Origins was actually more than just an awesome game; I'd say it was an "important" game that carries in its DNA the future of the industry and perhaps has implications beyond it. I have never before experienced the incredible connection between players and video game characters that I perceive with Dragon Age: Origins. People feel they own their Origins story in a way that is categorically different than other videogame experiences. A player may have defeated the Archdemon, but how and why and what they looked like, and what weapon they used, who was there, the attitude of their party members, their relationships with them, what armor everyone wore and whether the future of Ferelden was hopeful or dark ….was entirely up to them! I actually think some fans have it backwards when they say, “it’s all the same, everyone killed the Archdemon!”
Ten people who all work at the company all make it home alive at the end of the day but did they all have the same experience?
I don’t know much about your story unless YOU tell ME. That is a brilliant achievement of Origins, in my opinion. That is also nothing less than a preview of the future of gaming.
It’s no coincidence that the slower-moving tactical nature of RPG gaming birthed this game.
RPG-style playing has a fantastic synergy with dramatic story-telling because it involves the player in a process of decision-making, priority setting and self-knowledge that simulates (in simplistic fashion) real life. This promotes and encourages the attachment that makes the story have emotional weight for the player. What armor someone wears may seem like a small choice….but THESE ARE EXACTLY the choices that define us in real life daily.
The big decisions come along every so often, but it is the small choices of style and personal industry that occupy most of our lives. Without these choices, it’s not my story, it’s the designer’s story. “But wait, why should
the player get to control other people’s attire? How does that simulate reality and provide greater immersion???” Well, that implied criticism of my comment would be appropriate except that it is founded on the mistaken idea that Origins
is intended to be a simulator of real-life, as opposed to a story-creation simulator that uses dynamics from real-life to improve immersion.
Within the RPG elements of the game lie the difference between Bioware telling me a good story and Bioware providing a palette with which to create my own story; between action that further connects the story
elements to the fundamentals of human experience (the encumberances of time, space and consequence) and action that contradicts that experience (or at the least, just isn’t connected to it all).
Life is choice, forethought, planning and execution. What best connects one to reality? A game in which a character must carefully choose where he and his allies are standing, or one in which characters can dart from
place to place to speed up the action? A game in which enemies tactics feel weighty and decisions have serious consequence or a game in which it feels as though it’s merely a matter of how you win, not whether you have performed competently enough to win in the areas we know bring success in the real world?
To be clear, when I use the word reality, I mean reality in the sense that the fundamental elements of the human experience are represented, not whether or not there is magic or how a two-handed sword is really swung.
Because if the action doesn't feel substantive and real, I think there is a real danger the “Story” won’t involve the player as much. That is part of what is going on behind Bioware's creative curtain.Certainly, employing specific dynamics from the real world is one way – and by far the easiest - to do this.
If you make a two-handed sword easy to swing fast for the purpose of speeding up the action, you’ve missed an opportunity to provide a tactical choice for which there are consequences. When you make these types of decisions for the purpose of streamlining, are you able to gain the same sort of immersion? After all, the gameplay no longer requires the fundamentals of forethought, planning, consequence and execution. How "real" can the story feel to the player, even if its a good one?That, in essence is how I perceive one of Bioware's key design choices for its future titles.
The RPG style gameplay is an important part of the texture that makes the experience come to life. It’s not the only thing…but it is A thing and the reason why action games did not bring us an Origins brand of immersion.
Ultimately many, many things contribute to the illusion. But I thought I’d say a few words about why the traditional RPG style has served Bioware so well to-date. Dunno know if anyone will read this….
Modifié par ConnorHawke, 29 avril 2011 - 09:41 .
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