Storytelling in Video Games with Henrik Ståhl

This week I'm joined by my friend Henrik Ståhl, a brilliant writer and deep thinker who loves video games. We had a wide-ranging conversation that touched on at least a dozen video games and the different aspects of the storytelling / gameplay divide. Had a ton of fun recording this one!

Topics Discussed In This Episode:

• The relationship between storytelling and lore

• The tension between story and gameplay

• Storytelling via gameplay

• Emergent gameplay

• The surprising absence of narrative in classic games

• Roleplaying games and player agency

• Adaptations: What separates good ones from bad ones

Games Discussed In This Episode:

• Final Fantasy I, VI, and VII

• The Legend of Zelda, A Link to the Past, and Ocarina of Time

• Red Dead Redemption

• Harmony: The Fall of Reverie

• Animal Well

• Thomas Was Alone

• Unpacking

• Baldur’s Gate I and III

• Disco Elysium

• Mass Effect

• The Last of Us

• Elden Ring / Dark Souls

• Skyrim

• The Sims

Link City:

• Is ‘Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’ a Big Flop?

• How ‘Tears of the Kingdom’ Obliterated 30 Years of Zelda Lore

• What’s Next for The Legend of Zelda?

• Why the ‘The Last of Us’ Season Finale Sucked