Visionary Virtual Worlds: Storytelling via Digital Architecture in NaissanceE

Abstract

The narrative and worldbuilding of digital games are often constructed through their architectural design. This paper analyzes how virtual architecture can enable interactive digital storytelling through the case study of the game NaissanceE (Limasse Five 2014), which displays particularly imaginative architectural spaces within the panorama of digital games. NaissanceE’s architecture will be looked at through the lenses of 18th century visionary architecture, such as the works of Italian engraver Giovanni Battista Piranesi and French architect Étienne-Louis Boullée, as well contemporary mangaka Tsutomu Nihei, in order to understand which architectural elements carry the narration, how they are employed, and how they are understood by players.