Case Study #5 - Assassin's Creed

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Released (EU): 2013
Platform: Xbox 360/ Xbox One/ Wii U/ Ps3/ Ps4/ PC
Genre: Action-Adventure
Publisher: Ubisoft

Assassin's Creed is a second game that I discussed during my contextual essay. This was a good example of a game in terms of fiction based on a real culture, as I've previously mentioned in the review. Okay, so again it's pirates, like Skies of Arcadia, however the extreme difference between them is that Skies of Arcadia is fantasized. Wherein Skies of Arcadia there is a bigger artistic license and the inspiration isn't quite so direct, Assassin's Creed: Black Flag is a historical fiction game.

There's a danger in games like these. It restricts the design freedom of a character that is largely based on a historical figure, and restricts the characteristics too. However Assassin's Creed is successful in that it stays pretty historically accurate for the most part, yet offers a compelling fiction. 

I found that the main character Edward Kenway was actually surprisingly relatable, but maybe that had something to due with his backstory i.e. he hails from Cardiff, which is about twenty minutes away from the town I come from. Okay, so I can't relate to the fact that he's a privateer-turned-pirate, but it's still closer to home than any other fictional character.

Most of the game is set in the Caribbean, across three main cities, one of which is pirate-influenced, one controlled by the Spanish and one by Britain. Edward Kenway is pretty suited to at least two of these, being a British Pirate - albeit specifically Welsh. 

What is significant about Kenway regarding his design, is the mix of culture within his clothing. Obviously, he retains the iconic assassin design that has spread through the series, however it has essentially been hybridized in such a way that you can blatantly tell that he is a pirate. I personally really like Kenway's design, a rough around the edges rogue. Because his clothes have elements of both assassin and pirate, he is neither too bland nor too detached from the piratical environment in which he adventures. 

Again different elements of the character can plausibly draw the player inwards and into the game world. Although the story and certain aspects are completely fictional, it is set in a real historical period of time with real figureheads. Edward Kenway works a good bridge between the player and this half-real world, coming across as a person who could have existed in this time along with those real figureheads, despite the fact that he is fictional.

I think this is another game that demonstrates the relationships between characters, players, game worlds and cultures, especially when you consider how the hybridization of the multiplayer characters works so well. Characters from different cultures were adapted to the pirate culture, using the matter of stereotyping in a positive manner. The designers discussed that this was a bit of fun for the players, however as a case study this displays the importance of how characters should appear like they belong in their world. If a highway-woman had been put into the game, she would look so detached from it, but the fact that she was adapted to suit the piracy environments means that she works convincingly, as do the others. 

The only issue I really have, is the intertwined story-lines between the 'real' and fictional worlds within the game itself. Meta-stories - they really do grate on me sometimes, although there is some cleverness in what they've done. The 'real' character is unnamed, and is basically you anyway. When you go into the historical world you are then Edward Kenway, however it is not only the player who takes the role of this character - it is also the unnamed character whose role you play. It's actually so meta it hurts my brain, regarding character-player identification. I suppose through becoming the unnamed character it makes it that little bit easier to become and/or relate to Edward Kenway.

HOWEVER, as much as you become immersed as Kenway in the historical world, it really annoys me when you get pulled out of it. I just wanted to stay in that other world into which I had been drawn through the main character and my relation with him and his place in his world.

But that nit-pick aside, looking solely at culture and game spaces, Edward Kenway is a cleverly designed character and has pretty real characteristics that allow for a good engagement between all of these aspects.

 

Case Study #4 - Skies of Arcadia

Woops. Busy busy + no internet means I'm feeling a bit backlogged with my journal-ly blog business. Need to get up to speed on what I've done XD.

Skies of Arcadia: Legends

Released (EU): 2002
Platform: Nintendo Gamecube
Genre: RPG
Publisher: SEGA

Skies of Arcadia's premise seems ridiculous. Steam-punk sky pirates, flying ships through the air on a quest for magic stones to foil the plans of a pretty sinister empire? Pretty high-fantasy really. The only thing there that's remotely real is the pirates part. However, this game is one of my favourites, and was rather highly praised all around. One of the main reasons in my opinion is because of its believability.

Vast, open world inspired by the life of piracy

Regardless of how far-fetched it might have seemed, the whole world fits together and that made it believable. To make something believable it doesn't necessarily have to look or be realistic. It more or less comes down to the consistency of the world. One thing I found with Skies of Arcadia was how consistent it actually was. 

The main characters are pirates, but the interesting thing about them is that they're not all BAD pirates. They are divided into factions and you play as the good kind, although they pillage and steal - that's what makes them pirates - they do it in good cause. They're known as the Blue Rogues and the main protagonist that the game centres around is Vyse. He looks pretty steam-punk, and he looks like a pirate albeit with a bit of a fantasy twist on it, yet in the character's appearance itself you can see the lack of malice. He wears an lens which, although is actual a practical item that allows him to see far off objects, is clearly meant to resemble the typical pirate eye-patch.

The main point I want to make about this, and it goes for the majority of the other characters in his crew, is that he looks like he belongs in the world in which he lives.

Fina, Vyse and Aika

One note to make is that Fina, on the left in the above image, does not resemble a pirate. That's because she's not, although she does join Vyse on his quest. She also comes from a vastly different place to Arcadia, meaning she struggles to understand Arcadian customs. While not much is known about her culture, it can easily be established that she is much more peaceful than the Arcadian lifestyle offers.

Although some of the characters might not look real, their personalities as a whole are believable and they are engaging and ultimately that draws the player into identifying with these characters despite the extravagant world in which they exist. It is partly to do with the kind of situations they are thrown into as well that adds to the connectivity between player, characters and world. Vyse pretty much wants to protect his friends and family, help other people and stop a corrupt empire from destroying their lives. 

This game is an excellent example of a game that takes direct inspiration from a culture, in this case being piracy, but turns it into something new and exciting, an ultimately fictional culture because, obviously, sky-pirates don't exist and people don't live on skyward islands. BUT it is all inspired from the pirate lifestyle. Younger players could relate to the mischievous nature of the teenage Vyse and his friends even though they aren't pirates themselves. Perhaps from Skies of Arcadia it can be assumed that culture may or may not influence player identification with characters so long as these characters suit the world in which they live. 

 

Case Study #3 - The Balance of Fire Emblem

Woops. So I've been a bit behind on updating my blog.
I've basically finished the first project I was working on and I've had two good suggestions as next-step exercises from Jim and Josh. However I don't want to put my design work up just yet until I've caught up with the case studies that led to it. i.e. I want to keep it in context.

Let's see if I can get caught up in one fell swoop. 

Rightyho.
This was my next case study:

Fire Emblem: Awakening

Released (EU): 2012
Platform: Nintendo 3DS
Genre: Tactical role-playing
Publisher: Nintendo

Fire Emblem, is one of the most character enriched game series I've ever personally come across. This is why I chose this as a case study. It is renown for its generous and deep cast of characters. There is always a character to both like and hate for various reasons, whether it is based on their skills or their personality. 

Fire Emblem: Awakening is perhaps the best example for character depth and engagement. There is an incredible amount of character with whom you can build a relationship through your avatar, or build supports and relationships among themselves. Every character has their own unique quirk, something that individualizes the character and yet is identifiable to a wide variety of players for the most part. 

Obviously, some people aren't so concerned with that - however in this installment of the series in particular building support and relationships is integral to optimal game-play. The point here is that the player is encouraged to be able to relate to at least some of these characters for a reason. Every character has their strengths and weakness for each environment in which you inevitably battle. So not only is it implicit for game-play, characters have an affect and are affected by the game/play-space. 

Take Kellam for an example. He's a great character in my opinion, mainly for the ridiculous irony in that he is almost always overlooked by people, often doing chores and tasks that the others assume is the work of a poltergeist! He's a big guy, in a big suit of armour, yet has an assuming personality that leads to him seeming invisible to others. 

He's a knight, a pretty heavy-set class, great defense, good attack and appalling movement range. Imagine Kellam on this map: 

His already poor movement is restricted even more by the sand! This mechanic enhances how believable the world is through the interaction of the characters. The relevance of what I said about liking this character/ relating to this character so much is that I'd feel inclined to use him as a unit, even on a battlefield as hindering as this. As such, I have to suffer the penalties of the terrain on which he struggles. In my opinion, this is an excellent example of characters and play spaces working like a well-oiled machine. 

Where does culture come into this?

Well, two places, both in the realm of that rich cast of characters:

i) Most of the characters seem to have a westernized appearance and attitude, one of the reasons that the series as a whole is said to have been easily translated across regions. The fact that it is mostly text-based makes localizing character dialogues a lot easier at any rate. While the art style in inherently manga/anime, the environments and customs of a lot of the characters are in fact fairly Western, allowing for a balance. 

ii) This balance is actually maintained in my opinion by the presence of characters from strikingly different cultures. The best examples are Lon'qu, Say'ri and Yen'fay. All three of them come from Chon'sin, which has multiple references to feudal Japan - this being present in the designs of the three characters in fact. As testament to the ingenuity of the game's support system, it is mostly through Lon'qu's support conversations that his story and details and Chon'sin are revealed. 

Lon'qu and Say'ri

The interaction between characters and play space in Fire Emblem: Awakening is quite important to consider in terms of strategy and play that optimally suits the player's style, whilst the potential for deep connections to different characters of different cultures quite cleverly manipulates this and how the player decides to interact with the world. 

Case Study #2 - Okami

Okami

Released: 2006
Platform: Xbox 360/Wii
Genre: Action-Adventure
Publisher: Capcom


In terms of style, Okami is an excellent example of a consistent game world. 

The entire game space revolves around Japanese culture, but in less than a stereotypical way. The most obvious note to make is the art style. This is based on traditional Japanese ink art. As for why this is necessary to point out, it comes back to the connection between game space and characters. 

 

While the main character is a wolf which, on the surface, may not appear to have any particular involvement with Japanese culture, but is based off a wolf of the same name actually a part of Japanese folklore - in which the wolf will both help travelers and kill those it deems to have evil within them. 

 

The entire game is based on Japanese folklore in fact, with the wolf being Amaterasu - the sun goddess - who is called upon for help. In other words, the character and the game space, all inspired by Japanese culture, very much fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. In fact the very particular art style that surrounds the environment AND the character - along with other characters from lore - helps to further interconnect the two aspects. 

Not only that but the character can interact with the game space in a particularly interesting manner, regarding the Celestial Brush mechanic which, again, is another integral part of the Japanese ink art culture. Everything meshes together seamlessly to create an experience for many players, even if it is less obvious who exactly the main character is. Due to the distinct and recognisable style of the game environment and consequently the characters within it, players are not detached in any way from the culture or the game itself, understanding that it is inherently Japanese. 

In fact Okami has piqued interest in a number of people to explore the particular culture more.

Okami incorporates each of the points I covered in my Literature Review: story, characters and game spaces, into one cultural experience that is neither stereotypical nor too far removed. Given that Amaterasu is in the form a wolf, she is easily relatable to a lot of people who have a fondness of this animal, and beyond the surface of that is a deeper character from another culture to which players can channel some sort of relation.

In other words, Okami demonstrates well how characters and game spaces can work perfectly together, even through a culture less known to others.

Case Study #1 - Skyward Sword

So what I've decided to do is explore existing game spaces and how their characters fit in with them. Through this I am currently designing an original character of my own, whose entire design I will adapt to suit different game worlds. This way I will be able to establish just which attributes make that character work within that game space, and give me more of an insight into the culture within it.


Obviously, this required me to look at some cases wherein it has worked effectively or not.

SO, my first case study was, unsurprisingly, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. I discussed this game in my contextual essay, in regards to how characters and spaces fit each other well.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Released: 2011
Platform: Wii
Genre: Action-Adventure
Publisher: Nintendo

Let's look at it simply:

• Link lives in Skyloft.
• Skyloft is an island in the sky.
• The characters' main mode of transportation is riding birds. 
• Link is a student training to be a Knight of Skyloft - the beginning with the Wing Ceremony. 
• The surface world below is alien to them all, separated by a 'barrier' of clouds. 
• Every character is inspired by birds. 

Groose's hair is inspired by a Rooster,

• Even the sword is called the 'Skyward Sword'

Long story short, the entire game space, including the characters within it, are interconnected thematically and culturally. In this case the culture is birds. This is also apparent in the art style of the game.

What do you see when you look at the sky? On a cloudless day at least, it is bright, illuminated by the fiery sphere that we call the sun. It appears brilliant blue, a vivid colour, and that's what we see in Skyward Sword. Whereas another game in the series Twilight Princess accommodates its dark mood with an unsaturated colour palette. It looks pretty bleak, and it's meant to. This goes for Skyward Sword and it's bright colours. 

The characters with their lively personalities and their aesthetically pleasing choice of clothing in terms of colour, very much look as though they belong in that world. Looking at it all, you don't feel disconnected from the world because Link is not disconnected from the world. In fact, Skyward Sword makes that famous tunic of his make so much more sense. 

As it turns out, the tunic is the uniform Link must wear in the Academy for his Knight Training. It just so happens that his is green, while other years where a different colour uniform. You see red, blue, golden yellow, and of course green, all of which are quite saturated and eye-popping in colour. While the infamous tunic is green in all games, it is notably brighter in Skyward Sword, not taking away from the game space. 

N.B- In the concept art, and official illustrations there is a large use of blues as shadow, as if the sky is reflecting right off them. 

Link also shares a special bond with his bird, and a passion for flying. The player even experiences this when it becomes apparent that the only way down to the surface is to sky-dive. You and Link get to plummet through the air! Though, going back to the birds - known as Loftwings - their designs are actually inspired by real birds known as Shoebills, making them more believable. So Link's relationship with his Crimson Loftwing is more believable, as is Link and his entire home.

Basically everything right down to Link revolve around that fictional culture which worships the sky and its Goddess, and their venture into an alien world that is all too common to us. Regardless, we are never removed from that game space, able to believe that it could be so. If Link, or ANY of the other characters were any different, maybe not inspired by animals of the sky, could the experience have been less effective?

I would think so. 

Link belongs in the world of Skyloft, and this draws in the player. Their culture may be entirely fictional, but it does draw inspiration and it is believable. 

Let's get this show on the road!

Yep! Reviews done. Over. Sorted. Hurrah! 

As much as they greatly helped steer me in a direction for my design practice module, they were a royal pain in the backside in terms of taking up the time I wanted to use to get the design work under way. I've done a bit, but not to the point I hoped to be it because I couldn't concentrate fully on it. 

Now I can! Booyah! 

What I'd mentioned in an earlier post, my plan of action has changed somewhat. Doesn't mean I'm going to scrap what I'd already done though - which I keep forgetting to reflect upon in this blog (woops!) I guess it was all part of finding the right avenue. Testing the waters, so to speak, as to what would work from a practical point of view. 

I wanted to get such a good grounding, that maybe I spent a little too much of my time with my nose stuck in books brushing up on the theory. Now it's a case of putting into action and there's nothing else - bar my job taking up time - to steal my concentration. 

So pedal to the metal! 

Essay week

I've been unusually quiet in terms of reflective posting this week. I like to try and sit down every few days and spent an hour or so writing up on my progress and reflections, alas this week has been just a bit of a power-through in terms of getting my contextual review sorted. 

Finished both reviews now though, formatted them, awaited an email back about feedback on my lit review - which I sent Friday! - which I didn't get, so I'll be hounding for feedback in the next couple days, I reckon. 

Despite the fact I've dedicated a very large amount of time to these reviews, they have both pretty much steered my research for my design practice, and as my research for these was settling, as was what I'm hoping to achieve by January.

After last Wednesday, discussing my position with Jim and Josh, it was apparent that the scope of my project is still potentially too big. In that regard, we talked about a couple of avenues, and the interesting part when the subject moved from simply redesigning characters to the consideration of space, and talking about characters as part of the entire game design.

Essentially I needed to find some case studies through which I could explain and back up my argument, as if, as Jim phrased it, I was lecturing to a group of second years or something. It was also suggested I consider exploring characters as if I was designing from a particular cultural point of view.

This is what I've been working towards for the coming week, and I'll review it properly tomorrow. For now I'm just glad to have my reviews completed.