But not everyone agrees with me. Plenty of people have suggested that Mass Effect would be much better if such 'third options' were taken away. Charm and intimidate options, basically. The option to defend Tali during her trial with no evidence. The option to make peace between the quarians and geth. Dozens of other options throughout the series.
The biggest argument supporting this seems to be that such heroism is meaningless because it's the result of a 'button press.' That choosing to take such options is nothing but an 'easy win button.' that renders the conflict moot. That heroism needs to be 'earned' by the player or else it doesn't mean anything.
But I don't think that's true in the slightest. Think about something for a minute.
When you read a book like Harry Potter, nothing is really required of you. You have to know how to read, obviously, and you have to put in the hours and the focus, but those things are trifles.
The same for a film such as Lord of the Rings. You have to pay attention to appreciate the story, but that's it. Nothing is required of you as an audience. And yet for both stories, there's no doubt that characters have heroic qualities.
(I tried to pick examples everyone will be familiar with. If you don't like Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, just replace them with a book and film you do like.)
It's considered perfectly acceptable for our character to be a savant in combat with a few button presses. It's perfectly acceptable for him or her to be a tech genius and a master biotic. Or consider an RPG like Fallout, where it's perfectly acceptable for our character to learn everything there is to know about science and medicine within a few hours of easy gameplay. But players complain that it's unacceptable to be a hero as a 'result' of a button press. Why?
We're the players. All we can ever do is press buttons. That’s the only contribution we can possibility make to the story. Any action, any input is going to be the 'result' of a button press. Saying that heroism is invalid because it’s the 'result' of button press cannot be true because it would mean that every element ofevery story in every game must be invalid as well.
So back to my question. What is the difference between a video game like Mass Effect and other heroic stories in literature and film? What's the difference between Shepard being a hero as the result of a button press and excelling in combat as the result of a button press? The answer is that there is no difference. The answer is that the idea that a difference must exist comes from an incomplete understanding of where characters and character qualities in video games come from.
But that alone isn't a satisfying answer, is it? Because that alone fails to address the legitimate concern behind all of this. You want heroism to be meaningful. You want it to be based on courage, skill, strength, experience, competence, ideals.
And indeed it is. It's based on Shepard’s strength and skill and ideals and heroism. Shepard’s qualities. Or the qualities of whatever protagonist you happen to be playing.
The truth is this: Shepard’s heroism, and indeed the heroism of any character in a video game, is not actually derived from a button press at all. It’s derived from Shepard’s status as a courageous, intelligent, and heroic character. This is the source of heroism, and every other quality in all stories. That does not change for video games simply because they're video games. Understanding this is the crux to appreciating the proper source of not only heroism, but all character qualities in video games.
Not only is this fallacy harmful because it dismisses and trivializes heroism and other qualities, it’s harmful in that it leads to impossible and contradictory standards for what a game and story should be.
The Mass Effect 2 ending has received some criticism on the BSN for being too easy. Criticism that heroism doesn't matter because the player shouldn't be able to easily have the entire team survive. But how can that be a legitimate complaint when any 'perfect ending' is going to be easy? When any ending, period, is going to be easy? By its very definition, a game cannot be tedious or frustrating or inaccessible. Otherwise it wouldn't be a game.
Well, actually, that's not true, is it?
Could a developer end the story with a ridiculously difficult and frustrating combat encounter and only award a 'perfect' ending to players who beat it? Absolutely.
Could a developer ask players to solve complex calculus equations and give better outcomes for right answers, on the grounds that smart players (and thus protagonists) deserve better results? Sure they could.
Could a developer give the player an incredibly tedious puzzle or task to complete and reward them for slogging through it? Easily.
And look what's happened. The core of the experience has collapsed. What was supposed to be a game is now a chore. What was supposed to be entertainment is now a headache. Are you going to walk away from that experience with a dropped jaw and a rush of excitement, eager for more? No. You'll walk away glad to have it over and done with. And indeed many games have done such things, and been worse for it.
Right about now you might be thinking "Well I play games on the highest difficulty setting, and I still have plenty of fun!" Well that's great for you. But games always need to be accessible. If your product is fun for 5% of players and frustrating for 95% of players, then you've failed as a designer. And if the hardest difficulty is still doable and fun for most players, then it isn't actually that hard at all. And now we've gone full circle - we're back to complaining the victory is unfulfilling because the game is too easy!
Likewise, you might be someone who actually finds solving calculus equations to be fun and satisfying. But rest assured you're in the minority. And if everyone actually did find calculus fun, again, we're right back where we started - complaining that the game is too easy! This will hold true for any task.
That's not to say at all that a game can't have challenges – because they absolutely should. And indeed, the persuasive options in Mass Effect do require reputation or points in the skill. Getting a perfect ending in ME 2 does require you to know your squad well enough to pick the right people and complete the loyalty missions. It doesn't have to be completely free. But a game challenge has to be exactly that – a game challenge.
Modifié par David7204, 21 mars 2013 - 05:51 .
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