KevinKeene
Banned
This is an important topic to me that I spent the last couple days thinking about I'd best word it. This thread in the off-topic inspired me to just go for it, so I hope I get my point across.
The main gist of this topic is that in video games (and blockbuster movies, too) the heroes and villains are exceedingly most of the time all good or all evil. The hero might have some personal short comings (waking up late, smoking, cheating at card games, etc), the villain might have that one soft spot (a dear relative, a pet, etc), but all that is meaningless in the bigger picture: the hero does good, the villain does evil.
SPOILER FROM HERE ON:
Examples are too many, be it Assassin's Creed, Uncharted, Zelda or really most games. However, even games that have you think could go differently DON'T. No matter how much of a jerk my Shepard in Mass Effect 1 is - having relationships with 2 girls, maybe at least secretly? Nah, the game eventually forces you to choose. In Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Malos shows a glimpse non-villain-ess - at the very end. Imagine how it'd have felt playing the majority of the game knowing about this trait of his. And then we have GTA5. Remember how GTA was originally about playing a gangster and making it big? Because it wouldn't be your fault if you forget. GTA5 needed the comically over-the-top Trevor to show at least some villainy, but the other two characters are pretty much good guys. In a game about playing gangsters.
It's not just about playable characters and the big bad guys, though. Video game stories in general are extremely vanilla. If something isn't vanilla, it's an intended narrative shock. But going off the clear path simply to tell a story, to show characters that aren't the same as any other? Hardly ever possible (and I'm looking forward to you pointing out examples of 'unusual' heroes and villains).
Now, even if a character has an unusual not-100%-paragon/renegade status, it's typically part of his past and only mentioned as a sidenote or flashback. Or it's excused with elements like 'he didn't have control over his body, it wasn't his fault!' later in the story. I'd LOVE to see more FLAWED heroes and villains aka real people in game stories. And I'd like to witness it as part of the ongoing story, not in some description prior to starting the game.
Some easy, rough examples of what I'd like to see: A non-badass hero who's doing his best to save (insertthing), but is a misogynist pig, grabbing female characters' asses, getting laid only to stop caring about the girl he boned last night, or thinking lesser of women. Maybe a hero who even rapes a girl from sheer lust, but still has to save the world later and has to cope with what he did (imagine Rex losing control some night with Pyra for example). It's not about sexual stuff, though. How about this redneck who knows how to fight zombies best and protects a group of survivorsc despite being an alt right-racist?(The Walking Dead says hi)? Or have the hero simply be a non-violent mean ass at times. Then we have the villain-side of things. How about a villain who's against violence? Some snakey asshole who makes use of his words to get what he wants, but despises violence - despite 'what he wants' being truly evil targets. Or a bad guy who's actually just the good guy from another point of view (that probably has been done, but likely in an in-your-face fashion, instead of carefully portraying each side's goals and motivations as the story develops)?
And so on.
I could go on rambling, so I'll stop here. The point is that game stories (and most movies, too) make it really easy for us to like the heroes and hate the villains. And when that's not the case, it's usually used for a shocking twist at the story's end instead of a meaningful, ongoing portrayal (see: Oldboy). I'd like to see video game stories challenge us and the way we look at these virtual people we play as or fight. The world isn't so black and white - video games should more often reflect that.
The main gist of this topic is that in video games (and blockbuster movies, too) the heroes and villains are exceedingly most of the time all good or all evil. The hero might have some personal short comings (waking up late, smoking, cheating at card games, etc), the villain might have that one soft spot (a dear relative, a pet, etc), but all that is meaningless in the bigger picture: the hero does good, the villain does evil.
SPOILER FROM HERE ON:
Examples are too many, be it Assassin's Creed, Uncharted, Zelda or really most games. However, even games that have you think could go differently DON'T. No matter how much of a jerk my Shepard in Mass Effect 1 is - having relationships with 2 girls, maybe at least secretly? Nah, the game eventually forces you to choose. In Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Malos shows a glimpse non-villain-ess - at the very end. Imagine how it'd have felt playing the majority of the game knowing about this trait of his. And then we have GTA5. Remember how GTA was originally about playing a gangster and making it big? Because it wouldn't be your fault if you forget. GTA5 needed the comically over-the-top Trevor to show at least some villainy, but the other two characters are pretty much good guys. In a game about playing gangsters.
It's not just about playable characters and the big bad guys, though. Video game stories in general are extremely vanilla. If something isn't vanilla, it's an intended narrative shock. But going off the clear path simply to tell a story, to show characters that aren't the same as any other? Hardly ever possible (and I'm looking forward to you pointing out examples of 'unusual' heroes and villains).
Now, even if a character has an unusual not-100%-paragon/renegade status, it's typically part of his past and only mentioned as a sidenote or flashback. Or it's excused with elements like 'he didn't have control over his body, it wasn't his fault!' later in the story. I'd LOVE to see more FLAWED heroes and villains aka real people in game stories. And I'd like to witness it as part of the ongoing story, not in some description prior to starting the game.
Some easy, rough examples of what I'd like to see: A non-badass hero who's doing his best to save (insertthing), but is a misogynist pig, grabbing female characters' asses, getting laid only to stop caring about the girl he boned last night, or thinking lesser of women. Maybe a hero who even rapes a girl from sheer lust, but still has to save the world later and has to cope with what he did (imagine Rex losing control some night with Pyra for example). It's not about sexual stuff, though. How about this redneck who knows how to fight zombies best and protects a group of survivorsc despite being an alt right-racist?(The Walking Dead says hi)? Or have the hero simply be a non-violent mean ass at times. Then we have the villain-side of things. How about a villain who's against violence? Some snakey asshole who makes use of his words to get what he wants, but despises violence - despite 'what he wants' being truly evil targets. Or a bad guy who's actually just the good guy from another point of view (that probably has been done, but likely in an in-your-face fashion, instead of carefully portraying each side's goals and motivations as the story develops)?
And so on.
I could go on rambling, so I'll stop here. The point is that game stories (and most movies, too) make it really easy for us to like the heroes and hate the villains. And when that's not the case, it's usually used for a shocking twist at the story's end instead of a meaningful, ongoing portrayal (see: Oldboy). I'd like to see video game stories challenge us and the way we look at these virtual people we play as or fight. The world isn't so black and white - video games should more often reflect that.
I think it's okay to 'beat you over the head' aka clearly shows the shortcomings/upsides of the hero/villain. Subtlety too often is a tool used when one is too scared to openly show something, and 'grey' heroes/villains shouldn't need to hideclike that.