth itself.
References:
Upper One Games (Developer). (2014). Never Alone [Video Game]. United States: E-Line Media
Salen, K., Zimmerman, E. (Authors). (2004). Rules of Play [Book]. United States: MIT Press
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