Challenges Of Quest Stories

When we think of quest narratives, we may think of stories with knights and dragons. However, any storyline can be a quest narrative if the story has these five elements: a quester, a place to go, a reason to go there, challenges, and, ultimately, a real reason to go there. The quest narrative would not be complete without the quester’s challenges. Challenges occur throughout the the quester’s journey to reach his/her goal. Without challenges, the story would be dull, and would lack any rising action. Video games are among the most popular types of storytelling today, and many video games make use of quest narratives in their stories, often leading to fascinating storylines. The video game Starcraft uses challenges to make the storyline engaging
to players; The challenges provided within the game, such as physical challenge, challenges in decision making, and emotional challenges, make players get more involved in the game.
In Starcraft, the quester, known as the “Executor” undergoes a variety of physical challenges. In the Antioch Province, he has to hold up against the Zerg swarm, and on the Planet Char, he has to rescue Dark Templars from the Zerg swarm. The whole purpose of gameplay in the video game, is to virtually experience the hardships along the protagonist's journey, and to overcome them. The increasing levels of difficulty of the challenges sustain players’ attention and give them a sense of satisfaction when challenges are completed. The use of immediacy also makes the game engaging. The main story campaign doesn’t provide a proof of medium. Instead, the other characters in the story talk directly at the player through the screen, calling him / her “Executor.” The fact of virtually ‘becoming’ the quester allows the player to experience the challenges directly, and to feel more invested in them.
Challenges in decision making are commonly experienced by protagonists across stories of multiple genres.
In Starcraft, the Executor has to decide whether to stay loyal to the Conclave, which symbolizes their customs and religions, or act against the tradition by trusting Tassadar and allying with the Dark Templars to fight against the Zerg. This challenge provides a deeper understanding or interpretation of the story, by giving players a chance to think through the potential outcomes of each possible decision. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t give players a chance to make the decision, which could have provided much more interesting gameplay experience. If there had been an opportunity to make such an important choice in the game, the players would be even more engaged and curious, and would likely put more of their effort into exploring the different outcomes of each
decision. Many questers in quest narratives face emotional challenges, which engage the reader or, in this case, the player.
When the Executor returns to Aiur with the Dark Templars, he has to fight against his own kind. Even though he is trying to save his people and his home world, the Executor, as well as Tassadar, are considered “blasphemous traitors” by the Conclave. The Executor is emotionally disturbed by the fact of being called a traitor. He also faces emotional hardships when his mentor, Tassadar, dies in the battle. Appealing to people's emotions is one of the most engaging and effective ways to get their attention and sustain their interest. This type of challenge causes players to become much more involved in the game, and to have a greater investment in what is at stake for the characters. The death of a character that is strong and wise enough to make a difference in the storyline of Starcraft involves players in the emotional costs experienced by the protagonist, and allows them to imagine how he might feel after his mentor’s death. This allows them to experience a greater sense of connection to the protagonist, and a greater investment in the outcome of the
story.
The variety of challenges in the quest narrative of Starcraft makes the game more stimulating and engaging, by allowing players to virtually experience the difficulties, decisions, and emotions of the protagonist throughout the game. Although these hardships are occurring in a pixelated virtual world, these three types of challenges contribute to the creation of a satisfying and appealing storyline. The challenges and hardships which occur during the quest, and are overcome by the protagonist, and by extension, by the player, are the most important elements in the creation of an engaging plot.