Power Words: Honor, Justice, Heroism
WhatTheyDidRight: Characters, Narrative, World Design
Fate/stay night is a game without gameplay. It was made by a small developer called Type-Moon, and belongs to a genre that’s almost completely unknown outside of Japan: the visual novel. Games with this designation are heavily focused on elements of character and story. They feature so little interactivity that it’s reasonable to question whether they should be called “games” at all. Their structure resembles that of a Choose Your Own Adventure book, with the addition of vivid artwork and (sometimes) voice acting. The player’s only interaction with the game is a multiple-choice selection that changes what the protagonist says or does, and based on these selections the story proceeds along one path or another. Whether or not they deserve the designation of “game” rather than “electronic storybook,” they generate more sales than any other genre in Japan’s PC games market, and they appear on every modern console platform. And far more interesting than the debate over what they should be called is the insight to be gained into what makes a great game by examining a title like Fate.
The “WhatTheyDidRight” items above happen to describe, in order of priority, the essential elements that must be Done Right in order for a visual novel release to both succeed in the Japanese marketplace in the short term and be remembered as a great title in the long term. You may have noticed that they roughly correspond to the elementary school template of story components–character/plot/setting–but their scope and relative importance are far different than these equivalent terms lead one to believe. Let’s examine each of these elements in turn. (Narrative and World Design didn’t fit in this entry. Stay tuned, they’re coming soon!)
Characters: Japanese Secret Sauce
Fate tells the story of a handful of modern-day mages who are thrust into a deadly contest for the Holy Grail. Each mage must summon a Servant, the reincarnation of a real or mythological hero from the past who fights for his new Master with the goal of defeating every other pair in the contest and being the last team to survive. The winners receive the omnipotent Grail with the power to grant any wish to both Master and Servant.
Saber, pictured at right, is the Servant summoned by the single “player character” and male protagonist, Shiro. We begin the story knowing nothing about her, and the first of Fate‘s three main story arcs focuses on the gradual revelation of her real-life identity (which I won’t spoil here), the discovery of her motive for seeking the Grail, and the tension surrounding her deepening relationship with Shiro. Saber is a deep and fascinating character largely because of her basis on a real-world hero; by exploring and altering the past and personality of an actual human being, Fate transforms itself from pure fantasy into a work of fantastical historical fiction.
Shiro, Saber’s partner, is just as interesting a character and thus represents a bit of an anomaly in the landscape of visual novels. Where most developers keep the player character as thin and generic as possible in order to let the player easily project himself into the role, Type-Moon chose to give Shiro a detailed history, a few personal mysteries to uncover, and a strong personality with deep commitment to a set of ideals that affect his actions during the course of the story. He does not exist merely to serve as the player’s avatar; though you may identify with him, you are not Shiro. He has his own story to tell, and Fate‘s second plot arc brings that story to the forefront.
Though you will never see the specific points above on the back of a box, you will see “Amazing characters!” in any positive review of Fate, and its characterization is a substantial part of what makes it a great game. An important item to consider is how “characterization” here–and in games at large–differs from the same notion in literature. Game characterization, more commonly known as character design, includes literary characterization as one component of several. Viewing games through the lenses of painting, animation, and drama helps to form a complete picture of what comprises characterization here. We experience game characters and discover who they are through their appearance, dialogue and actions, but also through more subtle elements such as association with environment visuals and musical themes which influence our perception of their personalities, sometimes at a conscious level and sometimes subconsciously.
What we learn from all of this is that the way a player experiences a game character is impacted by far more than just a model and a script. Whether the developer intends it or not, characterization in games is achieved though visual design, animation, writing, voice acting, sound effects, music, and the technology used to support all of these pieces.
Characterization is THE most important contributor to a visual novel’s success in Japan, and it receives an incredible amount of focus from developers as a result. Indeed, many titles concentrate solely on their characters at the expense of a good narrative and compelling world design. This approach typically results in short-term commercial success but very low sustained sales levels and virtually no memorability in the long term. Fate, like other great visual novels, has compelling characters who are reinforced by the narrative and world design that surround them.
Crucial Lesson #1: Nothing is Truly Genre-Specific
If you thought, “Wow, visual novels are weird,” and shrugged your shoulders at the above, I have news: The importance of characterization is not caused by the restrictions of the genre; it is a trait of the audience that happens to be playing one kind of game. And just as genres evolve and blur together over time, no audience is limited to a single type of game. So as you might expect, the techniques used by visual novels for characterization appear in many other Japanese games as well (see popular SRPGs such as Disgaea for one example).
In fact, the importance of well-crafted characters extends throughout the bulk of the Japanese games market. Think on this the next time you’re wondering why an American smash-hit didn’t meet with the same success when localized to Japan. Lack of appropriate characterization is one of the largest reasons that most Western games fail horribly in Asian markets, but certainly not the only one. Cultural differences and the folly of localization are a large enough subject that they deserve their own entry–expect to hear more about this topic later.
Crucial Lesson #2: Nothing is Truly Region-Specific
If you thought, “Wow, the Japanese are weird,” and shrugged your shoulders at the above, I have news: Culture A happening to value one element of a great game more than Culture B does not mean that we can safely ignore or de-prioritize that element as members of Culture B. In truth, we should realize that Culture A happens to be more in tune with one aspect of human nature than we are, and we should do our best to learn from them what we can. With luck, we can use what we learn to affect players of our own culture in new and interesting ways.
Now that we know that this stuff matters no matter which genre you’re building or which audience you’re serving, here’s one last revelation: Nothing is stopping you from doing as good a job with your characters as Fate/stay night, no matter what kind of game you’re making! Visual novels have no gameplay, and nothing is forcing them to handle characterization the way they do. Certainly the addition of your innovative combat system isn’t preventing you from writing an awesome cast into existence. A new non-photorealistic rendering system does not keep us from making the player care about what’s happening to the people on screen. Today’s parting question, then, is this:
“If my characters were all that mattered, how would I change them?”
Aion
Power Words: Holy War, Wings, Beauty
Easily the best graphics of any MMO to date. Gorgeous environments, ranging from lush and verdant to scorched and dry and full of heat waves. Rich character creation that almost rivals City of Heroes in its flexibility. A strong holy war theme that pervades the whole experience, from the faction rivalry to the ability to sprout white or black wings and take to the skies. In-flight combat with class abilities made specifically to turn the tide of an aerial battle. Heavy focus on PvP after the introductory levels, with an endgame centered on world PvP and regional control by your faction.
But most importantly of all: You can play a little girl who wields a polearm with a blade that’s larger than her torso. Nothing more needs to be said about this game.
( I am experimenting with several different entry styles for the first few games. I call this one, which tries to pack as much flavor into as short a space as possible, SuperCompact. Our next episode will be a bit more expository and dig a little deeper! )
A Beginning
Have you ever noticed that many of your all-time favorite games have serious flaws? Why is it that our personal Top 5 lists tend to have little to do with games’ development budgets, review scores, or levels of commercial success?
The best explanation I’ve been able to come up with is that great games need not be perfect, and even the most glaring of flaws can fade into nothingness next to the power of One Thing Done Right.
An art style. A combat system. The sensation of flight. A character we can’t help loving. A story that brings us to tears.
Any of these can make a great experience, and any of them can be your game’s One Thing.
The purpose of this site is to look at games current and past and lay bare their brilliant nuggets of greatness. There will be no nitpicking, no review scores, no complaints. Only bite-sized explanations of where the awesome is hiding and how you can find it too. My hope is that by looking at interactive entertainment with a deliberately non-critical eye and trying at all costs to find the joy inside it, you and I both can come to better understand design, learn to play a bit more like children, and discover a bit of meaning in these “game” things we spend so much of our time on.
Welcome to WhatTheyDidRight.
