However, we know for the cinema narrative completion is not the power which films entail over the consuming public. If this were true, films would not be as ubiquitous as they are today, with the film industry reaching a state of global reach with its product. No, the power of the image lies in its ability to present images of reality. Without this, a film becomes powerless, cheap, a bad film. The book needs only narrative to engage readers to compel them to complete a story but the film needs more than a good narrative. Undermine the implicit reality proposed in a film and immediately the film becomes a “bad film.”

As such, we know narrative completion is not the initial draw for video games. Just as the first film reels were captivating as “moments of reality,” the first video games did not need narration to captivate its audience. Simply completing the task at hand, such as preventing a ball from entering a goal, or moving a square through a large castle, had no semblance of narrative. The consumers of that day simply did the task that was handed to them, no questions asked. Thus, the power of video games doesn’t lie in any sort of narrative. It lies in the fulfillment of conquering tasks.

Of course, there are different tasks in a video game one can complete, from simply moving the story from point A to point B, to 100 percent completion, but it is the nature that our direct input completed the task which is so alluring about this medium. We are drawn to the idea that our own actions conquered the game creator’s challenge presented. For Final Fantasy, the ultimate challenge and goal is to move the narrative from A to B. For the player, the sheer fact that a narrative would not exist without player interaction is evidence enough for the player that he is in control of the narrative, and to some extent he actually is. The player also has freedom to complete the narrative in various other ways, which is why we are compelled to grind in the game: Our direct interaction influences the quality of the characters in the narrative. We are drawn to the fact that video games present to us the idea of existence, that we are in charge of our own destiny.

Though there is a paradox that exists with this idea. Any choice in a video game has already been predetermined by the creator.

Personally, I think a lot of it has to do with the state of story in games. We haven’t gotten to the point yet where the majority of game developers are able to use a cohesive narrative to tell a compelling story—i.e., a story we care about, one that we’d want to see to completion. That last part is key.

But I won’t write my entire blog post in your comments section… Consider it a sneak peek!