I'd like to start a conversation about Death.
One of the most amazing thing about video games is the ability to save the day, to fight the good fight, to take arms against a sea of troubles and, by opposing, end them! It introduces an element of excitement or the feeling of being extraordinary. Instead of most of our day-to-day lives where we are... well... ordinary.
But in order to make that feeling of overcoming an obstacle, of being heroic and/or triumphant is challenge, of some sort. It is what makes the player go from feeling like a normal person to a force to be reckoned with. Yet, with that challenge comes the inevitable - what happens when the player, by some degree of measurement, fails? What happens when the hero is no longer superhumanly heroic?
The answer, my friends, is video game Death.
It is a spectre that has haunted every gamer, at one time or another. So how should games approach this abstraction of zero HP? I'm going to touch on three options developers use and, given what we know about DA:I, see if they can be used.
Reload Screen
The bane of every gamer - the most-hated reload screen. Whether this is Nintendo hard, Contra-style "you have no more lives, reload you back to the main menu," the still-brutal "reload before you started this dungeon that took you five hours" or the more prominent and gentle "reload immediately before this fight, just try harder this time," these all bear similar hallmarks. Namely, you didn't make it, but you can take another crack.
This is, more or less, an abstraction that says "this didn't really ever happen... you didn't die, no one failed, the bad guy didn't win, let's just start over." Which is a logical model to have. Honestly, it would be difficult to even create a scenario where the hero/PC dying DIDN'T result in a Reload Screen of some sort in most cases.
But, even this can be jazzed up in some cases. For instance, old puzzle adventure games like Sierra had quips, jokes or even hints upon the player's death to lighten things up or help out. Ninja Gaiden, a series heralded for its punishing difficulty, prompts players to turn down the difficulty if too many Reload Screens are encountered by the player. Or, perhaps, the "Break in Case of Emergency" option of "Do you want to skip this fight?" option could be in the Reload Screen as well... with all the somewhat nasty implications that might entail.
To sum it up - many games use the Reload Screen. I'd expect the DA series to continue to not be an exception to that. But perhaps DA:I could look to either include more options, more content or perhaps even more entertainment in these areas, to help the player not feel dejected and consider the option of the developer's dreaded "Rage/Quit," a Game Over/failure from the dev's point of view. After all, if a gamer throws down the controller, turns off your game and never plays it again, they are unlikely to buy future content from you, talk good about your game or have nice things to say. Then again... Dark Souls - my argument is invalid.
The "Swoon"
Perhaps the most unmanly name for dealing with death, the "swoon" refers to a KO, injury, unconscious or other state that reflects diminished or inactive status in combat. These statuses can have a variety of treatments, the most common of which is a campfire or an inn.
This takes a different road than the Reload Screen, where the PC, party member, etc. is not assumed to be dead, requiring an instant reversion back in time, but instead is just Mostly Dead. AKA, they are weaker or even useless in combat and often quite fragile. The party can struggle on to get them help... or they may even be magically teleported to said inn/place of healing by a plot MacGuffin (Ultima 7 had such a magical ressureciton).
There are benefits to this approach. First, it never, truly, courts failure. Unlike the Reload Screen, it doesn't say that the approach taken was ever 100% invalid, it just says "well, you paid a price for this, so maybe reconsider your approach next time." Secondly, it circumvents what could be an annoying or even buggy save system on a regular basis - how many of us remeber having dozens of saves at different points in case backtracking in an area was neccessary, or the dreaded "cannot read corrupted file" message appeared? And thirdly - it adds a strategic element to the proceedings. Do you use that injury kit to treat the penalty? Do you take the XP loss to be respawned at the inn? Do you use the Fenix Down the revive the companion with 1 HP and risk them being knocked down right away?
There is, however, one big drawback. Namely, challenge. If a game makes it easy to revive a fallen character or even makes a full party wipe something that just results in everyone coming back at Ye Olde Tavern... is that something that will inspire players to try hard enough to learn the best methods of overcoming obstacles? In addition, does it give plot armor to characters and the player unduly, when everyone else is mortal, these half dozen to a dozen people are above the threat of death? Ask not for whom the bell tolls... because it don't ring for these guys, right?
A problem of perception, definitely. But a problem nonetheless. And one I think DA:I is addressing by having the semi-regenerating health bar, which will refill for a character that falls in combat, but only up to a certain amount. I'm also curious to see if there injuries like in previous DA games and to what degree those will affect the gameplay. Since this is the most likely route of DA:I, I, ironically, have the least amount of suggestions on what to do since it will be simply a matter of degrees in my expectation.
Permadeath
And, so here we are. You. Me. And the big ugly Beholder of an elephant in the room.
Permadeath.
Even its name is a little intimidating. Well, either that or a 1950's appliance. "The Perm-a-death! You'll be amazed at all the things it can do!"
Sorry... I'm getting off track here.
Permadeath is the permanent and irrevocable death of a character. NOTICE - this is different than being Murder Knifed or Plot Death. Anders could be Murder Knifed at the end of DA2. Duncan is Plot Death'd at Ostagar. They are no more. This is an ex-character. However, this is because the plot demanded it, not because of a result of the player in combat. Permadeath is unscripted and hard to control, since it can literally happen any time a fight happens. This introduces huge problems.
One, people will reload (if the game gives them the option). And be upset that they had to do so. After all, I'm not going to play this game you gave me with these characters you created if I'm going to be missing content because of one of them being dead through a mistake/bad luck. A valid stance to take. I'd be lying if I said I didn't take advantage of the Reload option when Permadeath took a beloved companion.
Two, the game could possibly not go on AT ALL if Permadeath was used. What would DA:O have looked like if Morrigan died before leaving Lothering (curse you, bears!)? No Dark Ritual, no OGB option, no plot twist in the 11th hour. What would DA2 have looked like if Anders had died against the Qunari? No Chantry boom, no dead Elthina, no Circle uprising. It then leaves the avenue of not having ANY companion be important, which brings all sorts of thorny questions and issues, mostly revolving around making companion characters totally ancillary - something Bioware would not (and I'd argue SHOULD not) do.
Third... and here's the kicker... Permadeath diminishes death. I know, I know... Fast Jimmy, you are crazy. How could Permadeath, arguably the most realistic depiction of death in video games, DIMINISH death? Because it is nearly impossible to script and, hence, there is no way for the game to react. If, while playing Baldur's Gate, a companion get jibbed, you may have another companion make a randomly generated "NOOOO!!!!" kind of comment... maybe they'd randomly say nothing at all. And that's it. No funeral, no sad scene, no follow-up about how the PC is feeling about it, no discussion about noble sacrifice or worthy death... it's just nothing.
Now, granted, the player can (and, some purists might say, even SHOULD) head canon all of that instead of the game doing so. Yet I am of the mind that game reactivity should be present in large ways as long as it doesn't directly tread on the toes of the player. And if the game doesn't let characters dying get reflected in some way that is engaging, then it runs the very real risk of trivializing it.
Now... there are some benefits to Permadeath, despite my above postings. And even some things DA:I might be able to apply with the concept of Permadeath, despite the fact that I seriously doubt Bioware would ever consider letting the feature be in their game.
For instance, there could be NPC Permadeath. Missions that are about "keep these people alive" are common in RPGs - Redcliffe is a good example. And, like Redcliffe, there could be the options of NPCs dying and the party surviving. This is a good use of Permadeath - by the actions of the player, NPCs died and that affected dialogue, options and epilgoues for the game. That is a briliantly done move.
In addition, there could be the option of losing a companion for combat only. If, say, Varric fell to the Giant Spider in the Deep Roads, perhaps he couldn't be used in combat anymore, but he could survive. Laid up by the injury, spending his time in the Hanged Man, enjoying dwarven ladies of companionship... fulfilling every plot role he needs to, but not being able to directly engage in combat. That could be a Permadeath of his combat role, but not a Permadeath of his character.
And, lastly, there could be the option of Permadeath endings. These could be useful, especially towards the end of the game. If you fail in combat, or in completing an objective, etc., this could result in the story wrapping up as if your character was dead. Things could fall apart, things could barely skate by, perhaps things could even be better if you died a heroic death. I'm, again, not talking about a Plot Death, like the choices at the end of ME3, but rather a true gameplay, combat death that causes you to fall due to how well you did (or didn't) do.
Conclusion
Video game Death is a constant worry, both for players and devs. And, all too often, sometimes we can all develop tunnel vision for how games should handle this, even to the point where the norms of video games cna flout or even make us forget the concept of what dying really does represent, especially in a struggle against insurmountable odds that we, as gamers, make time and time again.
So what do you think, BSN? What's your thoughts on Death?
Modifié par Fast Jimmy, 17 octobre 2013 - 09:48 .
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