THE PRICE OF ROLEPLAYING: CONTEMPORARY ANALYSIS OF THE EXCESSIVE TEXT MEDIUM USED IN ROLEPLAYING VIDEO GAMES

Abstract

The primary purpose of this paper is to analyze the excessive use of text in role-playing video games. However, before looking into how text affects the flow of the gameplay, the reader will discover that excessive text is present in RPG video games because of its primary qualities - roleplay and detailed realistic environment. It will become clear that excessive text is an issue, yet also an available solution for RPG video games to execute branching narrative and adaptive gameplay at the same time. Text problem will be reviewed using diverse qualitative data: performance studies, psychology of the optimal experience, analysis of playing and gaming states, procedural rhetoric, and unique types of narration present in video games. Since video games have multimedia components bounded with interactivity, it is impossible to analyze its elements (e. g. visual design, sound, narration) without relating them to gameplay. This is why not only the storytelling aspect of video games must be deconstructed but also the nature of play. Eventually, everything that was mentioned above will be discussed, along with real examples of released video games, leading to an objective conclusion.