Interactive Digital Narrative in Video Gaming: A multimodal investigation

This project aims to investigate interactive digital narratives in video gaming. The rationale is twofold. First, narratives are a powerful language learning space, engaging learners through their experiences, emotions and beliefs. Second, as an emerging immersive learning space, video gaming is increasingly popular among all age groups. A key aspect of this popularity is the development of sophisticated interactive narrative mechanisms within games. Investigating the interconnectivity between narratives and video gaming will not only further expand their functionalities but will also shed light on how they can be effectively mobilised: for instance, as language-learning spaces. To date, research in this area has been limited, and, notably, there appears to be a lack of studies specifically investigating the role of multimodality in connecting the two spaces despite the inherent reliance of video games on multiple modes, such as images, sounds and animations. This project, therefore, addresses this absence by focusing on an overarching research question: How are interactive digital narratives multimodally enacted in video gaming?
The investigation draws on a theoretical synergy among socio-ecologicalism, symbolic interactionism and the concept of performativity to explore the roles of agency, interconnectedness and action in shaping this unique interactive digital narrative genre. It employs a case-study methodology to collect data from The Wolf Among Us, a popular interactive digital narrative-based video game, given its status as a prototype of this video gaming genre. Central to the acclaim of The Wolf Among Us is its compelling narrative, blending mystery with fantasy to create a captivating fictional world. The analytical framework comprises three layers: multimodality analysis, politeness analysis and cooperation analysis. Multimodality analysis explores the game’s communicative modes and their interplay, guided by Norris’s model of multimodal interaction analysis and rhetorical structure theory. Politeness analysis examines the construction of politeness in the game’s narrative, while cooperation analysis evaluates how different modes facilitate or hinder cooperation, drawing on cooperative maxims. Together, these layers provide a holistic understanding of the orchestration of semiotic resources in constructing interactive digital narratives within video games.
The analysis produces several important findings. First, it unveils the significant interplay between verbal and non-verbal modes that shapes the interpretation of verbal exchanges. It appears that verbal utterances occupy a central position in constructing interactive digital narratives, while vocal tone, often serving in a supporting capacity, subtly influences the narrative’s emotional depth. Meanwhile, modes like body movements and facial expressions add further depth and enrich character dynamics, highlighting their supportive but crucial roles in enhancing storytelling. Second, the analysis shows that politeness strategies and systems are central to interactive digital narrative development. These include involvement strategies, which foster engagement and solidarity and independence strategies, which respect personal autonomy. The politeness system, defined by deference, solidarity and hierarchy, is influenced by interlocutors’ power dynamics and social distance. Furthermore, conversational maxims are applicable to multimodal communication, highlighting that utterances predominantly support the maxim of relation and that expressive modes correspond to the maxim of manner, with tone being instrumental across both aspects. These findings hold implications not only for video-gaming development but also for the broader reconceptualisation of multimodal communicative competence, pragmatics and digital/multimodal/new literacies. The study demonstrates how interactive digital narratives engage users through a blend of communicative modes, which may help foster literacy skills and communicative competency crucial for thriving in the digital age.