Except for those small casual games, in fact, you will find that most games on the market have their own world background system, especially MMORPGs or large-scale stand-alone RPGs.
Some of them choose to build the game world based on the existing mythology system (such as Norse mythology), and some will combine the characteristics of different countries and regions to create unique original stories. Some are derivative works that directly utilize the background world view of the original.
As a game adapted from Dune series of science fiction novels, Dune: Awakening is based on the original Arrakis planet in the novel, introducing family forces from the original, a currency system based on Dune Awakening Solari, and the special role of spice.
Since the gameplay actually requires you to survive in Arrakis with harsh natural conditions, Dune Awakening is also considered the MMORPG with survival elements. But interestingly, the specific plot narration in the game is different from pure survival games or MMORPGs.
Therefore, this time, we will analyze the unique charm of Dune: Awakening in story creation based on the game’s unique narrative method.
What Kind Of Story Does Dune Awakening Tell?
If you have read the original novel of Dune, you should know that Paul Atreides is one of the most important protagonists in the entire series. It can be said that most of the plot revolves around him.
However, Awakening sets up a parallel world line without Paul. In this world line, Arrakis is completely involved in the civil war between House Atreides and House Harkonnen, and the native Fremen are missing.
The character you create in the game is an agent working for Bene Gesserit (a powerful social, religious, and political force). Your ultimate goal is to find Fremen and “awake the Sleeper” after solving a series of troubles.
How Does The Game Introduce You To The Main Story?
Most MMORPGs will set up a guide NPC to lead you step by step into the story after the main story is unlocked. Dune: Awakening also did this at the beginning.
At the beginning of the game, a seemingly friendly NPC will have a lot of conversations with you and lead you into the cruel Arrakis. But then there will be fewer and fewer NPCs who can advance the plot for you through conversations. If you want to get more clues, you must explore by yourself instead of listening to others’ stories.
When everything is “silent”, you will find that you can only go deep into the vast sands of Arrakis alone, and find resources such as Shigawire Reels, audio logs of abandoned ecological laboratories, or scattered movie books in one adventure after another, to continue to explore the subsequent stories.
In fact, it is these “fragments” that constitute the story of Dune: Awakening. They are inextricably linked to the surrounding environment and require you to feel it yourself. This cannot be achieved by just talking to NPCs.
Different From Traditional Survival Games
Most purely original survival games are usually set in a hostile and exciting open world. There is no specific goal. All you have to do is just to survive as much as possible by collecting resources.
To be honest, these games don’t put too much effort into the story or plot, because it is not the core element of survival games. In traditional survival games, everything revolves around “survival” or resources, and the story only serves to explain the overall background at the beginning.
Read More: Dune Awakening Best Survival Skills: How Do They Help You Explore?
In contrast, firstly Dune: Awakening has the characteristics of survival games in terms of gameplay in deed. For example, you must learn skills from mentors to deal with enemies, mine and collect resources with special tools, and engage in various spice trades in order to survive.
But on the other hand, as we introduced in the previous point, the game is based on Arrakis and connects multiple fragmented stories from novels. If you want to uncover the final mystery while surviving, you must collect story clues. Ordinary survival games often do not have this requirement.
Different From Other MMORPG Narrative Methods
In general, in terms of advancing the game process, Dune Awakening still utilizes the classic MMO progression model, such as requiring you to accumulate reputation and complete various world events.
In most MMORPGs, a series of linear tasks and dialogues will clearly guide you to complete exploration and events in an orderly manner to gradually understand the whole story. Although a part of Dune: Awakening also chooses this mode, the later you get to the game, the more you will find that the plot is actually driven by the planet Arrakis itself.
The game sets Arrakis as the main narrative driving force by dispersing various NPCs. Various survival-centric gameplays strengthen the story setting, and also take this opportunity to integrate most of the story into the landscape rather than the dialogue: while exploring Arrakis, you are also interpreting all the stories that happened here.
Compared with the traditional MMORPG narrative method, Dune Awakening has obviously made a perspective change attempt, guiding you to experience the story of Dune in the game in a more immersive way, and understand the past, present and future of Arrakis.
Based on this novel narrative method and interesting gameplay, it is not surprising that Dune Awakening quickly became popular and well received after its launch. In fact, not all derivative games can be successful, but at least Dune Awakening is doing well so far.
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