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=Ludonarrative dissonance=

Ludonarrative harmony
Ludonarrative harmony, as opposed to ludonarrative dissonance, is when a video game's gameplay and its narrative complement each other. Not to be confused with ludonarrative resonance, which is described as “the successful use of game mechanics to communicate a narrative experience”, ludonarrative harmony is when the narrative and gameplay act as a symbiosis. In his thesis on ludonarrative harmony, Travis Pynenburg compares ludonarrative resonance to his description of ludonarrative harmony by saying, "[ludonarrative resonance] stresses the suitability of gameplay for a particular plot, I emphasize the need for gameplay to enhance plot, and vice versa."

Harmonic examples
One example of ludonarrative hamony in a video game is Heavy Rain. This interactive drama developed by Quantic Dream utilizes gameplay to help evolve the story and immerse the player. “Heavy Rain did not utilize a retry system,” says Pynenburg. “Instead, the basis of Heavy Rain’s gameplay is that characters can fail and even die, yet the story will always continue onward. Most games utilize a game over state when the player fails to meet particular game conditions, but there is no such thing in Heavy Rain.”

The game’s environment can also help prevent ludonarrative dissonance. In the video game Journey, developed by thatgamecompany, the desert setting helps guide the player towards the goal, without the use of flashing arrows that point to the destination. Instead, the game utilizes invisible walls, like many games do, except in Journey they appear as a gust of wind that knocks the player off of their feet. In an interview with Mike Mason of Push Square, thatgamecompany creative director Jenova Chen said that it’s the game’s way of saying “hey, that’s probably not the direction you wanna go.”

Another example of ludonarrative harmony in video games is Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. In Starbreeze Studios' game, the player controls both the older and the younger titular protagonists. Each of the brothers can perform different actions that the other brother cannot perform, underlining the mechanic of requiring a certain character's actions in order to progress through a puzzle. These mechanics also help build the overall story, as the brothers constantly need to rely on each other to make progress on their personal journey.

Two alternative dissonances
Aside from ludonarrative dissonance, storytelling in games often conflicts with two other cognitive dissonances, which game developer Terence Lee calls the dissonance of identity, and the dissonance of cutscenes.

The dissonance of identity occurs when the player suddenly loses control of the character and is forced into watching said character from the 2nd person point of view. This shift can take the player out of the atmosphere of the game as the player loses most if not all autonomy of the character. Lee further explains this when he says “In one moment, you are the protagonist, exploring the world and fighting enemies. In the next moment, you jump out of your body and watch your character interact with others without your control, walking and talking on their own. […] ''Who are you? Are you the actor or the viewer?”''

The dissonance of cutscenes occurs when a cutscene abruptly appears and takes the player away from gameplay. This is when the story has a conflict transitioning between, what Lee calls “narrative mode” and “game mode.” To help contextualize this, Lee states “One minute you’re playing a game, the next you’re watching a movie. It breaks the immersion, reminding you constantly that you’re consuming a piece of media.”

The role of narrative designers
In order for a game to obtain complete ludonarrative harmony, video game developers can hire narrative designers, who understand both the intricate details of game design, level design, mechanics, and concepts, as well as the writing process of storytelling that involves dialogue, character descriptions and arcs, and the overall plot. According to Stephen Dinehart, the first narrative designer, the job requires one to “champion story, craft compelling narrative elements, and define the systems in which they’ll be delivered to the player.”