Gaming is young and there is no established canon of theory about many of its aspects outside of science. We have a vast pool of often very precise knowledge about how games are created. But what about the humanities?
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One of the most obvious questions concerning game studies is this: how do games tell storys? One of the most obvious answers would be by taking control/interactive possibility completely away and playing a cutscene. I would argue that this is true and cutscenes are part of the game, but film theory has very much covered most of what can be said about this aspect of video games.
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What other methods are there to convey story while retaining interacivitiy? Is this especially hard since player action must to some degree ruin a predetermined story? How much does it have to be predetermined? Is this an opportunity in disguise and is interactivity a goldmine of creative potential for storytelling?
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In short: please give examples and discuss the different methods to convey story by the means of gameplay.
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Example: a classic - as Ico the player is tasked to hold Yordas hand. Simple but interactive. What does this produce? Perhaps the notion that you have to rely on each other to complete the game and escape the castle. Perhaps it further ingrains the notion of female frailty and passivity since you have to drag her across the levels and constantly save her. But maybe the game tries to deconstruct such stereotyps by taking control away from Ico and the player and playing a cutscene where an active Yorda saves a passive Ico (the bridge scene). Perhaps holding somebodys hand makes people inadvertently care about that somebody and this was the whole point - that you feel responsible and protective of somebody. To me this is quite a big thing achieved just by holding R1.
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What are your examples of storytelling through gameplay? How can those examples be categorised and what do they achieve?
