Story Progression and Character Development in Games - Chapter 1: Tales of the Abyss

Good day to you gamers.

Chrono Trigger's famous 'camp scene'. Regarded by many
as the pinnacle of J-RPG storytelling at the time.

Today, I will start a series of articles that talk about how games develop their characters and stories. Ever heard of the term "character-based narrative"? That's a story that centers on characters and their interaction. On the same trail of thoughts, a "world-based narrative" is one which describes and evolves the happenings of the world. There're games that center on one of them while others try to strike a balance between them, a "balanced narrative". I will try to lay out my understanding on this topic, explaining how these elements are developed and interact in the narrative of a game. And the game series I've chosen to start these articles is... the Tales Series. 

Introduction
The Tales Series have always been famous for their depictions of characters. From every-day chats to shocking revelations, to comical skits and in-battle conversations, most of these games describe their characters in a great deal, and most important, have the characters interact with each other, and talk about everyday things. Why? Because it enables them to describe each character in different contexts and emotional states. Every game bears a different main 'concept' in terms of the story, and many share different motives. It's interesting to notice how the topics the games treat have evolved since earlier games up to current ones. 

Tales of Phantasia talked about happenings in the past, present and future of a world, while Tales of Eternia talked about the interaction of two worlds, with both of them sharing a quest to summon the spirits. Tales of Symphonia was a step in between generations, as the story talks about a world that was split into two, a Chosen One and her journey to regenerate it. Tales of the Abyss and Tales of Legendia kept the "two different worlds" motive, as in some way or another, they show two different versions of the world, while taking off-focus the "summon the spirits" story. Both of them got more political (specially Abyss, which even includes a political power similar to The Church), yet without losing focus on the individualities moving the story forward. In this article, I will talk about Tales of the Abyss, detailing the positive aspects I've found on how this games tells its story, ocassionally refering to other games of the series. 

A Political Fairy Tale

A small cast of interesting and diverse characters.

Tales of the Abyss (RPG to discover the meaning of birth) sports one of the most balanced stories I've seen in a game. The story takes its protagonists on a quest to prevent a war from ensuing between the main kingdoms and avert a world-wide catastrophe. Even though the story appears to be cliched and typical at first, it happens to be very well crafted and keeps players on edge due to its twists and turns. 

On one hand, it depicts the world's culture and its political affairs in a masterful way. On the other hand, it never loses focus of their memorable characters, their personal struggles, inner demons and their evolution as human beings. This stands true for all members of the main party, especially for the main protagonist, Luke, who evolves from acting like a total pain in the neck to being a marvelous humble individual. In short, the game builds up a mature story featuring some complex, well-developed characters with different motivations. All that without losing the fantasy appeal of the series. 

Characterization: Skits and the Diary

As said before, the game stars a small cast of very different characters, but which are vastly characterized and developed. Thanks to the skits mechanism featured in the game (chats between characters that pop up from time to time), the player has the characters of the game talk about topics as varied as their favourite colours, their hometowns, their cooking abilities, their parents and more. These skits help dramatically in terms character-development, changing the pace of the story and managing the player's tension. And last, but not least, lets you have fun with the characters of the game.

Apart from this, Luke carries a personal diary, where he writes down everything that happens in the story. Apart from being a "where to go next guide" for the player, this mechanic helps the game characterize Luke even more, as reading what characters write says a lot about their personality and opinions on the world. Tales of Legendia takes this mechanic further, having its characters take turns into writing on the diary, fully developing each one's writing habits, ways of talking and referring to one another. All in all, showing what in-game characters write is a great tool into giving personality to the characters and developing them. 

Tension management in games' stories has always been difficult to adjust, yet Abyss has accomplished to manage tension reasonably well. The game's atmosphere varies a great deal while playing, shifting from moments of peace (where characters happily chat away about menial stuff) to tense situations (where characters react according to their personalities and motivations). This helps a great deal when describing characters, as it gives a chance to show different sides of the same person. Luckily, the game's characters take turns into developing their personal problems and each one gets a place under the spotlight sooner or later. A balanced cast of characters, developed in an equally balanced way. 

Auldrant, the game's world

In terms of the world's story, the game excels at explaining a very complex tale in the simplest possible way. The game world, Auldrant, bears more realism when compared to previous games' worlds, and the game's magic system helps explain the world's composition (magic and technology are one and the same on this world, the discipline of Fomicry). Not much time passes until the player is presented with the the three main political powers of the world: the nations of Daath, Malkuth and Kimlasca, and the main religion that moves the world (Yulia's score). The game even shows the different political views of the countries and religion, and explains incidents in the past which led to the current state of affairs, yet never loses sight of the individuals behind it. The story is indeed overly-complex, yet does not fail to entertain and depict a real yet fantasy world that is torn apart and revived.  

How can a game like this tell a story this complex and not lose its players along in the way? Relying on the basic method of story-telling in games: text-heavy yet well-developed cutscenes, and lots of secondary (optional) dialogue. The fact that the game advances its plot in such a traditional and player-paced way helps the player understand and digest the story. And even if some unclear plot point remained, the player can always read Luke's diary or listen to what the characters talk about in the skits, as both are heavily plot-driven mechanics. These two elements help the player a great deal into fully understanding the story.

Summary

Let's sum up the main points of our findings. Tales of the Abyss features a balanced story, where it shows an evolving world with human (though anime-like) characters with distinct motivations. Through skits and the diary, the characters and their relationships are defined, and together with cut-scenes that trigger in the game world, the story is told.

Next time, I will be writing about another Tales game, Tales of Legendia, so as to compare the way the story in both games is told. The creators of Tales of Legendia took a different path as to how characters are developed and tension is managed, apart from presenting a very different world altogether.