Side-Questing Into Ambiguity

Who Am I, Really?

This is a topic that I’ve been kicking around in my head for a while now as a direct result of two main catalysts.

The first is from an Afterwords interview of Far Cry 4’s creative director, Alex Hutchinson, by Game Informer’s Matt Bertz in the February 2015 issue. One of the questions Matt asks Alex is about what he feels is the “schizophrenic nature” of the main character because of the stark moral contrast in the missions undertaken throughout the game. Alex’s response to this was what turned on the light bulb for me as he answers that, “… he wasn’t doing any of those things – you were.” He then goes on to point out that much of that content was optional.

The second was a post I recently read from a blog I started following (written by Rebekah Lang), and am enjoying quite a bit. Specifically, it was this post. In it she discusses her enjoyment of side quests and the satisfaction felt by completing them all. I really wanted to comment on the post itself, but couldn’t do so without a lot of words. Having no good way to convey my point without taking up way too much space in her comment section, I decided to just write this post and offer inspirational credit and a recommendation to her excellent blog. 

These two sources provide a good frame for the conflicting feelings I’m having about side quests in video games lately, which we’ll get to in short order. First,  please allow me to set the stage for an example of this bittersweet relationship.

Open-World Games

Nothing extends a video game backlog like open-world games, and I have many on my shelf. The worst offender, and perhaps my most embarrassing, is The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Despite the many hours I’ve spent with the game I’ve never finished it. I’ve never even made much headway in the main quest. On top of that, I’m currently playing through the third copy I’ve owned! My wife purchased the initial release on PS3 for me as a gift, which I later traded in for the Game of the Year Edition (an act she is still not too pleased about), which was in turn given to a friend when I purchased the 5th Anniversary Edition.

My failure to finish the game is due mainly to distraction and my inability to play it correctly. I don’t like talking about games being played “correctly” because I’m a firm believer that if you are enjoying your time with a game you are doing it right, regardless of your progress. It is a game after all and games are supposed to be fun (I think that’s a quote from something…?). When a game gives me the opportunity to do what I want, I tend to try to do it all. Rather than creating a specialized character, I would tend to try a bit of everything. It’s a real “jack of all trades, master of none” scenario. In Oblivion the game world levels alongside you, so I would repeatedly reach a point where I was technically at a high enough level but wasn’t proficient enough in any skills to survive. I would always hit a wall when the trolls began to appear. I hate trolls… (now that I remember from Willow).

When dealing with a meaty RPG like Oblivion I really have to stick with it at the near exclusion of all others until I’m done so I don’t forget what’s going on in the story or at least what the controls are. Second only to the pity that is the number of games on my shelf I haven’t played, is the number of games I have started but haven’t returned to because of other gaming distractions. But I haven’t given up on Oblivion just yet, I’ve created one last character with whom I am bound and determined to see as much of the game as possible before finally putting it behind me.

Meet Sylvir Blackhart!
 
She is amazing! As a master of archery and stealth, she can operate undetected in most situations and strike from the dark like no other. At level 29, her Speed and Agility (the attributes most vital for her deadly skills) are completely maxed out. Unlike my previous characters she is focused on a specific toolset, and as a result is enjoying quite a bit of success. However, while I do love playing the sneaky, ranged, lock-picking assassin, I don’t much like her.

Sylvir doesn’t stand for anything, has no discernable alignment or motive. The only thing anybody can ever really know about who she is, is that she seems to be addicted to favors. She has an insatiable need to do things for people, which is how she got to level 29 without even really beginning the main “save the world” quest. No task is too noble, despicable, simple, or complex. She doesn’t at all care who is helped or hurt by her reckless, mercenary ways.

Of course, just as Mr. Hutchinson told Matt about Far Cry 4, she didn’t do any of those things, I did. In the course of trying to see as much of the game as I could I’ve created a character that behaves like a crazy person. In chasing the satisfaction that comes from crossing items off of a quest log, I’ve created a less satisfying story.

What Does It Mean to You?

I love a good story, and I will forgive a lot of bland gameplay, questionable design choices, and even a host of glitches for a great one. For me, central to a great story are strong, well-defined characters. By fulfilling any and all requests she come across, Sylvir is anything but well-defined.

Now, I’m not here to pass judgment on people for how they like to play their games. However you find your fun with a game is exactly how you should be playing it (aside from those that derive enjoyment from harassing, excluding, or threatening other people through games). If you genuinely like spending countless hours running down each and every side quest in a game, more power to you. I’ve done it myself and had fun while doing it.

I won’t deny how great it is to open the map in an Assassin’s Creed game and see all those little icons cleaned off. The difference with Assassin’s Creed games is that none of the optional side activities break who the characters is. The point is to play through that character’s story, re-live their experiences. You can be punished or at least warned for doing something like accidentally killing an innocent bystander because it is out of character for the protagonist (…sometimes I get sloppy with the targeting…), but the included missions are all in line with who you are playing as.

Side quests can be a great way for developers to extend the experience for gamers who want more value for their dollar, and an enjoyable game can be fun for a much longer period of time by including a well thought out suite of optional content. At this point many of us have been conditioned to try to get the most “juice for the squeeze”, whether it’s in an attempt to get more bang for your buck or to collect all the trophies/achievements.

Open-world games that promote the idea of playing it however you want will undoubtedly be loaded with side quests and other non-critical activities, but perhaps with a  downside for gamers such as myself. Like with Matt Bertz’s experience in Far Cry 4, many large games offer some side quests that can be quite morally contradicting to others. In trying to see and do everything, maybe we’re not so much playing the way we want as we are simply playing all we can.

What I’m beginning to understand about myself is that I might enjoy these experiences more by asking myself what my character would do rather than just trying to do everything. We already have a powerful opportunity to shape our distinct path through many of the impressive digital creations at our fingertips, why not try to use it? What’s the point of having this incredible player choice, only to use it to just do all the things, all the time? Why not play as a character who will readily assist those in need for little to no gain, but finds a more nefarious request distasteful? Why not create a character who just wants to watch it all burn down? Why not immerse yourself in a persona that’s much less picky but will only perform tasks in return for an appropriate financial reward? And if you really want to see all a game has to offer, why not replay it as a different character with different standards?

I often think back to my time with Heavy Rain. To date, I’ve only played it through once and enjoyed it immensely. Perhaps the best part was talking about it with a new friend who had played it at around the same time that I did. Our stories were completely different! I still find it fascinating how unique our experiences could be while still playing the same game. Heavy Rain is obviously not an open-world game and isn’t loaded with side quests but it serves to remind me how vital a good story can be to my enjoyment of a game. When the credits rolled I had a clear-cut, well-defined path through that was uniquely mine.

How Could It Be Better?

The games in the Infamous series receive a lot of criticism for promising player choice, but really only delivering two main options. I’ve only played the first one at this point, but I understand the following titles are pretty similar in this regard. At critical junctions throughout the game you have to make a choice which affects not only the story, but the protagonist’s morality. Most of the criticism leveled at the game pertains to the fact that the choices are all pretty clearly “good” or “bad”, as well as the fact that you have to commit to one or the other to obtain and maximize the top-tier abilities. To walk a morally “gray” line, you have to make a combination of “white” and “black” choices and will likely never reach your full potential as a super-powered dude.

While I understand where the complaints come from, I don’t really share them. I had a great time playing Infamous and felt it was a very solid product. Because I wanted to see both sides (and get that Platinum!) I played it through twice, becoming the bad Cole first, followed by the good.

One thing I appreciated was how it handled side quests. They weren’t nearly as pervasive as in most large open world titles, but what they did with them mattered, at least to me. Many of the side quests were basically two sides of the same coin. When you chose to tackle an optional mission that was aligned with one moral side, the other one was taken off the table. There was no way to do all of the “good” side missions and all of the “bad”, which made sense to me. I would like to see a similar system put in place in future open-world games on a much larger scale.

Imagine an Elder Scrolls-sized epic adventure just loaded with side quests, but when you agree to take on one task, many of the others that could be seen as morally contradicting became no longer available. Sure, you couldn’t do each and every little non-critical activity in one playthrough, but your story would be personalized by your choices. Your character would be better defined, not only by what he/she did, but also by what he/she declined to do.

I know, it’s kind of a silly thing to hope for, especially since I can already do this myself by being a bit more discerning as I play. I’d still love to see someone try, if it hasn’t already been done before in a game I just haven’t played yet (the backlog is deep!). That way, the gamer in me who wants an individualized story doesn’t have do battle with the one who wants to do everything (he’s already too good at getting his way!). Perhaps, with a system such as that I would like Sylvir a lot more. I would at least know who she is.

Thanks for reading!

Play nice, everyone!