The Cat’s Narrative: Methods of Storytelling in "Super Cat Tales 2"

In 2018, Gionathan Pesaresi, head of the indie game development company Neutronized, made a bold statement to the mobile games industry by releasing the first part of Super Cat Tales 2. He was frustrated by the aggressively competitive nature of hyper-casual games. Rather than having “epic stories and proper gameplay” (Pesaresi, 0:53), hyper-casual games generally cash in on fundamentally simple concepts based on social to gain popularity and ultimately, profit. This, however, is at the expense of making a “quality game”. Gionathan mentions this in conjunction with talking about Super Cat Tales 2, a free-to-download mobile game with an overarching plot that ties directly into the game. It plays like a film that players have direct control over with the tap of two fingers on their phone screen.

Alex happily standing on the checkered platform.

Super Cat Tales 2 is about a cat named Alex who, after being captured by a group of evil robots known as the Tin Army, is determined to stop them from acquiring powerful crystals that jeopardize the balance of the world. The game is divided into multiple stages, or levels, that the player must complete to reveal more of the story. Most of the plot is revealed through cutscenes that play between stages, of which players watch characters either engage in dialogue or perform a pivotal action that does not involve the game’s core mechanics. In between cutscenes, players control Alex by letting him run or walk upon flat surfaces to reach the checkered goal at the end of each level. Along the way, Alex encounters various cats that players can switch to obtain certain abilities that Alex does not possess. Players alternate between gameplay and cutscenes up until they reach the end of the first part.

Narrative Structure

Story-based video games contain at least one narrative structure, characterized by the control players have over the main plot. In 2014, Marcello Picucci outlined four types of narrative structure in video games. Of the four, the pre-established narrative structure’s characteristics most match that of Super Cat Tales 2. Its level-based arrangement obliges players to complete certain levels in order to view cutscenes (video-like or picture based cinematics playing in between or on levels that often reveal plot points). The only control players have over the main plot is the pace at which they reach it, but ultimately, every player will experience the same outcome. This results in a “high degree of linearity…with a consequent low degree of freedom” (Picucci, 2014). Apparently, it is common for game critics to expect linear plots from video games (Jenkins, 2004, 124), and this, combined with the straight-forwardness, allows the pre-established narrative structure in Super Cat Tales 2 to become more accessible for a wider audience.

Alex speaks to an NPC waiting at the bus stop in Hikari City.

Narrative structure has been a point of discussion in regards to video games. Games with dialogue and characters that can be interacted with provide writers with opportunities to have the player make choices that impact the plot of the game. This is known as a dynamic narrative structure, in which plot points undergo constant “narrative reconstruction” based on what the player does in the game (Picucci, 2014). A player’s freedom is determined by the game’s developers, though, since giving the player the ability to make multiple decisions means that the developer must account for how these decisions unfold. As Michael Wellenreiter writes, the “freedom of performance comes at the cost of limiting the screenwriters’ ability to control coherent character development over the course of a narrative” (Wellenreiter, 2015, 346).

Visuals

A snapshot of the panned mural.

The majority of this pre-established narrative structure is told through dialogue, with a few small, but effective plot points being revealed in the game’s graphics. One notable example of visual presentation is the mural presented at the very start of the game right before proceeding to the start screen. This panorama shows players events that occurred before the timeline of the game’s plot. Despite not knowing the finer details of what each scene in the picture represents, the player, at least, has a sense of the characters and some key events that have an impact on the world they are about to experience.

Another example of visual storytelling in Super Cat Tales 2 is through the use of the level select screen itself. When players progress through the game for the first time, they are brought back to the level select screen or map upon completing each level. Certain elements of the map are altered as the player unlocks new levels, such as the ship in stage 1-1 (Neko House) crashing into the spot where stage 1-2 is on the map before allowing the player to enter that level. Characters already present on the map like Commander Mizu, a robot in charge of guarding the Tin Army hideout, are destroyed on the map once players defeat him in battle. If players return to that section on the map after they make further progress in the game, they will only see a nut and bolt in place of where Commander Mizu used to be.

Commander Mizu is destroyed before the map goes to the next level.

Dialogue

Dialogue remains the most common form of narrative storytelling throughout many of the levels, as characters speak through cutscenes and the player can interact with multiple non-playable characters (NPCs) in specific village levels. Unlike the regular stages, villages consist entirely of NPCs and are completely absent of enemies and hazards. The player triggers each NPC’s dialogue by running towards them, of which a speech bubble initiates. During these levels, the player remains a passive character, simply listening to the words of the other characters. Many NPC’s dialogues are set to a repeated line of text, either providing the character with information about the village, the mechanics of the game or a tidbit of humorous flair that contributes to neither of the previous two things. Players have brief opportunities to interact with the NPCs in a way that has an impact on the game. In Ramal Town, players can choose to wake an egg-like creature playing the flute. This NPC, once awake, will offer to play a song for the player in exchange for coins. Upon obliging, the NPC plays the song, then replies, “The spirits of the desert are quiet now.” (Super Cat Tales 2, 2018) This causes the desert spirit enemies in the following levels to disappear, allowing the player to navigate areas more freely.

Alex speaks to the flutist NPC after the song has been played.

But while these characters give the player a chance to influence how a level is displayed, none of the NPC interactions or decisions affects the overarching plot of the game. Even if the player chooses to not pay the flute player, they will still encounter the same missions and cutscenes as someone who does. The linearity of the dialogue even causes some of the characters to have exchangeable quotes.

In stage 1-8, where the player fights Commander Mizu, one of the cats has a brief conversation with Mizu before the battle begins. At this point in the game, the player can play as either Alex or McMeow, but whoever they choose to initiate the cutscene does not change the words that particular cat says to Commander Mizu. It is a rather odd phenomenon, given that the game establishes McMeow, in particular, with a distinct way of talking and Alex presents himself as being less experienced in combat. If anything, the exchange between the cat and villain comes across as though the player were expected to enter the boss battle with McMeow in the tank. Because of this, along with the expositional presentation of the characters, the pre-established narrative structure does not come across as memorable as it could have. That being said, the narrative structure may be a step above the first Super Cat Tales, where characters almost exclusively existed as expositional and basic. The plot itself was also barebones to the point where a conclusive ending was absent. Super Cat Tales 2 appears to be a complete overhaul of the previous narrative from the first game rather than a follow-up. It is a story so expansive, it ended up being released in two tentative parts.

Conclusion

As of now, the second part of the game has yet to be released in an update, so judging the dialogue or the plot of the game as a whole seems premature. It could, however, serve as a fine method of comparison between the two sections. Will the dialogue become more character driven or remain almost purely expositional? With Gionathan’s more recent emphasis on the need for “quality games” on the App Store, my reflection on Super Cat Tales 2 grows more curious. After all, Gionathan would only release what he deems to be of good quality, I hope. Regardless of whether the dialogue turns out to be unmemorable or the gameplay is remembered more than the story, Super Cat Tales 2 proves to a significant milestone that has changed how Neutronized presents themselves to their audience.

References

Jenkins, Henry. 2004. “Game Design as Narrative Architecture.” In First Person: New Media as Story, Performance and Game, edited by Noah Wardrip-Fruin and Pat Harrigan, 118-130. Massachusetts: MIT Press.

Pesaresi, Gionathan. “Indie Game | Super Cat Tales 2 - DevLog #12”. YouTube. Video File. 10 November 2018. Accessed March 20, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfqKDiEHrnQ

Picucci, Marcello A. “When Video Games tell Stories: A Model of Video Game Narrative Architectures” Caracteres, November 3, 2014. Accessed April 8, 2019. http://revistacaracteres.net/revista/vol3n2noviembre2014/model-video-game-narrative-architectures/

Wellenwriter, Michael. 2015. “Screenwriting and authorial control in narrative video games.” Journal of Screenwriting 6, no. 3: 343-361 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/10.1386