Narrative Analysis – Road 96

Spoiler warning: minor plot details for Road 96

Overview

Road 96 is an adventure role-playing game that features survival elements amidst its politically-themed narrative. The action takes place during the summer of 1996 and leans heavily into the nostalgia of that era. Road 96 uses a unique system of procedural narrative to create variety in players’ experiences of the overall story.

At its heart, the game focuses on the plight of persecuted teenagers as they attempt to escape the dictatorship of their fictional country, Petria. Players can step into the shoes of a number of these missing teens as they attempt to cross the border out of Petria at the end of Road 96. Each new road trip the player goes on is a different attempt to cross safely.

Depending on the choices made and interactions with NPCs during each road trip, the player may succeed or fail in escaping Petria safely. If an attempt fails, either through the teen’s death or arrest, a new journey can begin with a different teen. Themes of political unrest and civil rebellion are explored throughout the wider story, which progresses over the course of several journeys the player takes. The backstory for the NPCs we meet in Petria, as well as the cultural context of the game world, can be gathered on each new road trip. There are also ways for players to influence the outcome of the narrative through actions they take in the game environment.

Personal Context

I completed Road 96 after playing it on Xbox One on Xbox Game Pass. I had some prior knowledge of the general concept after having covered it in a news/PR article I wrote last year. However, I’d never actually played the game for myself until recently. The experience gave me the desire to learn more about how procedural generation can work in narrative games, as its implementation in Road 96 was really interesting to think about.

Key Characters

• Zoe – one of the notable ‘missing teens’ who becomes increasingly engaged with the country’s main resistance and revolutionary group as she tries to escape Petria.
• Alex – another young teen players meet on the road. Alex is a self-taught tech genius and early game developer. He’s searching for information on his biological parents after a disagreement with his adoptive mother, Fanny.
• Fanny – Alex’s adoptive mother and a police officer in the Petrian government. She’s torn about the political situation and appears increasingly conflicted about her role in law enforcement.
• John – a warm-hearted truck driver and member of the game’s revolutionaries, the Black Brigades. Dealing with a crisis of conscience about his involvement in a prior disaster known as the peak collapse of ’86. John also develops a connection with Alex and a burgeoning relationship with Fanny.
• Sonya – a brash reporter and TV anchor for the country’s national broadcaster GNN, she’s dealing with past trauma to do with the peak collapse disaster, as well as being stalked by Jarod, who blames her for his daughter’s death.
• Stan and Mitch – a bungling criminal duo who lend some light relief and comedic effect to the story at times. They’re Sonya’s biggest fans and become fixated on tracking down her stalker.
• Jarod – a serial killer and taxi driver who targets Sonya as his ultimate victim. He sees her murder as vengeance for the death of his daughter, who died in the disaster a few years prior.

What I like about the game’s narrative

• The overall narrative premise is engaging and fairly topical. Grounding the overarching story in a reality that feels believable is an effective way to hook player attention.
• Interweaving the stories of the main NPCs you meet on the road feels natural and is done intelligently. This also helps you to put the pieces of the wider narrative together throughout your journeys.
• The use of procedural narrative feels fresh and exciting; you get the sense that every trip to the border could have different encounters and a completely different outcome each time.
• Completion percentages on the map screen show up for each NPC. This encourages you to take more trips to fully experience everything each character has to tell you.

What I’d do differently

• While I like the political premise, I do wonder if it could’ve been explored from a slightly more relatable angle, or if some further context could’ve been given as to why teens, in particular, are facing persecution from the government. 
• I’d maybe have wanted to up the emotional ante by making the player character part of a family or having others to be responsible for. I feel like this could be really impactful as an experience if it explored the stories of refugees, homeless people or asylum seekers, for example.
• More clarity would be helpful on the impact of choices and actions. In dialogues, it’s not entirely clear what each of the icons next to an interaction signifies.
• Some of the NPCs don’t feel as fully developed as they could be; I’d want to explore their histories and personalities a bit further.
• I’d aim to use a static UI system for dialogue interactions, as it can be awkward selecting an option on top of a moving target.

Exploring the game’s building blocks

I find it helpful to examine the fundamental components of the game as a whole to see how they work together in communicating the overall narrative experience.

• Story – The narrative concept of multiple teens trying to flee an authoritarian nation works well with the core gameplay loop of travelling to the border in repetitive cycles. There’s a fair bit of environmental storytelling within the aesthetic of the game, which helps to underpin the story itself. Players can choose to deface different political posters, for example, an action which will have consequences on later events. Interaction with the environment can also enhance the overall narrative experience; using a phone box to call home and hear from a worried or angry parent, for example, heightens the feeling of being on the run. 
• Mechanics – Procedural story event generation makes the overall game experience feel innovative and unpredictable. This serves the wider narrative well, as you’d never know what to expect on an actual road trip. Hitchhiking could have disastrous consequences, or you could make some real friends on your travels. The unpredictability of a real-life road adventure is communicated particularly well this way, and it’s a clever demonstration of mechanics/design-first storytelling. The addition of survival mechanics such as hunger, exhaustion and cash meters makes sense with the overall story premise and adds another effective layer of gameplay problems for players to keep on top of.
• Aesthetics – The overall aesthetic of Road 96 works well with the story and mechanics. However, there’s a distinctly American styling to the country of Petria that just feels a little out of sync with the narrative. I feel like the world environment looks too similar to some parts of the United States to convey a believable representation of a country under an oppressive, totalitarian regime. 
• Technology – In general, the technology underpinning the experience works well. Developed in Unity, Road 96 allows for an engaging first-person experience, although some additional player movement abilities, such as jumping or crouching, would be nice. The inclusion of innovative in-game puzzles and mini-games works to deepen the overall experience and enhance the nostalgia of the mid-90s. Road 96 also has a fantastic soundtrack, with players being able to collect different tapes and play them on various radios and in-car tape decks. This immersive audio system is a great addition to the overall sense of environmental storytelling. However, some of the graphics in the game are a little rough around the edges and the cursor-style UI for interactions, coupled with the fact that dialogue options flicker and move around, could be more robust.

Aspects of this game I’d want to implement in my own work

• I do like the concept of politically-charged storytelling. However, I’d probably want to try and explore this from more of a real-world basis. 
• The use of interconnected NPC backstories helps reveal more about the wider narrative.
• Immersive audio design that’s rooted in the story’s era.
• Taking an innovative approach to a narrative climax; all roads lead to the final event, but each of those roads is a self-contained journey for the player.

Summary

All in all, Road 96 was an enjoyable narrative experience and demonstrated an innovative approach to storytelling in games. There were moments of real tension during some encounters, and the subplots between the recurrent NPCs were also interesting to navigate. Replayability as a central pillar of the game narrative is something Road 96 left me thinking about. So too did the idea of exploring contentious real-world issues through a game narrative.

However, while I had fun playing through the story of teenagers trying to flee from persecution, that in itself left a bit of a strange taste in my mouth. Should something like that feel like fun? In reality, people are dealing with the serious consequences of political oppression, trying to make their escape and survive as best they can. I’m not sure that’s a situation that works well as playable entertainment. Aside from the wider ethical questions about the story premise, the game provided plenty of food for thought. Either way, I appreciated the game’s approach to mechanics-first storytelling, and it’s a title that experiments effectively with procedural narrative to deliver a range of unique experiences for the player.