Storytelling in Games: Wizardry I
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In modern narrative games it can feel as though there is an invisible barrier between the player and the game. At the back of one's head there's the thought that we're being guided on an adventure that is being controlled by a game designer. He wants us to do things at certain points, and will tell a story as we go. With Wizardry I, this isn't the case. It's like Woodhead and Greenburg said to the players, (There's an evil wizard at the bottom of that maze over there. If he isn't stopped, he'll cause all sorts of trouble in town. Why don't you rustle up a posse, and go kick his ass,) after which point they patted players on their collective bottom and sent them on their way. From here on in, we were on our own, and would have to figure out just about everything for ourselves. Our imaginations helped to temper the experience while playing. We didn't worry about narrative cues to tell us what to do, or add context to the game. We created our own context as we went.
