Infamous sets us up to feel as though our input matters. So why keep going? Because our place in Infamous meets our earlier criteria: we make a tangible difference in Seattle (high impact) and we’re faced with terrible and immediate consequences of inaction (rounding up and killing Conduits). We’ve run up buildings, blown things up with our super abilities, and generally wreaked havoc. By this point, we’ve experienced all the mechanics of the game (at this point, we don’t know about being rewarded with a fourth power after completing the story). If Infamous is our example, once you unlock the third power players don’t necessarily have a need to continue. Ultimately, having a place in the world that matters is the impetus behind players continuing the engage with the game. Even GTA to use a somewhat dangerous example. Infamous is particularly interesting because it’s key for understanding that these principles can be generalised to games that we wouldn’t immediately consider as journey games. Moving on from Zelda for the time being, I’d like to consider another game that successfully ascribes meaning to our journey: Infamous Second Son. Makar can make trite aspersions about being important all he wants he still doesn’t matter. Sure their festival is cute but it lacks the emotional rawness of avenging Urbosa’s final, climactic battle with Thunderblight Ganon. We travel to Forest Haven and rescue * a* miscreant Korok. Each step gives us a reason to continue: we can make a sizeable impact therefore we must continue. As the player travels through each Divine Beast, we liberate the tormented souls of past champions. I’ve written before about how Breath of the Wild is a story of redemption. Our second criterion: are we moving on from validation? Again, in Breath of the Wild, yes. In fact, if not for Aryll’s kidnapping, we wouldn’t bother leaving Outset Island. The Wind Waker? Ganon continues his search for a blond girl with big ears when his target (Tetra) has green hair. If we do nothing, Zelda dies and Calamity Ganon consumes Hyrule. Does inaction lead us toward an unfavourable outcome?įor Breath of the Wild, yes. Lets use this structure to analyse Breath of the Wild and compare it to something further down my list: The Wind Waker. This means that we’re either moving towards something undesirable or on from something validating our efforts. Typically, tension in the journey is derived from the threatening results of inaction. It might sound a little obvious but it’s how games create the feeling of us impacting the world that’s tricky. In situations where our impact is low, there is less reason for us to continue. In situations where our impact is high, we ascribe more meaning to the narrative. They tell the tale of how our action (or inaction) affects the world at large. Journeys are all about our place in the world. What you choose to do in Majora’s Mask has a tangible impact on the characters and the world What this means is how games ascribe meaning is wholly important. But for these games to drive the action, your character and his/her journey has to mean something. If we take the genre of action RPG a bit more broadly these games are journeys. This is bigger than simply Zelda titles but they’re a nice example of this concept. Why? Because Majora’s Mask means something. But for me, Majora’s Mask still held that honour. The discussion was about our top Legend of Zelda games – a ritual that is mandated after every release.įor many of our group, Breath of the Wild was top of the pops. It’s not an actual water cooler, obviously, but y’know. The other day, a discussion erupted around the water cooler at work.
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