Creating a Story in a Game, How Does it Work?

Games are known for a multitude of aspects. Gameplay, characters, and visuals are all factors of a memorable game. What makes a game truly amazing though, is its story. But how is a story made? What parts create the environment that many would rather live in? How are some stories good enough to compel people into tears? There are many factors, but we'll just look one for now:

Visuals

One of the best forms of storytelling is visual storytelling. That could be what a character looks like, the shape of buildings, and even down to the individual blade of grass. Take this for example: A ruined skyscraper, large vines and foliage curving into and out of it, the foundations have gone from stone and metal to bark and fiber. What's the first thought you have? Is it post-apocalyptic? How far into the future? Just one part can form the frame for a world, and the rest of a scene can give the story. Now lets take a pair of characters, one of them looks at this destroyed skyscraper in awe, seeing the growth of life fills them with inspiration and wonder. The other one looks with remorse, seeing the old world crumble down to nothingness. Without either saying a word you can see their experience, maybe the one infatuated is younger, the one saddened is older, one remembering the world from long ago, the other never knowing it even existed. With just a few visuals, a whole story can be made.

This is just one example, take a game like Batman: Arkham Knight. The whole game is set in Gotham (to be expected from a Batman game) the entire time it is raining in the middle of the night. Without even a single line a dialogue it sets the mood to a dark and gloomy atmosphere that almost makes it seem like an ending. Many other games use this as well, having their last mission or last game set in a rainy night to convey that ending.

Of course, there are many other ways, but visual storytelling is one of the most efficient.