Does a game have to grab you immediately? Did it used to be different and it’s changed because of short attention spans or has it always been that way?
I bring this up because of several observations over the years and a few recently. Painting with the broad stroke their are two types of games. Those that are instantly clear, instantly interesting, instantly fun with no preperation, no setup, no involvement. Examples would be pretty much any puzzle game, fighting game, racing game, most sports games, most action platformers, shooters, and the non-story FPS games. You turn the game on and within a few seconds you are playing, racing, fighting, shooting.
Then there are the other kind. The kind that have a story or an atmosphere that you need to get into. They are designed to draw you into the story or setting but if you don’t play them that way, if you just skip the setup or play them with your stereo blazing away they are not effective.
Examples of this kind of game would be the Horror Survival game (Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Eternal Darkness), some RPGs, Action Adventures (Zelda), Exploration games (Metroid, ICO), and many of the story based FPS games like Half Life.
In these games, to really experience them you have to sit down, turn off the other distractions and give them all your attention. If you turn the sound off, put on your favorite pop music and play Resident Evil at noon you will not experience Resident Evil. You will not be scared, you will not feel the tension. In essense you will not get it. You will most likely think the game is lame.
Many RPGs or Action adventures have a similar problem. They have setup. In order to get into the game you need to know that story. You need to know that the princess needs saving, that she’s being held by an evil dude that is going to torture her if you don’t get there quick, that you are somewhat attracted to her, etc. You need that motivation and setup or you are not drawn into the game. If just skip all that, don’t read the dialog or listen to the story and just try to skip to the action you just won’t get it. It would be like going to watch a movie you’ve never seen and just fast forwarding to the last 10 minutes and expecting it to be great. It’s not great to watch Yoda kick ass in Star Wars Episode 2 without all the history of Yoda behind you. You wouldn’t get the impact of Bruce Willis killing the bad guy in Die Hard if you hadn’t seen the previous 90 minutes of struggle.
So, that brings me to some recent experiences. One: Sly Cooper. I enjoyed it. I played it at home, I got into it. I got into the character, being a sneaky thief etc. Then I tried to show it to some friends. They had the sound off, they skipped the movie, jumped directly into the game and just didn’t get it. “So you jump around.” I’m not saying the game is the best ever but it’s setting, it’s setup, it ambience add to the experience. Removing those is not really trying the game.
Another experience, tried to show someone Eternal Darkness. It’s a horror game, to really get it you need to be alone in a dark room with some good sound like headphones or a stereo. You put it in, your character starts going insane and the hair on the back of your neck starts to stand up as the game creeps you out. That’s what makes that game work. Crank up the rock music, play it in a light room with no sound and it’s pretty mediocre.
Metroid is another such game. Just looking at the action while there are a few cool things that’s not what the game is about. The game is about immersing you into the role of Samus. Immersing you in the exploration of a strange alien planet. It’s does this amazingly well which is why it’s getting such high praise from those who give it that chance to immerse them. Those that don’t, those that play with their other TV on MTV or with the sound off or with a zillion other distractions will not get immersed and as such they will not get it. They will not understand why others like this game.
Most of the time I happen to prefer the immersive games. The games that require you to give them your attention. I guess I’m writing this to ask you to give it a try sometime. I’m sure some of you will say “it’s a game, I’m just trying to have fun”. My counter to that is fine, do what you want but you are really missing out on some great experiences. You wouldn’t put on a video of a movie you’ve never seen while cleaning your apartment and making dinner and expect to get the movie. It wouldn’t be fair to say “yea I saw that movie but it sucked” when you didn’t actually pay attention and watch it. The same is true of many games. Give an immersive game a change, give it your full undivided attention for a while and see if you don’t have one of the coolest gaming expereinces you’ve ever had.
Most RPGs that i’ve played that have a long intro are games that treat gameplay as a frivilous thing that has to sadly be added.
Personally I think that you should be able to play the game within 5 minutes of seeing the title. Actually playing the game, not just moving around, then the game should keep making the player entertained in order for them to get to know the game and be immersed.
That’s the reason I hate Xenogears. So much people have said that its an awesome game. I hate it. I was sitting on my chair mashing the X button repeatedly through what seemed like an Anime show that was parading as a game.
I then got out of the intro(around 10-15 minutes later) and now had to randomly walk around, being told stories of the people’s random lives…
Later on, I went through some mountains being lost a bit because of confusion that can be found through rotation. I engaged in pretty boring battles(moreso than normal RPGs) and finally reached a guy’s house.
Then came the mech battle a little later. I’m still unimpressed. Some plot is related though, and I think I actually see the start of my adventure. In a way it is, in a way it isn’t.
It is the start of my adventure… my adventure through boring gameplay and constant dialogue.
They should’ve just made the game a friggin anime.
I didn’t get to finish the game, but I don’t think the gameplay would’ve changed. I was around 4-6 hours into the game and I was still waiting for the game to actually do something or go somewhere. That was the only thing stopping me from just quitting the game.
That’s another point. By 4-6 hours in the game, the person should start remembering people and identifying with the world and characters.
Let’s now look at Final Fantasy 7 which does an excellent job at immersing a person. You see a pretty cool FMV in the beginning that sets the mood and then you get struck right in a battle! Afterwards you run around and fight your first battle as a part of AVALANCHE. You already get a feel for how the game is like and the battle system is pretty cool.
Then they introduce a cool off period. I’m not that mad though, because its not that long, and you really get to see a lot about the characters through showing and not just telling.
That’s what makes FF7 so great. Their use of showing and not telling.
You do so much UNIQUE things and see so much UNIQUE places, that it establishes a name of its own. Before a character joins, you get to see them, and their goals and dreams. You might not know a lot about certain characters for certain reasons.
Another thing is world design. Unlike Dragon Quest where you move from town from town, FF7 establishes a pretty small world where you must go back and forth, which helps you get a better interest with the characters and the people.
I think i’m straying from my reason, but this shows my feelings accurately. I wish I had a PSX right now so I could play FF7
I agree with you. You’ll see my rant on FFX for example and I’ve been told by all my friends how much MGS2 sucked because it was like 60% movie, 40% game and the movie was pretty but stupid.
Yes, I think you should be able to get into a game quickly. My point is not that game with stories are better then games without. Many games have too much story. Many games with story have stupid stories or boring stories.
My only point was that some games require you to pay attention, to get into the story, the role, the setting. Other games don’t require that. Some games can go both ways.
There is no story behind Tetris. You just pick it up and play. It doesn’t matter what other distractions are happening around you.
DOOM you could play both ways. If you just want to run around and shoot you can do that. If you want to be scared you can play alone and sneak around.
Some games though require your attention or they will not be interesting because what makes them interesting is the mood they set, the world they pull you into. If you don’t give them your attention then you will not get the mood, you will not get pulled in and you won’t see what makes it interesting.
A few of games that worked their story in well, Sly Cooper starts with like a 10 second intro and the game starts. The credits appear AS YOU PLAY and only when you actually finish the first level do you get the big opening movie.
Half Life had a pretty cool intro. It was a little long but it’s interactive. You are riding inside a tram being taken somewhere inside a huge complex. You can walk around the tram and look around at the stuff going by. While this is happening credits appear and you are being told about the complex by a tour guide like recording inside the tram. It’s very cool.
Half Life:Opposing Forces also has a similar semi interactive intro, well done, interesting and not just watching.
Metroid Prime starts immediately, story is inside the game. You can choose to read it or not. Whether you read it or not you still need to give the game your full attention to get into it.