Week 6: Excercises

4.6: Premise (p107)

• Bioshock Infinite - The player play as Booker Dewitt, a private investigator with a debt. Booker is offered a deal to go to the floating city of Columbia and "bring us the girl (Elizabeth) and wipe away the debt." As Booker arrives in Columbia, he's hunted by the police as he resembled the 'false sheperd' that was believed will overthrow Columbia and corrupt Elizabeth. As Booker, the player have to find and rescue Elizabeth and also fight against the city. The premise enhances the game by giving it emotional depth to the characters that the players can also feel, as well as allowing the player to create connections, since some part of the game was inspired by real-life events.
• Portal - The player play as a silence protagonist named Chell. Chell wakes up into a room within Aperture Laboratories, with the only other being is the AI GLaDOS who is giving instructions for Chell to complete the different test chambers within the facility. This premise enhances the game from being a simple puzzle platform game to a game with an intriguing story that makes the players goal more than just to complete all the puzzles, but also to find out more to the story.
• The Stanley Parable - The player play as the protagonist Stanley, whose situation was explained by the narrator that one day, unlike the usual day where Stanley would just sit in front of the computer and does what he's told to do, the screen goes blank, and he then decided to go explore the office, which is now empty, with no traces of any other people. As the player explores the area, the stories will split into numerous paths according to the player's choice, and the narration will proceed accordingly, while also mentioning what Stanley would've done. This premise enhances the game because it gives a sense of mystery to an otherwise mundane setting. With the many possibilities of what could happen in the game, the player can have fun exploring the different paths of the game.
• Harvest Moon Back to Nature - The player play as the protagonist who comes to Mineral Town after his grandfather's death to take over his grandfather's farm. Ten years ago, the protagonist was at the farm before for one summer, and promised a young girl that he would return to the town again someday. With his return, the protagonist was tasked by the mayor and other villagers that he would be allowed to take over the farm if he can restore it to its previous properity within 3 years. This premise allows the player to become fully immerse in the character of a farmer, doing farming tasks, as well as creating and maintaining relationships with the other characters of the town. The premise also provides the reason and gives the players motivation to the tasks that they're doing in the game.
• Detroit: Become Human - The player play as 3 different characters simultaneously: Connor, Kara, and Markus. All of the protagonists are androids of different functions in a world where humans have created andriods to do various labors, while these adroids are not considered as being equal to human beings. The premise enhances the game by influencing the players on their choices, and allowing them to the sympathize with the characters they are playing as. It also adds the dramatic elements to the game, making the consequnces of the choices that only affect the storyline seem as significant as the choices that affect the character's well-being.

4.7: Game Characters (p113)

• Kyle Crane (Dying Light) - In Dying Light, Kyle Crane is the main protagonist in which the players play as throughout the whole game. Although the game one has 1 linear storyline, Kyle has his own individual thoughts about the situation that caused him to take his own actions and defy the authority that he was working for in order to save people. This is what made the character dynamic and believable. While Kyle is very strong and agile (he does parkour), which might not be the quality all of the real-life players have, Kyle's kindess and humanity, in which he decide to betray in previous organization that didn't intend to save people and decided to save the people himself, creates a connection from Kyle to the players, since that choice would've been the same one the players would've picked if given the agency.
• Elizabeth (Bioshock Infinite) - In Bioshock Infinite, Elizabeth serves as both a companion character, as well as the main objective of the protagonist Booker Dewitt. Elizabeth, to the players, feels crucial to the gameplay in more than one aspect, whether it is story-wise or mechanic-wise, and the without her, the game wouldn't be able to operate. This is because she feels 'real' and her emotions affect the player's emotion. Elizabeth is brought to life through her complex and real personality. She's naive, but smart and learns fast, just like how her backstory was described about. Her reactions are also realistic and dynamic, making it feels like she's a real person and not a flat, one-dimensional AI. Most importantly, the way in which the game shows how Elizabeth could make her own decision within the story of the game shows her individulity which further makes her believable. The fact the the player cannot control her actions results in Elizabeth feeling real and affecting the players in a way that they care about how each of their actions would affect her.
• GLaDOS (Portal) - Unlike the previous 2 examples, GLaDOS doesn't take the human form as an AI, but rather in a robotic form. What brought this character to life, in my opinion, is the character's dialogues and the personality within them. Even with the robotic voice, a personality can be felt coming from the character to the players, and even more so as the players progress through the game. In addition, GLaDOS ability to be sarcastic and, most importantly, lie, really makes the character feels rounded and compelling as an intelligent being capable of thinking on its own.

4.8: Story (p113)

Sekiro: Shadow Die Twice

In my opinion, I think this game was successful in incorporating its storyline to the gameplay. One of the reasons is because this game, unlike the previous games from the same company, has a clear, linear storyline with a protagonist with a clear back story and role. Because the player is dropped right into the middle of the situation, they are forced to learn the story right away. All the different objectives within the game also connects to the main storyline in some way, so that when the players play through the game, the can learn more and more about the story. The environment of the different settings are also desgined in a way that encourage exploration and has environmental storytelling. Moreover, rather than using cut scenes to do the storytelling in which the players can skip, the game tells a lot of its story through the dialogues during the fight or through the information that can be found when doing the essential exploration needed to proceed further into the game. Also, the player has the ability to eavesdrop, which is a crucial mechanic in that the player can learn tips on how to defeat certain enemies that way. However, this ability also allows the player to learn more about the story of the game as well.