Comments on: Parallel Narratives

By: Step 2 | Interaction and Digital Storytelling 101

Step 2 | Interaction and Digital Storytelling 101 — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 17:32:03 +0000

[...] http://tinysubversions.com/2005/08/parallel-narratives/ [...]

By: Darren Torpey

Darren Torpey — Tue, 23 Aug 2005 12:11:00 +0000

Heh, yeah. I sort of assumed that Final Fantasy III (FF VI in Japan and on PSOne) was assumed for consideration when you asked me. ;)

You know what a big fan I am of that game, and that a big part of the game, and probably the reason it most sits in gamers' hearts, is the quality of the game's storylines and how well they are told/experienced.

By: Darius Kazemi

Darius Kazemi — Tue, 23 Aug 2005 12:05:00 +0000

Thanks for the suggestions, folks.

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 23 Aug 2005 06:31:00 +0000

Sadly, the parallel narratives are a new feature of Shining Force for GBA. In the orginal Shining Force for Sega Genesis, Princess Narsha didn't exist. She was added to flesh the story out a bit more.

However, Shining Force CD did indeed have a parallel narrative. You played as both the heroes from Guardania and Runefaust. This made for an interesting story line, because you switched between sides. I never finished the game, so I can't tell you how it was resolved but not too shabby for a 1995 game.

By: Craig Perko

Craig Perko — Mon, 22 Aug 2005 21:21:00 +0000

Final Fantasy III (VIJ) had several parallel narratives in the early game. Chronotrigger departs from the primary story near the endgame, although since it has many of the same characters, I don't know if it counts as "parallel".

I have vague memories of other games, but they're very vague. I'd have to review my game list...

I don't think the limit was one of creativity, but of hardware: there simply wasn't very much slack. That doesn't prevent this kind of parallel storywork, but it does make it less likely that someone will think to try it.