Summary
What is a framing device? Well, if you’ve seen The Princess Bride, you’ve already seen a pretty clever one. That film features an epic tale of adventure and icky kissing, but all told from the perspective of a man reading the story to his sick grandson.
A framing device is simply that; the perspective from which the story is being told. Most often, that perspective is simply undefined or manifested as an omnipresent narrator. But other times, a framing device can be used to make the experience all the more unique. This goes doubly for video games, as their interactive element already makes you part of the action. But what are some of the most creative instances?
Right at the start of Persona 5’s extensive story, you’re thrust into an unfamiliar heist with a full party of mysterious characters. But it’s not until you’re caught by the authorities that the true nature of the narrative is revealed, because what’s a good RPG without some quality confusion?
Your player character is interrogated, leading to a retelling of all the events that led to that moment. This perspective remains for the majority of the game, occasionally cutting forward to the investigator reacting to certain moments. It’s a classic setup, and even plays into one ofPersona 5’s shocking story moments.
7Ratchet & Clank (2016)
Storytime In Jail
You might remember how fans of theRatchet & Clankseries loved the gameplay of the 2016 original game remake but had some less charitable thoughts on the story. Well, it turns out the developers at Insomniac included an explanation, of sorts.
While the basic premise is the same as the original, the titular lombax and robot duo’s adventure takes a lot of liberties. In-game this is due to occasionally-heroic hero Captain Qwark telling the story to his cellmate in prison, making sure to embellish as needed. You have to keep things interesting, after all.
This Greek mythology adventuredecided to do things its own way. Rather than telling a story long since past, Immortals Fenyx Rising instead features its two divine storytellers providing commentary to the journey in real time. It’s like Mystery Science Theater 3000: Zeus Edition.
Prometheus, the half god who gave fire to the humans, makes a wager with Zeus that player character Fenyx will defeat the villain Typhon. So the two watch Fenyx’s progress from on high, cutting in often hilariously at times with their thoughts. Even gods fancy themselves hotshot streamers.
His Version Was Better Anyway
Dragon Age 2
You’re Hawke, a refugee seeking to escape the darkspawn-plagued land of Ferelden and become Champion of Kirkwall. Rise to power and fight epic battles while making decisions that determine the course of civilization. Your pursuit of power begins now. How will you seal your place in history?KEY FEATURESCinematic storytelling— Experience a decade’s worth of battles and intrigue thanks to a nonlinear narrative that keeps the action coming. A redesigned dialogue system gives more context to your decisions and helps players create a fully realized, multi-dimensional character.Customize your fight— Dozens of spells and 3 battle companions give players endless options. Stay in the moment with fast-paced combat, or pause the battle and make every move count by issuing individual orders.Make bigger moves— Your actions carry greater weight than ever, and you’ll need to think long-term because you have an entire decade to reach your goal. Every dialogue and battle decision affects your standing with party members. Maximizing your friendship opens up even more options.
Dragon Age 2 takes the classic interrogation framing device a step further by adding in the always enjoyable trope of the unreliable narrator. While Seeker Cassandra questions lovable andsadly unromanceable rogue Varric, she never knows what sort of truth she’s getting. Her fault for interrogating an author.
The whole game is framed as it’s being recounted by Varric, who was also present for most of it. The fun stuff happens when he takes some creative liberties, including making himself and the hero Hawke seem way cooler. Keeping these moments infrequent makes them that much funnier when they do hit.
With a similar concept to Dragon Age 2, Tales from the Borderlands features its two leads under intense questioning by a mysterious individual. But each also tells their own version of the story they both lived. It’s basically like asking two toddlers who broke the TV.
Company man Rhys and con artist Fiona are unlikely comrades, and they both know that full well. So they each often make the other look like a real dork when the opportunity arises. Their commitment to the bit while being interrogated in a wild wasteland is admittedly impressive.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time starts off with the titular Prince telling his story to an unnamed listener, which may seem a bit basic at first, but so does pudding and that stuff is delicious. Besides, there’s one particularly clever twist involved.
When you inevitably miss a jump or lose a battle, even despite the temporal powers of the Dagger of Time, the Prince will explain it away as him telling the story wrong and will skip back to before it happened. Not many games include player death as part of their framing devices, and that’s what sets thisclassic Prince of Persia gameapart.
2Assassin’s Creed
VR, But Much More Real And Stabby
The framing device used in the firstAssassin’s Creedgame is arguably one of the biggest reasons the series is so widespread today. Using the device known as the Animus, you’re able to jump into the memories of your own ancestors and not only see their lives, but physically live them with freedom of movement.
Eventually, the games started to get a little fast and loose with the rules. But this opened the door for more interesting meta ideas, such as a game development studio using the Animus to create historically accurate experiences.
We may have severalgames that capture the Dungeons & Dragons vibe, but what about taking that idea literally? Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep frames its whole DLC campaign as Borderlands 2 characters playing a legally distinct tabletop fantasy game.
Naturally, this includes narration and commentary from Tina as the game master as well as the players, and hearing Brick quickly say “I punch it” when you melee a certain enemy is just one of the countless genuinely hilarious moments it features. It was so good it even spawned a sequel in the Borderlands 3 DLC called Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, in case you forgot who the real star of these games is.
