![]() ![]() This is an eerie ending that echoes the final scene of Portal where Ciel reaches the outside world. When Stanley turns off the machine, he is praised by The Narrator for not messing with the plot and obtains the freedom ending. The room is a large panopticon, where players were observed and even brainwashed without their knowledge ‘eternally monitored in this place where freedom meant nothing’. The player can go to a room with hundreds of television screens, all assigned to individual workers. The game also has a “freedom” ending by discovering mind control machine at the heart of the office. The player can obtain a “heaven ending” with many colorful buttons to choose from and push. There are some that mock the idea of comfort and true endings, though. Your forte!’īut unlike in Portal, there is no real solution to The Stanley Parable, no true ending or one that leads to safety. ‘Ohhhh! It’s a puzzle! Critical thinking, Stanley. Just like GlaDOS, The Narrator is obviously a sadist, who mocks, taunts and downright abuses the player. It stems largely from shaming the player when s/he deviates. Another parallel between both games is that the humor is self-deprecating. Similar to Portal, the avatar can search for freedom in the system by taking alternative routes or ending up in the “back-office” of levels. In both games, the player is subjected to surveillance and disciplines. Thereby, the game reflects upon the consciousness and agency of both character and player. The Narrator goes against the player’s actions, and vice versa, which leads to unexpected twists. This is what The Stanley Parable is all about.ĭissonance is not a storytelling choice in this game, but as a game mechanic. ![]() Game designers and scholars have revised this term as ludonarrative dissonance, a tension between the game play and the story. This device often proves the narrator to be superior to the characters (e.g. According to literary critic Cohn ( 1978), dissonance creates a gap between the narration and the thoughts and actions of a character (p. And in such a competitive economy, why had he taken that risk? All because he believed everyone had vanished?’ĭissonance is important in this game, a friction between the narrator and the story, and between the narrative and the game play. He considered the possibility of facing his boss, admitting he had left his post during work hours, he might be fired or that. For instance, when Stanley refuses to go to his boss’ office, The Narrator reluctantly adjusts his story: He makes every effort to change it when the player disobeys. The Narrator is often portrayed as a conscious entity who also has to learn to understand the story that he is in. He can control or rewrite the story and the environment when Stanley acts against him. He is often portrayed as the Author and Designer of the game environments. While the narrator is not a character embodied in the story (as opposed to GLaDOS for instance) he has an agency of sorts. Narration in The Stanley Parable is characterized by its interactivity. How Dissonance and Narration Work in The Stanley Parable I suggest that the female narrator that appears in one ending is actually key to understanding this narrative. ![]() I’ll also unpack some of the secrets in the game. But how does it achieve this type of “metagaming”? How does it use narration to guide its players and make them reflect? Let’s have a deeper look. The Stanley Parable is a game that reflects upon games, control and choice. The player can go against the instructions of The Narrator and choose from various paths which lead to numerous endings of the game. His decisions and actions are commented upon by The Narrator. In the main game, the player guides the protagonist Stanley through the office in which he works. The sardonic narration by voice-actor Kevan Brightning as The Narrator is key to unlocking and experiencing the game. Interaction is mostly limited to opening doors and pressing buttons. Though the game adopts the first-person perspective common to shooters, the game largely relies on observation and exploration, similar to Dear Esther. The developer Davey Wreden then joined hands with modeler Will Pugh for a remastered version with new environments, which was released on Steam in 2013. Originally a mod built in Valve’s Source Engine, The Stanley Parable was first released in 2011. ![]()
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