Challenges Of Quest Stories

When we think of quest narratives, we may think of stories with knights and dragons. However, any storyline can be a quest narrative if the story has these five elements: a quester, a place to go, a reason to go there, challenges, and, ultimately, a real reason to go there. The quest narrative would not be complete without the quester’s challenges. Challenges occur throughout the the quester’s journey to reach his/her goal. Without challenges, the story would be dull, and would lack any rising action. Video games are among the most popular types of storytelling today, and many video games make use of quest narratives in their stories, often leading to fascinating storylines. The video game Starcraft uses challenges to make the storyline engaging …show more content…
In Starcraft, the Executor has to decide whether to stay loyal to the Conclave, which symbolizes their customs and religions, or act against the tradition by trusting Tassadar and allying with the Dark Templars to fight against the Zerg. This challenge provides a deeper understanding or interpretation of the story, by giving players a chance to think through the potential outcomes of each possible decision. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t give players a chance to make the decision, which could have provided much more interesting gameplay experience. If there had been an opportunity to make such an important choice in the game, the players would be even more engaged and curious, and would likely put more of their effort into exploring the different outcomes of each …show more content…
When the Executor returns to Aiur with the Dark Templars, he has to fight against his own kind. Even though he is trying to save his people and his home world, the Executor, as well as Tassadar, are considered “blasphemous traitors” by the Conclave. The Executor is emotionally disturbed by the fact of being called a traitor. He also faces emotional hardships when his mentor, Tassadar, dies in the battle. Appealing to people's emotions is one of the most engaging and effective ways to get their attention and sustain their interest. This type of challenge causes players to become much more involved in the game, and to have a greater investment in what is at stake for the characters. The death of a character that is strong and wise enough to make a difference in the storyline of Starcraft involves players in the emotional costs experienced by the protagonist, and allows them to imagine how he might feel after his mentor’s death. This allows them to experience a greater sense of connection to the protagonist, and a greater investment in the outcome of the