Unless you're sitting there reading text, which kind of ruins the atmosphere in modern games, scriptwriters will be using the same visual/audio tools film directors use to present their ideas.
Difference is that game designers need to blend film techniques (efficient storytelling in a short period, visual framing etc.) into a shorter, non-choreographed environment where the player has freedom if the whole thing's to feel cohesive. You can't stick 120 minutes of CGI footage in the middle of a Final Fantasy chapter, so the story is told through cinematics and supported by in-game events - which compromises the amount of information you can fit into a game's story...
unless you blend the two and make the gamer part of the storytelling. So in Half-Life, you don't fart around with a 20 minute introduction, you let the player actually live it out and see what happens personally. And you accentuate that experience with audio and visual means within the situation, rather than choreographing a separate CGI sequence.
So I'm going on a bit, but Lorne hyped up the idea of storytelling in games, which got me all excited...only he didn't take it any further than producing a mini-movie for a story that should have enjoyed greater development and depth. It's not possible to give a subtle, powerful message AND use CGI sequences to tell the story's literal basis.
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