Summary
The three-act structure is a classic story set up, used across literature, movies, and games. To explain the concept in broad terms, the idea is that a story needs a first act set up to establish character and threats. This leads to a central conflict in the second act involvinga journey for the protagonist(literal or metaphorical), and then the third act deals with the resolution of the conflict and character arcs.
There are many JRPGs with a three-act structure, and the nature of the genre means that developers have a great deal of room to establish characters, give them deep personalities, and establish challenges they need to overcome through character growth. Still, not every game nails the three-act structure. There are plenty of games with bloated second acts or rushed third acts. The games in this topic, however, all use the three-act structure expertly to develop and conclude their plots and character arcs in a satisfying way.
Even though its themes can be dark,Tales of Berseriais a fairly classic example of a three-actstructure in a JRPG. It’s a satisfying one too, setting up the main character before taking everything away from her in tragedy, setting her on a journey of revenge. The concluding act has twists, turns, and character revelations, and has a real emotional impact with a bittersweet ending.
One of the things thatTales of Berseriadoes well within its structure is developing the stories of its characters. The protagonist Velvet and her assorted cast of party members and side characters all get plenty of time throughout the campaign to show their personalities. It’s all well-acted and engaging, keeping the players' interest high and heightening the emotional impact of the ending.
2The Legend Of Heroes: Trails In The Sky SC
False Flag
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SCpicks up directly after the events of the originalTrails in the Sky. Protagonist Estelle sets out to find Joshua, who disappears at the end of the first game, after becoming a full Bracer, as the pair had set out to do inTrails in the Sky. Interestingly, the middle act centers around political intrigue, revealing to the characters the involvement of Erebonia in an attack on their village that was used as an excuse to go to war with rival nation Liberl.
During the second act, Estelle is captured, leading to the return of the first game’s other protagonist Joshua, who ends up rescuing her. This leads to an epic final act as the antagonists, involved in the false flag operation and heads of the shady Ouroboros organization, raise a giant floating city known as the Liber Ark. The game manages to resolve tensions between Estelle and Joshua, after his selfish decision to pursue Ouroboros alone, while concluding the gamein epic JRPG fashion, giving the game an impactful ending as the characters fully reunite.
Most of theXenoblade Chroniclesgames use a three-act narrative structure, butXenoblade Chronicles 2might make the best use of it. The game’s first three chapters form its first act, and though it starts as a slow burn, the story ramps up in Chapter 3, as the party fights its way out of a Titan’s stomach, leading up to a climactic battle.
The game’s middle act covers Chapters 4-7, and the work the game does to establish the state of the world and the motivations and feelings of its cast of characters during these chapters is important. The final act, across the game’sfinal three chapters, is well done in terms of its resolutions, with its ending having a particularly emotional impact due to the groundwork established in previous chapters.
The three-act structure has rarely been as clearly defined as it was withFinal Fantasy 7. The three discs of the original split the game into three distinct phases, clearly defining its beginning, middle, and end. Some would argue that Act 1 actually ends before Disc One does, and the arcs are more accurately divided by the modern remakes, but either way, it makes the games' three-act structure stand out.
Through its acts,FF7tells the story of Cloud and his companions, but it also tells a wider story about the fate of the world. This necessitates a lot of filling the player in on the history of the world and why what they are doing, versus what Sephiroth is doing, and what Shinra is doing, matters. The game fits a lot of the most valuable exposition here into Act 2, which can make it feel long-winded to some. The punctuation points that permeate the story and define the most significant parts of each act bring it all together in the end, though.
Chrono Trigger’stime-traveling storycan make the flow of its acts a little confusing. Not to mention the fact that much of the later content in the game is optional, giving the player divergent story paths to pursue and different endings as a result. The three-act structure is there, though, starting with a haphazard accidental stumble through time, before giving way to a more controlled mid-section where the player can travel at will, and finally setting up a high-stakes finale that the player can choose to prepare for in several ways.
The varied party that players meet, beyond the silent protagonist, all get their dedicated story arcs. Marle escapes her royal trappings, Frog pursues his quest against Magus, and Robo attempts to undo the mistakes of his creator. The characters are memorable and well-developed throughout the plot and it’s these character arcs that keep the player engaged throughout what could otherwise be a convoluted storyline.
While later games likePersona 5are probably more accurately described as four-act games,Persona 3fits a lot more neatly into a three-act structure. The story starts with the player character transferring to a new school, soon discovering their ability to confront shadows as a Persona wielder. The first act sets up many of the characters who will be joining and supporting the player and introduces the concepts of Tartarus, shadows, and the dark hour.
The second act begins when the player is given what is, on the surface, their main quest. Defeat twelve greater shadows and end the Dark Hour. The third act subverts the players' expectations with a betrayal, revealing they’ve been helping the antagonist all along. This sets up the final ascent of Tartarus and the game’s final boss battle. As withmany JRPGs, it’s the character arcs the game tells within this plot structure that are the real draw. Many players citePersona 3’s social links as some of the most interesting in the series.
The structure ofNier: Automatadeserves an entire article to itself in many ways. The game’s plot does follow a three-act structure, but it does so over and over again until the player chooses to end the cycle. The game follows Androids 2B and 9S as they investigate rogue robots on behalf of YorHa, ostensibly the last remnants of humanity.
The androids learn that the robots are being corrupted, and set out to stop the perpetrators. This leads to a “conclusion” where 2B and 9S fight the antagonists, with 9S becoming infected with a virus and 2B having to kill him. However, these events continue to play out, as the player starts a new game from the perspective of 9S, and then a slightly different phase of the game as A2.
Eventually, players learn the truth that these events are a self-replicating system, and the only way to “defeat” them is to defeat the system itself, represented in this case by the game - the player must sacrifice their completed save data to truly “win.” It’s probably the smartest way of reusing the three-act structure to tell aunique narrativethat video games have ever seen.
It’s not easy to say exactly whereFinal Fantasy 6splits its acts. But, consider everything up to the return to Narshe and Terra’s awakening as the introduction, the journey to Vector and the raising of the floating continent as the middle act, and the world of ruin after the one-year time skip as the finale, and it fits quite neatly into the three-act structure.
There’s a lot of plot and character work done within this time though, with each section of the game devoting time to different party members as they’re split up for various reasons throughout the story. This leads to some of the game’s most iconic moments, like the Opera and the battle with the Ghost Train, which taken individually can feel quite nebulous and unconnected. However, viewing the plot of the game as the story of Terra and the Espers, and considering the rest as character stories told within that framework, helps to contextualize it.
Eventually, the grand narrative pays off, bringing all these characters together again after splitting them apart for their development innumerable times throughout the game. The game also chooses to create a narrative arc for its main villain within this structure, which is one of true degeneracy. Kefka starts from the fairly odious position of lusting for power, before eventually descending to true nihilism and the belief that nothing has meaning.Final Fantasy 6tells several truly memorable stories within its overarching plot.
