The inherent conflict between the predetermined nature of narrative and the freedom that interactivity allows for, has been a major point of discussion in the field of interactive storytelling for many years. The Narrative Paradox, which initially described this tension, is seemingly getting closer than ever to being solved, but a singular solution with a definite answer has not been determined. This qualitative thesis aims to find a possible solution to the Narrative Paradox in how the multimodal components in the video game Outer Wilds construct meaning as well as ludonarrative coherence in conjunction with the player experience. The study also aims to discuss the importance of implementing game studies in media and communication research by arguing for the relevance of the medium in the field. In order to answer these questions, a multimodal discourse analysis of ludonarrative relationships arising in Youtube Let’s Plays was performed. By utilizing the narrative goals of Outer Wilds, theoretical solutions for the Narrative Paradox and the notion of narrative emerging from player interactions and motives, the results of the study show that Outer Wilds primarily uses Embedded Narrative as its main source of storytelling, while the game design and the open world within it allow for a high degree of Emergent behaviors through non-linear sequencing of events. The analysis also highlights the game as being purposefully designed for a specific type of player, which was reflected by one of the players experiencing close to a completely resonant playthrough of the game's introductory phase. While the ludonarrative structure of Outer Wilds in itself revealed similarities to the theoretical solutions of the Narrative Paradox, the analysis of the player experience in Outer Wilds provided insight into the importance of players’ motives as an essential part in the game design process of minimizing the tension between narrative and interactivity in video games.

A narrative paradox occurs when the suspension of disbelief falters due to tension betweenthe urgency of the narrative and agency used by the player to pursue non-narrative activities.In this paper, we do a close reading on the video game Persona 5 to examine which elementsare utilised to limit or avoid narrative paradoxes. The analysis consisted of categorising thegame’s events, whereafter a few non-obligatory events from the game were chosen for anin-depth analysis. This served to find out which desire: agency, urgency, or both, the eventsmotivate through its narrative. We introduce the concept of the Plot Bubble as a tool withwhich to create narrative structures that are less prone to causing narrative paradoxes whencombined with relevant narrative elements. The narrative structure and elements of Persona 5are used as practical examples of how such design choices can motivate the player to act inaccordance with the narrative context, as well as to support this desire through the actionsavailable in the game world. / En narrativ paradox inträffar när ens upphävande av misstro fallerar på grund av en spänningmellan narrativets brådskande karaktär och behörigheten som spelaren har för att utövaicke-narrativa aktiviteter. I denna text gör vi en närläsning av TV-spelet Persona 5 för attundersöka vilka element som används för att begränsa eller undvika narrativa paradoxer.Analysen bestod utav en kategorisering av spelets händelser och därefter valdes några fåicke-obligatoriska händelser från spelet till en djupgående analys. Detta tjänade till att ta redapå vilken begäran: spelarens behörighet, narrativets brådskande karaktär, eller båda,händelserna motiverar genom dess narrativ. Vi introducerar konceptet intrigbubbla som ettverktyg till att skapa narrativa strukturer som är mindre benägna att orsaka narrativaparadoxer i kombination med relevanta narrativa element. Den narrativa strukturen ochverktygen i Persona 5 används som praktiska exempel för hur sådana designval kan motiveraspelaren att agera i enlighet med den narrativa kontexten, samt att stödja denna begärangenom handlingarna som finns tillgängliga i spelvärlden.