What are the most effective ways to provide feedback on game narrative?

A better question: How to deal with feedback. I've been serving game-studio clients as an independent narrative content provider for seven years, and this is my 16th year in narrative for games. Most people are very business-focused, and they don't have the time (or inclination) to craft careful feedback, especially in the way a lot of young writers have been taught from academia to expect it, rolled up in a blanket of positives. So when someone says, "This feels flat," don't take it personally. Look at it with fresh eyes and try to separate the scene in your head from the actual execution in words onscreen. Chances are the threads are there for you to dig in and make both you and everyone else happy (happier!) with that scene.

A good Narrative Designer doesn't care about the position of the feedbacker. Anyone can read and know, whether something makes sense or not. If you feel, that some story doesn't make sense or you miss some crucial points in the story itself - just reach out to your writer/narrative designer and raise your concerns. We will be more than happy to hear and get some fresh viewpoints.

Regardless of your role, your instinctual feedback can always be very valuable to a team. If you feel like your initial thoughts were not entirely aligned with the vision and direction, you must take a step back and ask yourself why that is. This introspection can uncover deeper insights or missed narrative elements.

As a filmmaker and game designer: Narrative Cohesion: Assess how well the game's story integrates with visual and interactive elements, ensuring a seamless blend of narrative and gameplay. Emotional Impact: Focus on the emotional engagement of the player, akin to a film's audience, evaluating character development and the narrative's emotional depth. Interactive Storytelling: Analyze the effectiveness of interactive storytelling elements, like branching narratives and player choices, unique to the gaming medium.

Just like art, anyone can view themselves as an expert in what something is supposed to look like if you are going for realism. Story is similar in that you're qualified to answer if you are a reader. This "know your role" guidance is misplaced and offensive. A good designer and writer should take input and ideas from everyone and not rely on the prestige of title to armor themselves. This is how terrible games get made. That doesn't mean they have to agree. They should have both conviction in their work and the fortitude to absorb criticism and use it. That's how games can get better.

One thing that has benefited me greatly in writing for games is starting the process with clear documentation. For each major part of the narrative, I find it helpful to develop a brief that outlines what needs to happen alongside the key emotional beats and observable changes in the world and characters. This allows the writer, editor or stakeholder to understand whether the goals for each part of the narrative have been reached. From here it is easy to build out feedback as you can compare the writing to the brief and build out said feedback on what has/hasn't worked. This approach allows for all team members to align on the vision and goals for the narrative as well as providing a robust framework for feedback.

Feedback is always important, both in generalities and specifics. Yes, you can start off with feedback that is speaking generally, but it has to get more specific. Any designed experience, whether we're talking about a game, book, movie, or art exhibition needs some level of flow and connection the audience. And someone doesn't necessarily need to be a scholar to talk about these things. For example, if you're giving a character motivation that explains why they're doing what they're doing and it's still not clear, that's a story structure that needs to be fixed.

In summary do not generalize your feedback. Pick an example of a dialogue, story beat, cutscene or any narrative plot device and provide a concrete example of why you feel something fell short of its potential. Whether it's contradictory to the lore of the game or feels like a cop out as long as you provide specific examples it's a good feedback.

Providing examples is a very helpful way to make your review and feedback clearer. However, there is no strict rule saying you should have examples for everything that concerns you. Furthermore, sometimes a provided example can be misleading and unclear. The best way out of this situation is to try and figure out an example together with the creator. Working together to resolve the issues can save you troubles in the second draft stage.

If you feel that something is off - tell. Of course, the more specific you are the better, but no one expects from you very detailed information regarding, for example, missing links in character backstory. Even information stating "It's weird to do something like this character would do" can open our eyes to the problem you raised.

For the love of Miyamoto, please don't say "this sucks." Creatives, especially writers, can't do anything with that and will mentally bin your feedback now and in the future. What has helped me is starting with what worked. Give details. It's a sign you paid attention. Sometimes knowing what worked well helps guide the next step of iteration as much as what didn't work. Second, when you get to what didn't work, be direct, but don't be cruel. "I didn't understand my character's motive when they got to the picnic" is far better than "The whole picnic side quest is stupid." Again, writers can work with clarity issues. Lastly, try not to say "this is what I would have done." It's confrontational and unnecessary and sets false expectations.

When giving any kind of feedback, challenge the idea, and not the person! In other words, it's just business, not personal. It's also a great idea to use the phrase: "from the player's perspective." That way the feedback is clearly from what the player sees and experiences, making it more valuable.

Being rude, insulting or just straight hating is always something bad. But in a very rare instance saying "the dialogue is cringy" can give us more explanation than a longer conversation. Or sometimes the dialogue is cringy on purpose ;) Just don't be an asshole. Sometimes we cannot do anything with some of the texts.

Have you ever studied the history of video games? knowing since the beginning of games like "Tetris" or "Ping-Pong", it was their construction and design that helped us get here. Character transformations from "Jump Man" to Super Mario as we know them today. It was these small changes in history that helped us arrive at our modern construction. Remember that video games use our imagination with problem-solving skills.

When I've given feedback either as a writer, screener, editor, or critic, I've tried to be evenhanded. After all, there is nothing that is absolutely perfect. There's also nothing that is 100% terrible. Even if I couldn't find something already redeeming within the work, I would at least find some things that could be workshopped into something redeemable. And I'd offer alternative ideas.

Just don't be that type of person, that starts giving feedback with something very small and positive and then drops the bomb. Don't try to force yourself trying to find something positive. If the narrative is bad, tell us it's bad and why. But if you read something and like something - write to us as soon as possible. Narrative Designers and Writers are one of the most forgotten teams in game development. And many people play games for a story, not only to shoot things ;)

From time to time, you will find your skills in the gaming company. Don't rush and let it flow, which will come to you over time naturally. Eventually, you will find yourself an expert and more engaged.

Giving feedback is a balance and you should always be able to find some good things and bad things in your reviews. One thing you could try is running a small retro type of exercise. What was good, what needs a bit more, what didn't work, etc The more time you put into highlighting the feedback of the story for the designer the better it will be received and the more appreciative they will be.

I value feedback on how well the narrative aligns with visual elements in our game. It's vital to know if character designs and environments effectively reflect the story. I appreciate direct yet thoughtful feedback, highlighting any inconsistencies and offering creative solutions for a more cohesive narrative and visual experience. So, balanced feedback is a blend of critical analysis and collaborative problem-solving!

Everyone and their mother will give criticism on the narrative, and no one will ever give you metrics for success. Learn whose opinion you're supposed to listen to and define your KPIs. Without clearly and specifically defining these with directors and production, you risk making a narrative-by-committee, and those are always pedestrian, mechanical, and forgettable.

It is very important to get feedback on the narrative before release. The most effective way, in my experience, was a friends and family test, in which we gave the game to people who had not played it before. They were asked to play for some significant time, and then answer a questionnaire in detail, which included a number of questions, both general and specific. For example: which character do you remember most and why? Which quest in the first chapter did you like best and why? What was interesting? What was boring? And so on. You can't please everyone; people have different tastes. But if several respondents point out the same problem, then we need to pay attention to it and fix it - after all, there is still time before the release.

This soft skill is really hard to learn. Sensitivity to how your feedback will be received requires a lot of thought on the delivery. Don't make it personal, just about the work. Don't deliver severe criticism in a group setting, as that is when egos can create some backlash. Don't try to fix it, just tell how it confused or frustrated you. There is no arguing about how it made you feel. That said, it is really hard to get a team of creatives to share work in progress. As a manager, try to promote a culture where people feel safe to share and don't let their ego interfere with receiving criticism of their work. Everyone just wants to make the game better.

If you're in a position to provide feedback as a role in the game project, please ensure that you are transparently providing the feedback early in the process. Identifying something that requires constructive feedback early, and then not providing it until much later, increases the cost, time, and other resources which much be expended if your feedback is acted upon. It is better to provide the feedback so that the game designer can make a decision on it and make changes early!

I think something here could be more for the narrative designer reading the feedback. We should go into reading feedback knowing it is coming with good intentions. Not everyone has crafted the art of delivering great feedback in a great format every time but when you are on a team working towards the same goal you should know it is coming from the right place.