Video Games and Their Genres

          Probably the most important factor that goes into a gamer's decision to buy a video game. As with films, video games come in many different genres; however, unlike films, video games also have a "gameplay" genre as well. In my personal opinion, I find that many players, including myself, find the gameplay genre more important than if it's a fantasy or sci-fi story(just look at how successful the Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchise are despite being in a different setting but also both RPGs). Not only does gameplay attract different audiences, they also can be used to tell the narrative, a feature of video games that is completely exclusive to the medium.

          The game Brothers belongs to the adventure and controller genre. The game uses the controller genre to show how the brothers need each other, and the controls become a key to the video games narrative at the end. Jade Empire however, is almost the complete opposite of Brothers. Jade Empire falls into both the fantasy and RPG genres. The narrative in the RPG genre is pretty much decided by the player. The more that the player in Jade Empire puts into it, the more narrative he will get out of it. The full narrative is only shown to those who want to know it best.