Multitextuality in RPGs: a ludonarrative synergy model for video game text analysis

The article presents the textual potential of games and distinguishes between the types of texts in text-heavy video games. Text types are categorized according to the diegetic/non-diegetic situation vis-à-vis the game world and primary text function. It is assumed that role-playing games (RPGs) such as Divinity: Original Sin 2 (Larian Studios, 2017) encompass a greater volume of textual material. The proposed corpus analysis model is based on the concept of ludonarrative synergy, text and discourselinguistics, and methods of natural language processing (NLP) and computational linguistics. Two-level text analysis using Python examines the validity of categorizing game texts according to an extended diegetic/nondiegeticmodel.