The future, the crisis, and the future of »replay story«

Abstract

The article explores the notion of <i>replay story</i> by Janet Murray. <i>Replay story</i> – a game telling a story through choices and allowing the player to access all of their outcomes – was supposed to be a step in the process of games becoming the most important narrative medium of a new era. Soon after that, the reasonable critique emerged: not every story can, and should, be told through a <i>replay story</i>. Some, mostly tragic ones, can even be highly controversial if told in such form. However, new ways of storytelling through replay have emerged in recent years: New Game +, multiple routes that influence one another, and games that are conscious of previous playthroughs. Three years ago, Ian Bogost stated that the possibilities of development of narrative games had already been played out, and yet, there still is a chance that <i>replay story</i> can once again be considered a keystone in the evolution of games.