Final Fantasy: Gaming as a Narrative

So this assignment was right up my alley. Who doesn't wanna play video games for homework? Anyways, I picked up Final Fantasy XIII for this assignment. I didn't finish it, but finishing a three disc xbox 360 game in a week, with lots of hw, is something only gamer gods can do, haha. But yeah,I've been playing final fantasy games for years and I absolutely love the narrative aspect of them. As much as I like to read, theres something about actually being able to explore and interact with pieces of stories that just...blows my mind. There's nothing I'm drawn to more than interactive media, so the final fantasy games are gold minds for me and people like me. While some of their stories have been a little shallow, the majority of them leave you wanting more. It's not hard to getting addicted to them. As you play and adventure in the elaborate worlds, you become emotionally invested in it. I know I do all the time. Just being able to see the characters emotions and to be able to control and experience these things with them regardless the medium, makes it...I'm not sure how to describe it really. Games like the ones in the FF series just take literature to that next level. You're no longer just imagining being in this area as you go along, you are there. You're not just reading about a dinosaur jumping out chasing you through a training facility, your walking...and getting the shit scared outta you when it leaps from the brushes and roars at you. You physically see it, hear it and react to it.