1. Of the key narrative elements discussed so far in the course (interactivity, level design/linearity, moral choice/non-linearity, character), which do you think is the most prominent, important
or interesting in your chosen game?
Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy (being the cinematic interactive drama action-adventure that it is) serves as a game that shows the prominent use of a duality between characters and avatars. The player progresses through the game by controlling a variety of characters all involved within the same narrative, but from different sides of the story. The incentive is to guide each character that you control separately, leading them towards actions that you as the player find befitting of them to progress through the narrative.
I personally found the game's mechanics to be quite clever, in the sense that the actions available for the player to interact with all served their different purposes, regardless of their importance towards the narrative. These actions wittily emphasized the sense of duality in the controlled person being both a character and avatar. Aldred states that "The element of creative choice sets avatars apart from video game characters that can’t be modified and customized, facilitating as it does the creation of a “polymorphous" virtual identity that acts meaningfully on the behalf of the real-world user." For example, I, as Lucas Kane, can decide to hide evidence from a scene so that I do not raise suspicion for myself regarding a murder. Actions like these would be critical in progressing the narrative as they are the major deciding factors of the plot-line, thus declaring Lucas as an avatar in which I, the player, depict my personal decisions in logic and morality through him as a medium. Lucas is not thinking for himself, but rather, I place my judgment within him. On the other hand, there are also those optional actions placed within the environment that cause the characters to perform special actions specific to their relationship with one another, correlating to the situation at hand. This breathes personality into the characters that the player does not particularly control. A scene I played that shows this is that of Carla Valenti and Tyler Miles, where they are investigating the scene of John's murder. I was able to perform mundane actions such as urinating, washing my hands and drying them - all having nothing to do with the murder scene. According to Tronstad “In role play, the player is more explicitly aware of the character being different from him or herself, having a separate identity with a history, drives, and motivations of its own”. This is particularly when it becomes more apparent.
While there are games that can display a more one-sided use of either avatar or character, Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy shows prominent use in its duality with these two elements, showing how a player can feel an effective investment of themselves within a player agent to impact significant changes to the gameplay and narrative, while also being able to experience the rich characters that co-exist within this game's realm.
References:
- Quantic Dream. (Developer). (2005). Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy [Video Game]. France: Quantic Dream
- Aldred, J. (Author). (2013) Characters from: The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies Routledge [Book]. Retrieved from: http://animation.onlearn.co.nz/pluginfile.php/2711/mod_resource/content/0/Characters.pdf
- Tronstad, R. (2008). Character identification in World of Warcraft: The relationship between capacity and
appearance. In H. Corneliussen & J. W. Rettberg (Eds.), Digital culture, play and identity: A World of
Warcraft reader (pp. 249–264). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy (being the cinematic interactive drama action-adventure that it is) serves as a game that shows the prominent use of a duality between characters and avatars. The player progresses through the game by controlling a variety of characters all involved within the same narrative, but from different sides of the story. The incentive is to guide each character that you control separately, leading them towards actions that you as the player find befitting of them to progress through the narrative.
I personally found the game's mechanics to be quite clever, in the sense that the actions available for the player to interact with all served their different purposes, regardless of their importance towards the narrative. These actions wittily emphasized the sense of duality in the controlled person being both a character and avatar. Aldred states that "The element of creative choice sets avatars apart from video game characters that can’t be modified and customized, facilitating as it does the creation of a “polymorphous" virtual identity that acts meaningfully on the behalf of the real-world user." For example, I, as Lucas Kane, can decide to hide evidence from a scene so that I do not raise suspicion for myself regarding a murder. Actions like these would be critical in progressing the narrative as they are the major deciding factors of the plot-line, thus declaring Lucas as an avatar in which I, the player, depict my personal decisions in logic and morality through him as a medium. Lucas is not thinking for himself, but rather, I place my judgment within him. On the other hand, there are also those optional actions placed within the environment that cause the characters to perform special actions specific to their relationship with one another, correlating to the situation at hand. This breathes personality into the characters that the player does not particularly control. A scene I played that shows this is that of Carla Valenti and Tyler Miles, where they are investigating the scene of John's murder. I was able to perform mundane actions such as urinating, washing my hands and drying them - all having nothing to do with the murder scene. According to Tronstad “In role play, the player is more explicitly aware of the character being different from him or herself, having a separate identity with a history, drives, and motivations of its own”. This is particularly when it becomes more apparent.
While there are games that can display a more one-sided use of either avatar or character, Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy shows prominent use in its duality with these two elements, showing how a player can feel an effective investment of themselves within a player agent to impact significant changes to the gameplay and narrative, while also being able to experience the rich characters that co-exist within this game's realm.
References:
- Quantic Dream. (Developer). (2005). Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy [Video Game]. France: Quantic Dream
- Aldred, J. (Author). (2013) Characters from: The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies Routledge [Book]. Retrieved from: http://animation.onlearn.co.nz/pluginfile.php/2711/mod_resource/content/0/Characters.pdf
- Tronstad, R. (2008). Character identification in World of Warcraft: The relationship between capacity and
appearance. In H. Corneliussen & J. W. Rettberg (Eds.), Digital culture, play and identity: A World of
Warcraft reader (pp. 249–264). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
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