Interactive Narrative Week 3 Blog Entry 2

For this week's blog entry I played all of the games and one that I really really enjoyed is Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. It uses a linear model to tell its story. Because it is linear, I am aware that I am simply following the story created and embedded by its developers. Even though I can't impact the embedded story in any manner, I still find myself engaged on playing the game. It's almost like watching a movie but reliving the experience of the protagonist.

I was really engaged on playing the game because I wanted to know more about the story. As pointed out by Marie-Laure Ryan in her article StoryWorlds: A Journal of Narrative Studies (2009), immersion to the fiction is what makes playing a game meaningful. Epistemic immersion plays a big part on this because as a player, I want to uncover the mystery. It's my goal and I have struggled to come so far. In Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, part of that mystery is the Prince's narration. He is telling the story as if it has already happened. Also whenever I save the game, I get a glimpse of what's to come and it ties into that mystery of the narration. Of course finding out what the Vizier's actual plan is also a mystery you would want to solve.

The game sets a straight path for the player to follow its linear story. Apart from the puzzles that the player has to solve, not much of exploration can be done. But it's not really off putting. The game environment suits the linear storytelling of the game. There aren't any side missions to do so exploration wouldn't really mean much. Even though I can't wander off and discover the landscape, the game has amazing set pieces that fleshes out the world of the story. Spatial immersion makes this game exciting, especially because the game environment has a vital role on the gameplay itself. The environment design completes the lore, it gives the player a taste of what it feels like to live in the world of Persian myth. The destroyed and ruined parts of the castle also give the player a sense of danger at every corner. Some of which fall off whenever the player approaches. It supports the dangerous situation the protagonist is facing. It creates an illusion that I'm part of this world; that I am involved (even if it's only by proxy) and that makes me feel immersed to the fiction.

The linear storytelling of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time doesn't offer me any meaningful choice to change the story. But being immersed to the fiction makes playing it meaningful and that's what makes it engaging and exciting to play. Continuing to progress the story in order to uncover the mystery is a choice by itself and maybe that's good enough. :)


References:

Ubisoft Montreal (Developer). (2003). Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time [Video Game]. France: Ubisoft

Ryan, M.L. (Author). (2009). StoryWorld: A Journal of Narrative Studies [Article]. United States: University of Nebraska Press