激发玩家情感共鸣回目录
游戏邦注：本文原作者是TGRSTAFF，主要讨论视频游戏给玩家带来的情感联系，以及东西方游戏在情感传达上的不同处理方法等问题。原文发表于2009年7月22日，以下所涉事件均以当时为准。
年轻的时候，我经常逃避现实世界，而躲到书本中的幻想世界中。在那里，我能够真切地感受到人物角色和他们所处的世界是多么的美妙，而且那时，我发现自己的情感变化已经与那个幻想世界完全联系在一起了。虽然视频游戏已经占据了我的生活，但是我却再也没有年轻时候的那种情感体验了。
虽然视频游戏比书本和电影传达的信息更为生动，但是为何它却不能带来相应的情感联系呢？根据我自己游戏生涯中的经历，我认为视频游戏并非与情感体验毫无关联。自从视频游戏《Elite》成功吸引了我的注意力并把我真正地引入游戏世界后，我便开始相信视频游戏拥有较大的发展前景，并下定决心对其进行进一步的研究。但是事实上，视频游戏却很少展露此优点，我认为这一点主要应归咎于游戏叙事手法上的失策。
infamous(from selectstartgames.wordpress.com)
我们以《Infamous》和《Prototype》两款游戏为例，这两款游戏是用不同的方法陈述游戏的故事情节。《Infamous》提供给玩家两种选择，并且在游戏中对人物主角，他的超人以及能量产生影响。相反的，《Prototype》则采用线性的表达方法，并遵循一个特定的故事，且这个故事也不会因为玩家在游戏中的行动而做出改变。
《Infamous》所采用的双重选择比较不具有说服力。因为尽管我按照自己的意愿改变了游戏中的角色形象，但是却不会因此对游戏实际内容产生任何影响。而且这款游戏是通过一种不合理的方法为玩家呈现出“非善即恶”的两种选择，让他们感觉自己像是在玩《芝麻街》中的幼儿游戏。按照这种方法叙述游戏故事并不恰当，《Infamous》如果能采用线性叙述方法，情况可能更妙。
而《Prototype》正是采用这种线性叙述方法，所以比起《Infamous》显得更有吸引力。但是尽管《Prototype》在故事叙述方面略胜一筹，但在游戏角色设计方面却并不值得称道。《Prototype》主角Alex Mercer的整体形象是黑暗，阴沉的，因此只会给玩家留下不良的第一印象。但是事实上，Alex在游戏中扮演的角色却与其外表判若两人。正是因为这个角色，我对这款游戏失去了兴趣，并觉得这个游戏世界让人感觉极为不快。
这两款游戏以不同的方法叙述西方的故事，但正如《Flower》这款PSN游戏的特征一样，比起其它要素，纯粹的视觉表象更有助于展现游戏故事的魅力。而《Braid》这款游戏的开发者则以复杂的谜题和有意令人困惑的视角，隐藏了故事的真相，让玩家对游戏进程百思不得其解。尽管这种注重画面感的游戏更能让玩家感受到情感体验，但是玩家却常常因为关注于它们的画面效果而忽视了这种情感体验。我想世界上也只有一个人才能够完全理解并感受《Braid》这款游戏的魅力，那就是它的开发者Jonathan Blow。
对于游戏为何不能提供更深层次的情感体验，其实玩家最有发言权。因为如果我们能够通过想象并全身心地投入于游戏角色中，也许我们便能感受到那种久违的情感体验了吧？以我过去所体验的游戏为例，第一款让我获得真正情感体验的游戏是Amiga旗下的《Cannon Fodder》。在这款游戏里，每当载入一个新的游戏关卡时，玩家都能够在屏幕上看到满山遍野的士兵坟墓，而这些士兵正是玩家在游戏中战败的士兵。而当那些新的士兵出现在屏幕边缘，并随时待命时，我瞬间感受到自己的决定对于他们的“生命”是多么的重要。虽然这款游戏听起来有些血腥，但是它所呈现的场景确实让我感受到了战争的可怕，并能够真正融入于游戏场景中，不去想任何的其它事。
《Cannon Fodder》并未刻意堆砌大量煽情的说辞，或营造创建这种情感联系的氛围，它只是通过一些简单但却很有震慑力的画面，并利用角色扮演游戏的一些基本功能而对玩家产生情感吸引力。最近的一些西方游戏多为免费的角色扮演游戏，虽然这些游戏能够让我自行改变性别，外形，身世，但是我所做的这些改变却不能对游戏故事产生任何影响，即不论我做何改变，游戏还是会按照最初的设定进行下去。
在《Elder Scrolls IV：Oblivion》这款游戏中，尽管我在初期投入了大量的时间创造了属于自己的游戏角色，但是渐渐的，我便觉得自己丢失了对角色的所有权了。游戏角色所处的环境与我们玩家所处的环境并不一样，它的游戏环境极为令人失望。尽管游戏任务的主角都有一个专门的配音演员，但是其它次要角色却都是由相同的3个演员配音。当游戏中的人物重复对话时，这种情形就有点滑稽了，同时也让整个游戏世界显得极度失真。《Elder Scrolls IV：Oblivion》中呆板的游戏角色，以及不合理的场景设置使这款游戏变得更加怪异。
西方游戏在陈述故事时通常无法让玩家感受到较深层次，较有意义的游戏体验。我只有在过去几年，才发现了一些日本游戏在叙事手法和情感表达上的过人之处。虽然听故事并自行设想一个特定环境中的故事情节和角色，总不如自己添加故事细节更具沉浸感，但这些日本游戏却让我深为震憾。
lost odyssey(from wired.com)
《Lost Odyssey》所呈现的游戏世界便是一个典型。这款游戏中的故事情节，以及日本角色扮演游戏模式深深扣动我的心弦，真正地感受到其混合叙事风格的魅力所在。尽管这款游戏在某些方面与《最终幻想》系列颇有相似之处，但是它死亡和损失等方面的处理显得更加成熟，而且它也更加侧重于刻画游戏角色及其游戏进程，这一切让我为之倾倒。
《Lost Odyssey》的第一幕非常戏剧化，即游戏主角在那时经历了从冷漠到痛苦的情感变化。而随着他的记忆一点一点被揭露出来，我便开始慢慢同情起这个可怜的角色。在整个游戏过程中，我对主人公的态度发生了从不喜欢到理解的转变，这也正是我与这款游戏产生情感联系的原因所在。这款游戏仅是通过简单的文本叙述，便能让我真切地感受到主人公的悲惨命运，并因此而泪流满面。尽管在游戏这种视觉印象唱主角的媒介中，它使用的叙事方法多少有点落伍，但因为它让我真正受到了情感洗礼，所以我也无法再挑剔其他的瑕疵了。
《Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4》是另外一款以描述角色为主的游戏，但是它却采取了与上述游戏不同的表现手法。我很关注它的人物角色及其不幸遭遇，所以可以忽略其不甚理想的玩法设置。看到这款游戏的人物角色如此具有深度和吸引力，我无法不为之而触动，也承认自己偏爱其中的Chie这个角色。我也没有想到自己会被这款PS2 3D模式的游戏所深深吸引，可以说，它与玩家之间的情感联系实在是太奇妙了。
日本角色扮演游戏成为最近游戏中最具情感体验的佳作并非巧合，在我看来，日本游戏公司一直致力于制作出色的游戏角色，所以会让它们如此具有吸引力。但不幸的是，这些公司一直停留在同一类型的题材中，且游戏角色的设置也大同小异，很难为玩家再创造出更有趣的游戏世界。
找到一款具有较强情感联系的游戏实非易事，但也绝非完全不可能。那些无法满足玩家情感需求的游戏多因陈腔滥调的故事情节而失利。最近发行的《Infamous》和《Prototype》等这类游戏并无虏获玩家的吸引力，因为它们不是游戏道德取向有问题，就是缺乏令人印象深刻的主人公。而《Lost Odyssey》和《Persona 4》这两者却真正理解了游戏与玩家间的情感联系，并设计了一种由角色推动故事发展的戏剧性游戏体验。如果即将问世的《Heavy Rain》能够向玩家传达一个完整的故事情节，并呈现一个具有说服力的游戏世界，那么我相信这款游戏将推动视频游戏成为该领域文化变革中的绝对力量。而在那天到来之前，我将继续在《Persona 4》中操纵着我最喜欢的Chie Satonaka。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译）
Why Games Fail to Emotionally Connect
By TGRStaff
Adam Standing’s first piece for TGR looks into why games still give him the emotional Connection Failure error, taking a look at the highs and lows, from the West and the East, in his gaming life.
In my youth I spent as much time as possible escaping reality and entering the fantasy worlds of books. Those characters and their worlds were totally engrossing, and I naturally found myself making emotional connections with them that enriched the story. But now that video games have taken over my world, I’ve found my new medium of escape doesn’t produce the same effect.
Why do video games fail to make those connections when they seem to draw the best from both books and movies? I don’t believe it’s because they’re totally incapable of making the link, as I’ve found glimpses and fragments of it happen throughout my gaming life. Ever since the wire-frame magic of Elite did its best to draw me past its vectors and into another world, I’ve wanted and expected video games to develop further, and delve deeper. Yet this advance has rarely shown itself, and for this I lay the blame at the failure of games to get even basic storytelling right.
Let’s take Infamous and Prototype as examples, since both approached storytelling in different ways. Infamous presented binary, good-or-evil choices that over the course of the game affected the protagonist and his superhuman, electrical powers. In contrast, Prototype took a linear approach and followed a defined story arc unaffected by the player’s actions in the game.
The binary choice in Infamous felt very ham-fisted and artificial. Although my character changed visually depending on my choices, it had no effect on the actual story. Also, the game spelt out these choices in the most ridiculous way, giving me such pantomime good-or-evil paths that I felt like I was playing a Sesame Street game. Diluting the narrative in this way ultimately didn’t work, and Infamous would’ve been better served by restricting its story to just one linear thread.
This was Prototype’s method-of-choice, and it felt a stronger game for it. But where it succeeded in narrative, it failed with its characters. The dark, brooding Alex Mercer was immediately unlikable, and he seemed a totally different person in the game compared to within its cut scenes. This fuelled my feeling of disassociation with Prototype, and made it’s world an entirely uncomfortable place to be in.
Both of these games display different styles of Western storytelling, but as PSN hit Flower has shown, you don’t need much more than pure visual imagery to tell an enchanting tale. On the end of the spectrum Braid hid its story behind complex puzzles and deliberately confusing perspectives, toying with players’ understanding of what was actually going on. These more artistic games come much closer to that emotional experience I’m after, although I’ve found their devotion to a particular vision can obscure the experience. For example, I feel that the only person to fully understand and appreciate Braid must be Jonathan Blow – its creator.
Maybe the answer to a deeper experience lies with us, the player. If I used my imagination and filled the heart and souls of characters myself, maybe that that would restore the emotional connection I feel games lack? Looking back into my gaming past produces a few examples of this approach working well. The first game that provided me with a moving experience was Amiga classic Cannon Fodder. As each of the game’s levels loaded, an image was shown of a solitary hill covered in graves – the graves of soldiers I had lost so far. As the new recruits marched towards the edge of the screen, ready to do my bidding, I couldn’t help but feel the weight of their lives upon me. It may sound like bleeding-heart liberal pap, but Cannon Fodder’s imagery made me think about the horrors of war, more so than anything else at the time.Cannon Fodder was one of highest-rated games of its generation, and remains a classic.
But there was no engaging squad chatter or atmospheric graphics to build this emotional connection. Cannon Fodder just used simple, powerful imagery, and basic leveling-up features ripped from role-playing games, and applied them in a practical way. That same attachment to characters seems to have been lost in the meantime.
The closest Western games have come is the free rein approach of some RPGs, yet the ability to change my gender, looks and history as much as I want has such little effect on a game.
In Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion I felt no ownership over my character despite pouring hours into their creation. The world around them never felt like the same one I inhabited as the player, and as rich as the environment was, it always felt disappointingly sterile. This was partly because of the voice acting; although the main quest characters had individual actors, nearly all other non-player characters were voiced by the same three people. It did make for some laughable moment, especially when dialogue lines were repeated incessantly, but it also made the world impossible to believe in. The stilted animation of its characters, and their design firmly slotting into the uncanny valley, made Oblivion feel far more alien than it should’ve been.
It seems that Western games have fundamental issues when it comes to providing deep and meaningful experiences. Only in the past few years have I realized that storytelling in Japanese games is far better at conveying emotion and drama. Being told a story and assuming a character in a particular world doesn’t sound as immersive as filling the details yourself, but it’s in these worlds that the most moving moments have occurred for me.
The world of Lost Odyssey is one such example. For all of its clichéd plot and Japanese RPG tropes, Lost Odyssey struck a deep chord with me, and showed how a mixture of storytelling styles could combine to provoke some raw emotions. And although it shares similarities with the Final Fantasy series, it showed a more mature attitude by tackling subjects like death and loss in an adult way When games attempt this, and focus on character and their progression through a game’s world, I can’t help but be swept away.
It was the development of the main character from aloof and detached to unbridled grief that made the first quarter of the game so dramatic. By revealing his memories piece by piece, I grew more sympathetic towards him as the game progressed. This change from unlikeable to understanding is what gave me that emotional connection to Lost Odyssey. There were times that the game’s infamous memories, told by simple text passages, moved me tears. It might be backwards to use such an ancient form of storytelling in a predominantly visual medium, but if it can elicit such emotions then I cannot fault its inclusion.
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 is another great example of a game putting characters above all else, but in another way. I was quite happy to ignore the defdeicient gameplay to invest in the game’s characters and their plights. With so much depth & attraction poured into Persona 4’s characters, it’s hard not to be moved by them – and alright, I’ll admit it, I have a soft spot for Chie. But the very fact that PS2 3D model can squeeze some amorous emotion out of me is something I find incredible. It shows that emotional ties are possible beyond the Lara Croft fantasies of old.
It’s no coincidence that the most recent games to make that emotional link are J-RPGs. Their willingness to devote time and effort into developing characters is what makes them so powerful to me. It’s just a shame that they still lock into recycling the same generic story, and using it more as a canvas for characters than creating an interesting world.
Finding games that emotionally connect seems a difficult task. Not impossible, but their failure to reach those heights comes from following a well-worn path of clichés and stereotypes. Recent releases like Infamousand Prototype stand guilty of this like so many others, whether it be through pantomime moral choices or failure to create deep characters. But Lost Odysseyand Persona 4 show glimpses of that elusive emotional connection, doing so by telling unique character-driven stories, packed with believable, dramatic moments. If the upcoming Heavy Rain can deliver on its promise of a mature story and a convincing world, then maybe it can start the cultural revolution I believe video games are capable of. Until then, I’ll be back in Persona 4, fuelling my Chie Satonaka obsession.（source:thegamereviews）
