Role Playing VS Character Development

[J T]

I've been playing The Witcher 2 lately and I think it's rather brilliant because Geralt of Rivia is a strong character with a lot of personality, but you also have a great amount of choice, so it feels like you are playing he role of Geralt, while also watching his character develop. The amnesia backstory helps this happen, which is probably why it's such a common gaming trope.

What this has made me realize though is that other games often fail to find a good balance of both playing a role (where the player has autonomy to make crucial decisions for the main character), and character development (where the writers send the character down specific storylines). In an attempt to maximize "role playing", many developers often go with a silent protagonist (Half Life 2, Chrono Trigger, Legend of Zelda, Fallout, etc.), while I've certainly enjoyed these games, I never really felt like I knew the main characters, and in all honesty, I didn't really feel like I was invested in what happened to them, nor did I feel like I was them. People are always very excited to see Gordon Freeman, so I assume he's a decent guy, but I've never seen him do anything that I didn't control, but because I don't understand why everyone likes him so much, I still feel like he's a separate character from me. It's then hard to get upset if something doesn't go his way. I learned to care about other characters in the game, like Alyx Vance and her father, but when Alyx is injured I care for her character, not for Gordon's loss.

On the other end of the spectrum, if we take a game like Final Fantasy X, Tidus is all a pre-scripted character and no matter how much I played the game, I couldn't save him from being a douche. Same with Luke from Tales of the Abyss. Those games crafted fine stories, the characters have some interesting development over time, and the plot has an arch to it, but I never really feel like I have much of a say in what's going on, so I'm not really role playing.

I can enjoy a game that doesn't succeed at providing compelling opportunities for role playing and I can enjoy a game where I never really know much about my main character, but I am really impressed when a game can do both effectively. The notions of role playing and character development are at odds with each other though. The more control I have to role play, the less the character can be pre-scripted, and the more the character is scripted, the less control I have over who they become. I think when I roleplay a character, I want to play a part though, and not just simply be myself. I can get behind a character like The Witcher's Geralt of Rivia because his background and dialogue is well written, and I feel like I'm playing the role more because of the degree of choice allowed, and the ramifications that play out as a result of those choices. It helps that Geralt is somewhat trying to find himself to, so if my choices seem inconsistent, it still isn't inconsistent with his character to be that way.

[sh9nryu]

Panzer Dragoon Saga nails it for me. There's one single simple reason for it: how it draws you in, gives you the responsibility of choice and then shows you the result. If you've played it through to completion you'll know.

Perhaps this is a question of empathy. Some characters/stories/situations you connect with, some you don't. Same can be said with the evolution of gfx: it's the bits your imagination fills in that ultimately grab you. Just look at the wow factor games gave you at the time, and what affect they have on you now. The examples are numerous, but Res Evil springs to mind. Looking back you think "How did this ever scare me/put me on edge?" But then you see the Hunter, and the imagination kicks in again...

[MrPopo]

Personally I don't find much importance in role playing. I tend to focus more on the story being told. If the game is making me wonder what happens next then it's doing a good job. This may be because I want to know what happens to party member X, or it might be because I want to see if I can make it to the fortress before evil man Q gets there. Characterization gives me a better shot at wanting to know more since those are additional things that change through the story. If the focus is on the role playing then the events need to be strong enough to keep me going.

[Erik_Twice]

I think I can boil down the problem to a more simple aspect: Many games have a story completely disconected from the game mechanics which is simply bad design.

[Gamerforlife]

I think I can boil down the problem to a more simple aspect: Many games have a story completely disconected from the game mechanics which is simply bad design.

[Erik_Twice]

I think I can boil down the problem to a more simple aspect: Many games have a story completely disconected from the game mechanics which is simply bad design.

Sure, mock all you want but there's no more to it. It's a fundamental problem and not for all it's obviousness is done less wrong.

Similarly people make jokes and forget the funny. Hate is bad, okey?

[Gamerforlife]

I think I can boil down the problem to a more simple aspect: Many games have a story completely disconected from the game mechanics which is simply bad design.

Sure, mock all you want but there's no more to it. It's a fundamental problem and not for all it's obviousness is done less wrong.

Similarly people make jokes and forget the funny. Hate is bad, okey?

Actually, I wasn't trying to make fun of you. Consider me ignorant if that's what people use that Citizen Kane gif for. I think you actually brought up a good point that I consider to be the BIGGEST problem in video games today

[Gamerforlife]

It's why I don't connect with a lot of characters in a lot of games. The gameplay just doesn't match the story

[Erik_Twice]

Actually, I wasn't trying to make fun of you. Consider me ignorant if that's what people use that Citizen Kane gif for. I think you actually brought up a good point that I consider to be the BIGGEST problem in video games today

Haha, sorry, the use of that Gif is often mocking, which is...weird to say the least given the context. I'm also grumpy so sorry for it.

I couldn't agree more with it being a huge problem in video games today.

[J T]

The Citizen Kane gif is sometimes used for enthusiastic applause, and sometimes for sarcastic applause, so it can be kind of confusing.

I also think that the central problem of good game design is negotiating how to get the gameplay mechanics and story development to fit together hand-in-hand. I guess my original post ties into that, I just wasn't thinking about it that way. It's also a bit of a criticism against the silent protagonist, which is a gaming trope I have mixed feelings about because I don't feel invested in the character of a silent protagonist, but many of my favorite videogames do have a silent protagonist, so the silent type can't be all bad.