I Can’t See You!

As I write this, it is currently the middle of the night here in Tokyo. I was fortunate enough to take this trip and see some amazing things unlike anything I’ve seen before. Because my job is one that often requires me to always be available it’s also been a bit tiring. I had to join a conference call to answer some questions and address some concerns about a project that is starting up back in the states, which meant waking up in the middle of the night. While I was up I decided to catch up on some of the other gaming blogs I follow, engage in some discussion, and felt the desire to write a little for myself.

I will be posting all about my time here in Japan shortly after I get back home. Check back later for that!

First Person vs Third Person

Do you have a preference? I know I do. I will give any game a chance if it seems like the setting, story, and gameplay will be interesting and fun to me, regardless of play style. I do however prefer third person over first.

This also means that first person shooters are not my favored genre, and I end up passing on a lot of potentially great experiences as a result. I do play some, but it’s always something else about the game that draws me in.

I appreciated the visual style and sense of humor of Borderlands, but what really got me into it was the prospect of enjoying those things cooperatively with a couple of friends. This also explains why I haven’t made much progress in Borderlands 2 at the time of this writing, our group hasn’t been able to consistently meet up to tackle the sequel. As a result, while Borderlands 2 is touted as an improvement over what made the first game so great, I don’t like it as much. What it is on it’s own is not as good as what it is, plus friends (Borderlands 2 + Friends > Borderlands 2). I’m also suspecting that the whole “golden key” system is dragging the experience down for me, but that’s a topic for another day.

I got into Mirror’s Edge for what it brought to the table that was unique to most first person games, and that was the parkour world navigation. For me, that style was made more fun by the novelty of free running through Faith’s perspective. My experience with shooters is usually not enhanced in this way just by putting the camera directly behind the gun.

I Want to See

I feel like I have much better awareness of my surroundings in third person, but mostly I just want to see my character. I like to notice how changing equipment also changes the look. I like to see how the character moves, makes use of cover, and negotiates obstacles. Most of all I like to remember who my character is. I know the goal of the first person viewpoint is to better immerse the player in the shoes of the protagonist, but it’s easy for me to forget who the protagonist is when I can’t see them, especially if that character also has no in-game voice. I’m not trying to play the game as me, I’m trying to play as the character.

My wife once commented on how often she notices that I will create a female character in games. Initially I didn’t have a response to that, but after thinking about it for a while it made sense that it’s because for so many years of gaming there wasn’t an option. The default character was usually male. As a result I will, more often than not, create a female character when given the option. Now I’m not going to sit here and say that every game should have a female version of the protagonist to select. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with creating a story-centric game with one specifically designed character. These games serve their story better. I would like to see more of these games that feature a much wider variety of main character design (gender, ethnicity, etc.), and I think that’s the future we’re headed for. Anyway, that’s another topic for another post.

In a previous post I used my current Oblivion character as an example and she’ll serve here as well. Because I’m looking through her eyes and because she has no in-game voice I forget the character I’m playing. It can be jarring when I talk to a shopkeeper, quest-giver, or other NPC and that character includes “miss” or “ma'am” in their dialogue (I’m not actually sure if any character in Oblivion says “ma’am”, but you get the idea). I’ve forgotten the gender of my character because I can’t see her.

I’ve said it before, the thing I like the most about my games is story. And central to a good story are well-defined characters. There are some of us who enjoy bringing themselves into the game. I prefer to bring myself into the character, and that’s easier and more fun for me when I can see them.

Cover Me!

The second biggest reason I prefer third person games to first person is the way they typically handle cover. In most first person games I’ve played you take advantage of cover by standing behind a wall or ducking while in front of a low object, which just gives you a close up view of the object you are hiding behind (I hope your textures are good!). This is certainly more realistic in that your view would definitely be obstructed if you were hiding behind something in real life, but that’s not for me. I only want so much realism in my escapism.

In movies or TV shows where action scenes depict the characters behind cover, we see them with their backs against the object offering protection. And they usually turn in a cool, hero-type way to peek out or over the cover and squeeze off a few shots in defense. It looks better for us, the viewers, because we see them from a different viewpoint. I find that the same holds true for me with games.

Simply put, I prefer third person games because I can see my character and how they interact with the world around them. That is, as long as the camera system is well designed…

How you do like to view your game worlds? Like me, do you also have a clear preference?

 

Play nice, everyone!