i have developed an game engine in c/c++ and directx.

i have a tile engine for the maps, animated player/npc sprites, talking to the npc, menus and level changing but there is no game it just feels empty.

i have looked around and keep hearing buzzword answers but i want to know how to implement a story in my game.

some people have said a save file that holds flags governing every possible action/state available in the game but this sounds ludicrous.

it is a bit ambitious but i am aiming to get a game like the older pokemon/final fantasy games.

does any one know how these games work or the theory used.

i am will to go research subjects but please no one word answers, explain what you mean i have been looking for a while and would really appreciate any input people have.

thank you