In my experiences, as well as those I've read and heard about, video games can be effective learning tools, active approaches to a certain idea, skill, etc.. But why are they effective? Do students connect more with the narrative or gameplay? But much as I enjoy waxing on about narratives in video games, I'm beginning to question their power in education settings.

Indulge me for a few minutes as I meditate on those questions, drawing on some classroom experiences.

And our comment boards have seen quite a bit of activity either decrying our choices, agreeing with them, or complicating the finer points of the essays we produce. We've heard bits and pieces of your take on these games, some occasional back and forth banter about what constitutes a "good" narrative or when gameplay is sufficient. But we'd love to open the floor this week with a simple question:

What video game stories have stayed with you long after their completion? And why did it move you so? 

Our crew will be on these boards all day to open up some discussion. We'd love to hear what you've got.

As I continue scuba diving in the sea of words on video game narratives, I keep discovering profound ideas expressed long before this writer started unraveling his little yarns. They come from sharp personalities and witty brains, those from think tanks and media to academia and the blogosphere, who say video games are changing how "we" (yes, the collective "we" ) think and learn.

As James Gee writes:

"Video games usually involve a visual and auditory world in which the player manipulates a virtual character (or characters). They often come with editors or other sorts of software with which the player can make changes to the game world or even build a new game world (much as the mind can edit its previous experiences to form simulations of things not directly experienced)."

Taking a step further, some also say video games can change the world.

The good news is, video games really are changing the world, and they are changing "our" brains. It's not really a question of "can" anymore. Why? To arrive at some answers, we can point to World of Warcraft, the enemy of Eve Online. Consider this Part Two of our yarns on narratives in massively multiplayer online role-playing games.

Last week, when my friend Danzl and I were talking video games over pints at the bar, I was once again jabbering about open-world video games and their massive options. "Skyrim," he uttered, shaking his head and expounding on its non-linear yet linear yet awesome narrative.

Jokingly, I asked how Eve Online was treating him. I haven't played the science-fiction, spacecraft-centered, massively multiplayer online role-playing game, where players control the economy, government and more from the ground up.

His shook his head again.

"In Eve, you can really hurt people."

Those words have been haunting me for a week. He had so much conviction behind them, a sign of a self-described recovering (albeit harmless) addict of the game. I've taken his words, done some Internet trolling, and synthesized an idea related to preexisting ideas about Eve: It's a drama with infinite narratives designed by its community. Or it's a drama lacking an "authorial narrative," or a master narrative that dictates the drama. (More on that in a moment.)

It's a simple idea that I invite you to expand on. I have to know more about this game.

In the last six months, James Hawkins and I have meditated on narratives in such video games as Limbo, Batman: Arkham City, Bastion and Bioshock. The reader responses to our Unraveling Yarns series have been fantastic, often furthering whatever yarn we've started rolling. Your comments, dear community, give it mileage.    

As 2011 comes to a close, today's installment revisits those conversations. Join us after the jump.

​This year will go down in history as one of the biggest ever in video game history. It'll be known for the three month period where a dozen giants all fought one another at the top of a mountain of cash, battling it out for supremacy over the eager masses. It'll be known for sending the surging entertainment medium even further above the rest. 

But, even more than popularity, it deserves to be recognized as a momentous year in video game storytelling. A few notable games have risen to a high level of critical and commercial success that will ensure their legacy sticks around for a while -- stories told through the video game medium that are complex and robust on a level that we don't see often at all. Portal 2, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Uncharted 3. Those games have brilliance in them, and are rewarded handsomely for their achievements due to robust marketing campaigns, a lot of high-profile coverage, and enthusiastic fan bases.

However, there have been some smaller games that have come out this year that aren't getting the kind of recognition they deserve. Recently, we've been able to rely on independent developers and international creations to push video games forward as a narrative medium. This year is no different, except that it is more laden with diverse stories than in years past, and we're able to experience strange, dark, beautiful tales of all sorts. For your viewing pleasure, I've put together a short list of those games that may have slipped under the radar. Games that will stir you with story.

At my latest checkpoint in Batman: Arkham City, the Dark Knight is searching for Mr. Freeze, situated in the thick of a museum chilled to the bone by Penguin. Gotham City Police Department agents are dying, and nothing else seems more important, save for the idea that (spoiler!) Batman has Joker Venom in his system.

Outside that museum, though, a city of threats is beckoning Batman. For this player, the trouble is deciding which threat to investigate, to follow-up on, and to neutralize. Should he track down Deadshot? Should he look for "Identity Thief?" (I know who it is!) How much time should he waste on Zzasz's phone calls? Why bother helping Bane? Who was the dude who can catch Batarangs? What can Riddler's goons reveal to me? Every threat/mystery seems to be timely and critical, as if Batman needs to delegate some investigations to the Justice League, Nightwing, Robin or some other buddy.

As the Batcomputer shows, Batman has a lot to cover in Arkham City - perhaps too much for one man, and too much for one night.