| dc.description.abstract | This study explores how visual narrative in video games influences gamers’ storytelling abilities,
focusing on two dimensions: identifying the criteria for effective visual narrative elements and
understanding gamers' responses and interpretations. Data were collected through
semi-structured interviews with three participants and analyzed thematically using reception
theory. The results identified six main criteria, namely implied narrative, narrative freedom
(player agency), moral dilemmas, character design and animation, environmental storytelling,
and story dynamics/elements of surprise, that synergistically encourage gamers’ exploration,
inferential reasoning, emotional engagement, and narrative reconstruction. Practical implications
include design recommendations for developers to pay more attention to elements such as
implied narrative, meaningful consequences of choices, and strategic twists. The main limitations
of this study are the small sample size and reliance on self-reported data; future research should
expand the informant pool, incorporate direct gameplay observation, and analyze community
discourse to enable methodological triangulation. The key findings of this study confirm that
gamers play an active role as narrative collaborators, shaping meaning through a cycle of
perception-inference-testing-reconstruction and participating in discussions of meaning in online
communities. | en_US |
