Storytelling in Video Games: An Analytical Approach to Naughty Dog's The Last of Us Part II
Abstract
This thesis investigates how video games tell stories, and if video games can be analyzed in the same way as we would analyze a literary work of fiction. To answer these questions, I will start by investigating the field of ludology and look at the ludology vs narratology debate that occurred in 1999where there was a lot of disagreement between both fields when considering how one should analyze a game. I will also look at how the narrative in a video game is structured.My main source for this investigation will be Naughty Dog’s, The Last of Us Part II. To analyze this game, I am combining Konzack and Malliet’s layer theories which considers different aspects of storytelling in video games. I am combining them because Malliet has made a more modern layer theorywhich he bases on Konzack’s. My investigation shows that video games consist of widely different aspects than novels do, and therefore it is flawed to analyze a game as a book. Furthermore, the way a game tells a story is by using the different layers in a game to trigger emotions in a gamer, which is why it is necessary to look at how video games tell stories through their layers