Games don't need stories.

[Killergran]

richardhutnik said:

I will admit I did push it a bit in what I wrote: "What kind of story does Portal have?" But the focus of the question was to focus on exactly what a story is, which is part of the discussion in this thread.  What I see with Portal is the following:

1. A set of goals, in a progressively harder set of game levels that are well designed.

2. A player character who doesn't talk (is a puppet for completing puzzles), and an antagonist character (GLaDOS) who gives you witty banter.  As you play, you learn more about GLaDOS (revealed through monology by GLaDOS), and scribblings on the background.

3. A game ending with a cut scene.

4. A detailed game environment, that has a feeling of realism to it (that does grow increasingly absurd).

What I don't see is a forced plot on the game, to make it tell a narrative.  What I do see is a series of puzzles, with the GLaDOS dialog added for entertainment value.  And I would say the lines start to get blurred here.  This blurring I believe would enable Portal to be transformed into a possible full story.  The series of Cube movies show this is possible. 

It seems that you have a very different view of what a story in a video game is. It explains a lot of things that I thought was wrong with your original post. Most of Portals story is happening inside the head of whoever playing the game, and for me that's an awesome way to do it. But even if you don't discover that part while you play it's impossible to say it's not there. It's a clear narrative, only not the usual way of telling it. Just listen to the premise:

'You awake in a sealed chamber in some sort of laboratory to the sound of a homicidal computer entity and made to go through a series of tests. Using all your skill you need to survive while searching for a way to escape and take the fight to the core of the malfunctioning computer.' Does that not sound like a story to you? You could find worse briefs on the back of just about any action movie. The story has clearly defined parts, such as the initial orientation, escape and buildup, all leading to the final climax.

 If you seriously thought Portal doesn't really have a story, I can understand how you could think that games do not need stories. But the narrative in Portal builds atmosphere, it gives the player purpose, it puts everything you do in context and it controls the pacing. If you remove the story the entire experience would lose it's cohesiveness, and it would fall apart.

 

I would also argue that even most of the games that have no background story is given a narrative through the experience of the player. Take Counter-Strike for instance. It doesn't have a story per se, but it contains an excellent framework for creating your own story. It has a clear beginning and end for each round, it has clear goal (defuse/set the bomb, Protect the VIP....). I could tell you tons of stories from CS about being outnumbered and sneaking around to finish all my opponents, defusing in the last second, awesome kills, spectacular failiures etc. These story-elements are all things that heighten the experience, and one of the main reasons Counter-Strike is so popluar. Compared to Deathmatch games, CS had a richer narrative that made the experience more immersive.