Quantifying Game Drama

The article of Polti's ratios used in numerically ranking the relative amounts of drama in video games is very interesting. The three categories: level, variety, and involvement of drama are very important in creating a convincing and intriguing storyline. Tetris is clearly an example of no-story line, and while it Tetris does have drama that varies by the speed of the blocks falling, the actual emotional value of the game is completely dependent on the player's own investment in improving their own score. I consider such strategic/competitive gameplay to create it's own system of ratios, versus the actual storyline that unfolds. In the game Final Fantasy 7 (my #3 all time fave), the player spends hours(lengthy game) leveling up a party of characters to battle and progress through the storyline. The game's heavy use of cinematic cutscenes and pre-rendered 3D areas made it extremely imersive, and one of the first 3D role playing games.

SPOILER ALERT!!! About a third into the game(10-15 hours depending on speed), one of the playable characters, Aerith, is killed by one of the other characters, Sephiroth(who you also can play in the beginning). Sephiroth ends up becoming the boss of the entire game, and as the main protaganist Cloud, you find out that Sephiroth is actually your brother from a genetic breeding project. This establishes what many gamers consider to be the most epic game and storyline ever: it's Akira meets Lord of the Rings.

The amount of time invested in developing the characters makes for a level of drama unavailable in games like Tetris, and I feel cannot be effectively evaluated with the same set of ratios. The unknown elements of a story are what really dictate the drama.

---FF7--- ---Tetris---

Death of A main character vs. Rocket launch when you get a Tetris(four lines in a row)

While that rocket sure does turn me on, the death of Aeris was the most epic emotional moment of any game I have played, and was as well executed as a blockbuster movie. The death also establishes the motive of the rest of the game, propelling the player into a higher level of emotional involvement.
Here is a clip of the scene: