Chapter 6 Response

In Chapter 6, the facets of the aesthetics of games intrigued me. I was trying to think of which parts usually draw me to games, and fantasy, challenge, narrative, and discovery were the terms that stood out to me. My favorite games I’ve played have been narrative role player games like the Legend of Zelda, Professor Layton, and Genshin Impact. I love collecting all the hidden items, leveling up, and unlocking new puzzles/interior activities to the games. I’m one of the players that likes to try and complete as much as I can within one “stage” of a game before advancing so I “complete” as much of the coded features as possible. This challenge part of the game is I think one of the biggest draws for me, BUT I think the games I’ve liked the best, like the ones I mentioned, also have a very strong narrative component. Getting as many power-ups or abilities in games like Smash, which have a challenge aspect to them, don’t satisfy that “itch” like Professor Layton does — I like completing challenges BECAUSE of some emotional or social motivation the game provides. I have to be accomplishing things within the game because it’s necessary for the characters, not just me. I don’t play a lot of cooperative games since I am a sort of control freak, and especially with narrative games, I want to be the one to discover the hidden elements and accomplish the challenges. Tying into the narrative, this is also why I like games that have really good world building — ones where I feel attached to the characters and understand the constraints the world provides. Any good story design doesn’t let its characters do anything, otherwise the game wouldn’t be a fun challenge. Limiting players’ capabilities is important in creating motivation within a game. Finally, it’s always fun to explore new worlds, and honestly it does help bring me out of “real life” and let me just have fun exploring a new world!

However, in recent game development, I’ve been very intrigued by the open ended narrative games, ones that are short and can be completed pretty fast, like some of the ones demoed in class. The strong narrative arc that is provided trumps the challenge aspect of the game in these scenarios, and I appreciate the attention to detail the creators of the games put into the world/story building part of the game. I’ve been trying to incorporate narrative into my own creation of experiences with my DJ sets and try to make a musical arc such that it builds and falls and prevents the audience from getting bored!