A taxonomy and terminology study on embedded narrative: A case study of bloodborne

This paper aims to term and to classify the embedded narrative elements in terms of game design, having regard first to their presentation to the player and then to their representation by the designer. The selected game for this study is Bloodborne, which is considered as one of the best examples of an encompassing narrative where smaller stories are embedded within a greater story and the game's mechanics are also designed in a similar vein to the nature of the story. The embedded narrative elements in Bloodborne are analyzed by close-playing technique with an aim to create a common terminology for game design and the twenty-six identified elements are classified by their temporal and spatial attributes. The Diegetic/Non-Diegetic dichotomy is used for spatial and the Sequential/Non-Sequential dichotomy is used for temporal classification, resulting in four types of narrative elements: Non-Diegetic/Non-Sequential, Non-Diegetic/Sequential, Diegetic/Non-Sequential, and Diegetic/Sequential.