What is Linear Narrative

It emphasizes the cause-and-effect relationships and the chronological order of events, forming a continuous narrative chain from beginning to end. In this model, the narrative rhythm is controlled by the creator, and the audience can only experience the story along a predefined path.

The advantage of linear narrative is that it ensures coherence between events, making the story easier to understand and remember. Additionally, the creator can control the pacing, creating strong dramatic tension. This has made linear narrative the dominant form in literature, theater, and film for a long time.

However, the limitations of linear narrative are also evident. It emphasizes “telling” rather than “participation,” leaving the audience in a passive role with no active control over the story’s progression. When narrative enters interactive media, the audience hopes to engage with the story through actions and choices. At this point, pure linear narrative can feel rigid and fails to fully leverage the advantages of interactive media.

Nevertheless, linear narrative laid the foundation for later, more diverse forms of storytelling. Early video games used fixed plot progression, which ensured story integrity but exposed the contradiction of lacking interactivity. This tension led to the emergence of branching narratives, emergent narratives, and other new forms, pushing game narrative toward a more open and diversified direction.