Narrative is how we remember and/or retell a sequence of events. Narrative meaning is the meaning we attach to or derive from those memories/retellings.
When relating those events, does it have to be done in a particular medium or structure? Can the relationship between characters in a scene create a narrative (as used in the
example at the start of the segment on story machines)?
The arc of most gameplay does not in fact follow a plot pyramid. Most games are designed to keep people engaged not by structuring events to fit any variant of Freytag's pyramid but by keeping people convinced they can win. I do not believe that the rules of a game necessarily make a sequence of events that people will find memorable let alone attach or derive meaning.
Does it not? You have an initial condition and a goal. As you work towards that goal and compete with the other players, the tension in the game increases. Someone eventually reach that goal, and the tension abates. That seems to describe a structure that is approximately pyramidally shaped. The video also has examples of smaller “plots” that happen. You’re out in the field, and you get ambushed. The goal is to survive the ambush. The conflict is obvious, and the tension comes from whether you’ll win or not. The fun of Soulsborne games is predicated on this kind of loop.
I don't have any particular expertise in or even much experience of video games but I'd tell you that the creators of any Zelda game are at least writing pieces of stories separately from the gameplay bits. Seems from your phrasing that you tend to see it that way too. Unless a cutscene is literally part of game play which I have been given to understand is not the case.
There are some parts that are about farming cutscenes or story bits (finding the Dragon’s Tears and Messages from an Ancient Era quest lines), but that’s not what the video shows. It shows four
scenes from the game: Link in flight, Link manipulating a spiked ball with Rewind, Link traveling up through a ledge using Ascend, and shot of Hyrule Castle. At least three of these are happening outside of any particular story moment. The spiked ball in particular is a good example of a “story engine” because all it’s done is set up a dynamic situation, and it’s up to the player to respond how.
I'd play a game with no intended or expected narrative meaning as a test of skill. I wouldn't impute any sort of meaning to bowling or bridge other than "how good am I?"
In the context of games, I’m deploying “meaning” to refer to what I get out of it. When I play a game, I want to win, but I also want to make interesting moves or have a good time. Sometimes there’s a problem I need to optimize. I love those types of games. Even executing well in a game like bowling can be meaningful. I can remember growing up how my dad kept getting close to bowling a 300 but could never quite get there. Until he finally did like thirty years later.
When I think about meaningless game experiences, I think of ones that make you step back and question what the hell I was doing with my time. For example, I started playing
Priconne last year, but I stopped because there wasn’t really anything to play, and I wasn’t even doing the story missions. I was just fast-forwarding through the stages to farm items. That’s a big problem with
gacha games, though they’re not all bad (especially if you can be prudent with spending).