- Joined
- Jun 16, 2010
- Messages
- 2,362
Best part of the Pascal dilemma is when you just walk out and leave him there to suffer.
I concur though, that the gameplay being intertwined with the storytelling is a key part as to why Nier and Automata feel so impactful. The resolution to any of the conflicts in the original Nier wouldn't be as emotionally heart-tearing if the gameplay wasn't connected to them. Having the player kill countless numbers of shades or wolves makes moments like the entire Facade-Arc or the Popola/Devola plottwist much stronger. It's supposed to make you start wondering why you're doing it. It becomes dull having to kill hundreds of shades, its tedious and feels like boring busy-work, but it also adds to the final reveal.
Same goes for Automata. Having to actually kill the Yorha Betrayers or Pascal yourself makes for a different experience compared to, say, just having a dialogue option with a cutscene of your character doing it. It's about forcing the player to do the deed and then live with the consequences of his actions, even if he was tricked, didn't know the whole truth or generally just feels shitty about killing a friend.
Take the Yorha Betrayer situation. If they just told you where to find them in an area that just opened up, you'll only get a little foreshadowing about the commander not telling the whole truth in the end. The game however has you find them, sometimes the location given to you is empty, you have to travel through old areas where you've been before and it becomes a bit tedious trying to find them. Once you kill them you feel a bit glad that the search is over and look forward to your reward because you actually had to put time into the quest, only to be fucked over by the commander. Or having to trudge all the way back to the beginning of the game to try to find that one Yorha friend, only to realize she not only died but was a deserter too.
Resolutions like this generally evoke a stronger feeling in the player if the way of getting there wasn't all joy and what the player expected, instead turning those expectations around by having you do menial and repetitive tasks such as going through the same section twice or switching up the gameplay. The players feelings, emotions and enjoyment cannot be a straight line thats slowly leading towards a resolution or decision, but a curve thats going up and down on the way already.
You're saying it yourself, the experience is about engaging the themes and motives of the character, the story and the world. Videogames are the only way to actually do any engaging whatsoever, because a book, movie or even a simply adventure game/walking sim/cutscene heavy game isn't forcing the player to do any engaging.
I concur though, that the gameplay being intertwined with the storytelling is a key part as to why Nier and Automata feel so impactful. The resolution to any of the conflicts in the original Nier wouldn't be as emotionally heart-tearing if the gameplay wasn't connected to them. Having the player kill countless numbers of shades or wolves makes moments like the entire Facade-Arc or the Popola/Devola plottwist much stronger. It's supposed to make you start wondering why you're doing it. It becomes dull having to kill hundreds of shades, its tedious and feels like boring busy-work, but it also adds to the final reveal.
Same goes for Automata. Having to actually kill the Yorha Betrayers or Pascal yourself makes for a different experience compared to, say, just having a dialogue option with a cutscene of your character doing it. It's about forcing the player to do the deed and then live with the consequences of his actions, even if he was tricked, didn't know the whole truth or generally just feels shitty about killing a friend.
Take the Yorha Betrayer situation. If they just told you where to find them in an area that just opened up, you'll only get a little foreshadowing about the commander not telling the whole truth in the end. The game however has you find them, sometimes the location given to you is empty, you have to travel through old areas where you've been before and it becomes a bit tedious trying to find them. Once you kill them you feel a bit glad that the search is over and look forward to your reward because you actually had to put time into the quest, only to be fucked over by the commander. Or having to trudge all the way back to the beginning of the game to try to find that one Yorha friend, only to realize she not only died but was a deserter too.
Resolutions like this generally evoke a stronger feeling in the player if the way of getting there wasn't all joy and what the player expected, instead turning those expectations around by having you do menial and repetitive tasks such as going through the same section twice or switching up the gameplay. The players feelings, emotions and enjoyment cannot be a straight line thats slowly leading towards a resolution or decision, but a curve thats going up and down on the way already.
You're saying it yourself, the experience is about engaging the themes and motives of the character, the story and the world. Videogames are the only way to actually do any engaging whatsoever, because a book, movie or even a simply adventure game/walking sim/cutscene heavy game isn't forcing the player to do any engaging.
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