Why do video game heroes often act like villains while the story ignores it?
In short: When a game's story claims you are a hero, but your actions involve slaughtering hundreds, you experience ludonarrative dissonance. Coined in 2007, this term describes the jarring friction between gameplay and narrative. While often seen as a flaw, some developers now argue this tension is a powerful, intentional storytelling tool.
The term ludonarrative dissonance was introduced by designer Clint Hocking in 2007 to describe a conflict in BioShock. Hocking argued that while the game’s mechanics emphasize self-interest and free will, the story forces the player into a predetermined path of selflessness. This contradiction disrupts the player's immersion, creating a violation of aesthetic distance that pulls them out of the experience. Similar critiques have been leveled at titles like the Uncharted series, where a supposedly likable protagonist recklessly kills hundreds, and The Last of Us Part II, which presents a cautionary tale about violence while forcing players to engage in constant, unavoidable combat.
However, the perception of this dissonance as a purely negative trait is shifting. Scholars and developers like Walt Williams and Nick Ballantyne suggest that dissonance can be used to unsettle or confuse players, effectively portraying characters as hypocrites or forcing them to rationalize their own actions. By embracing this friction, developers can create 'emersion'—a sensation of being pulled out of the play experience—to serve a specific narrative purpose. This approach treats the player's discomfort not as a design failure, but as a deliberate mechanism to provoke deeper reflection.
Conversely, some games strive for ludonarrative consistency, where mechanics and story reinforce one another. In Papers, Please, the high-pressure gameplay of checking paperwork mirrors the bureaucratic reality of its setting, allowing the game to explore themes of borders and authority in ways non-interactive media cannot. Other titles, such as Pathologic 2, use difficult controls to simulate exhaustion, while the Dead Space series uses mechanics to heighten feelings of terror. Ultimately, whether through the friction of dissonance or the harmony of consistency, the interaction between player and text is becoming a primary way for games to form meaning.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Ludonarrative dissonance
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