298: Who Needs Friends?

[Chuck Wendig]

Who Needs Friends?

Protagonists in videogames regularly save the world, the universe, and the princess. So why don't they ever have any friends?

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[hansari]

Good points, but it's worth noting you can have great games and a decent story without playing the most sociable character on the planet. Portal, Hitman series, Prince of DouchePersia...if it fits, it works.

So while their is a loner theme (though not the most prevalent in video games), I think it has to be looked at in a case by case basis...I always thought the argument could be made that Mass Effect's Shephard could be more loner while still interesting...

Still quite amazing though what can be accomplished with such minor changes as you mentioned earlier in the article. What a difference it made in Half-Life just to have a few people call out your name and another to say he wants to meet up with you after work!

 

[Marik Bentusi]

I think one of the problems with this COULD be however that building an emotional bond not only the ingame characters value, but also - and more importantly - the player takes its time and it happens all too often[footnote]based on my personal experience, but then again this limitation is true for the every post, right?[/footnote] in games nowadays that you have to start with an action scene to hook the player before taking a more conventional pacing and starting slowly, at the beginning.

Not to say that building this kind of relationships always takes this long.

It's also entirely imaginable that you could simply demonstrate an already existing friendship by showing off teamwork in the heat of whatever conflict your game revolves around. Some people can emotionally connect with a character after a few scenes of being awesome. Other people need to "live" through tough situations with them, maybe even from the point before the friendship is formed.
A problem with an already existing friendship the player has to accept[footnote]Sounds forced, but can work out pretty well if the character is written well and isn't a completely unlikable...[/footnote] is that if you want to include backstory between the two you'll probably have to do it by using "As you know..." or "Hey, remember when..." which in my opinion are only enjoyable phrases when they actually recite something awesome you did, even better if it was an optional detail that went without remark in statistics like, say, not killing the bandit leader, but hitting him with a tranquilizer gun, something that isn't an obvious moral choice like Bioware does them, something subtle.

But I digress.
TL;DR: Sometimes friendships can take too much buildup compared to its value for the player, tho this isn't supposed to mean they're impossible to write or anything like that. But yes, it also struck me that most fictional characters either don't have friends or all of them are in some way relevant to the plot. Might be a nice change of pace to just have someone to talk about stuff with, who knows?

 

[tehfeen83]

That was an interesting read with some good points, although I do disagree with the claim that people will stop reading or switch off if your character is a loner who initially has no friends. That's just not true. The Man with No Name in A Fistfull of Dollars, John Rambo in First Blood (the book, not the film), two examples of interesting, loner characters off the top of my head. The mysterious drifter is a classic character archetype for a reason.

 

[greatslack]

Most JRPGs have you start out in a small village with family and friends, some of whom accompany you through the entire story. Pokemon, most Final Fantasy games, Chrono Trigger all come to mind.

...and these games routinely get panned by the Western media for extolling the "power of friendship". That's probably why we see so many Western games about loners. In America, friendship (other than the shallow "bro" variety) is just downright corny.

 

[Mister Benoit]

The first console RPG I really delved into was FFIX and surprisingly just about everyone has friends or is at least connected through past experiences.

Makes the game world feel a lot more lively than say playing Pokemon Red/Blue although they felt alive because everyone play with their REAL friends.

 

[New Troll]

I know of you, but this article almost makes me wish to actually know you. Definitely a nice read.

And I agree. I absolutely loved FallOut 3 because I always felt I belonged inside that world. New Vegas I have still yet to really get into because I just feel like another nobody who's story could honestly be left untold.

And here is where gaming has not improved over the years. I've always been an avid Role-Playing Gamer, somewhat because I prefer slower-paced (turn-based) action, somewhat because I love a good (adventure) story, but mainly because I love getting enthralled in what I'm playing. And the best, and easiest, way for a game to envelope me so is to make me feel like I belong there. Like I want to be there, even if it's a bad situation. Give me a personal reason for wanting to shoot all those terrorists. Besides because they're terrorists. And kudos if you give me reason to desire to kill with actual story instead of the old cliche, they killed your family and now I want revenge. Revenge very rarely ever gives one the feeling of being a hero. Just sinking down to thier level.

I play games solo for the most part. Busy schedule, eratic playing times, and no desire to game with strangers makes this the obvious choice (plus I usually just prefer it that way.) But that doesn't mean I don't appreciate a feeling of not being alone within my gaming world.

 

[Tuqui]

A really enjoyable read, and I agree, even if there are omissions to the rule, most game's characters with friends tend to feel more humane, even in futuristic pace with aliens, cyborgs and more, having allies and friendships make the game more real. Let's accept it, it's easy to believe a character like Gordon Freeman was part of a bigger group in half life 2, than going alone like the first one. Having old friends, new friends, know people, and even people who suddenly recognize you and your merits feels good. I heard about pokemon but it would be better if, i.e., after winning the league people recognized you and wanted a rematch, or you heard characters saying things like, "I battled against him when he just started" or "he helped me with ______" I don't know, there is a lot of potential in friendships in games, it can be hard, but implementing them gives the game a lot more deep in my eyes.

Of course all of this IMO.

 

[GameMaNiAC]

Yeah, amazing and finally another brilliant article there.

I always enjoyed being presented with clear friends along the and this is exactly why Mass Effect I & II completely done flawless when it came to Garrus. Sure, he might be calibrating a bit too much in Mass Effect II but hear me out.

The moment you meet this guy, you simply have some Turian wanting to chase this guy Saren and escape the red tape C-Sec kept throwing out to him. But the more you progress, the further you got to learn about him. In fact, sometimes you alter his way of thinking and form a bond with this guy, he clearly might be a leader but always a loyal follower/friend/brother-in-arms because you slowly but surely established something with this guy.

The moment I saw Garrus Vakarian back on Omega, I was thoroughly surprised but overjoyed to see an old friend, much like my Shepard expressed that same joy. Thus the routine started over, but this time you have a Garrus infused with your teachings and his own, sometimes he's conflicted but you are always there to offer an ear and a advice here and there along the road.

His personal mission was intense and you could see how he was conflicted or not depending on your actions in the prequel but nevertheless, you people have eachother's back no matter what happens. Those subtle or rather grand actions made those two games so great for me. Also, Wrex is a prime example but this becoming a big rant and I think I made my point.

A game with actual friends is worth it's weight in GOLD!

I agree with all of the above. Reunion with the characters from Mass Effect really felt like you saw old friends.

This is opposed to Call of Duty, where people are always barking orders at you like you're a fucking machine. CoD4 is one of the best shooters ever, but even it has dry emotionless characters.

Well, I actually got emotionally wrapped up into the Modern Warfare games. (Spoiler warning, though you should've beaten them by now) I really felt sad when I saw Ghost die. He felt like a buddy. A friend. And several times throughout the game Soap always checks up on how Roach is doing, implying they're friends. When you die, sometimes he'll scream "Roach! No!". So, yeah, Call Of Duty is not so emotionless, I actually found it really emotional.

 

[AboveUp]

Most JRPGs have you start out in a small village with family and friends, some of whom accompany you through the entire story. Pokemon, most Final Fantasy games, Chrono Trigger all come to mind.

...and these games routinely get panned by the Western media for extolling the "power of friendship". That's probably why we see so many Western games about loners. In America, friendship (other than the shallow "bro" variety) is just downright corny.

Great point there, reading the article it was the exact one I wanted to raise myself. Although I do understand the problem as to why they do get slated for the whole "power of friendship" thing though.

They often take it too far. Often enough it makes team members fall flat and seem shallow because they blindly follow whatever mister leader protagonist person himself has to say about the situation and the only real problem that generally emerges within the group is the occasional party member not fully trusting his newfound friends yet, doing something mean... Only to be instantly forgiven and seeing his wrongs. It's... shallow writing at best. Nothing is ever really explored. They could go deeper into personalities with it and how they all grew up together or met each other, but they generally don't. It's easier on the writers as it doesn't have them move too far away from shallow arche-types.

Not to say all JRPGs are shallow and badly written of course, I love JRPGs as well as WRPGs, and I wouldn't be the last to admit that both genres are often stuck with the same formulas and types in their own way. Still, most of the JRPGs series do often start with a general story for the first game and just repeat the same general outline for the next one with a slightly different character group. Again, look far enough into that glass and you can say the same thing about WRPGs.

One game that came to mind reading this that played the friendship/trust thing well, at least if my memory serves me correctly was BioShock. You had one friendly figure who was contacting you through the course of the game, and I think most of us knew what direction it started taking later on.

I think the series that does the friendship thing best in terms of shooters is a multiplayer shooter though, the Left4Dead series. Pretty much every character in that series has had enough time to tell us who they are, what they did and what they're interested in during small-talk to distract themselves from the situation they're in. Especially Ellis. Shut up Ellis.

 

[Agent Larkin]

Let me start off by saying I fully agree with you on your article. Good developed human characters are rare but worth it so much in games. Personally your description on that proposed scene for MW2 would have made the game a lot better, the only good example of a character like that being Woods in COD: Black Ops.

However I need to do what I always have to do when someone mentions the Courier. They are building up to something. Go visit the Caravan Waste in New Vegas and see the graffiti taunting him. The corpses with his name above him. Complete Dead Money right and you will see the scene about "Two couriers fighting under the old flag at the great divide." Don't get me wrong the fact that no-one remembers him is quite vexing but they are working on changing that by building up to something.

 

[Frybird]

It's totally weird that Gordon Freeman probably has one of the bigger friendship circles in gaming. Or in Shooters, at least.

 

[jebussaves88]

One of the best Escapist articles I've read in a while, and yes, while it is true that most games cast you as the distinct loner, there are some exceptions. One of the better elements of the two Dead Space games (especially in the second one) was Isaac's attachment and sense of separation from his girlfriend. It is his isolation which is his primary enemy (aside from all the monsters). And then there's Battlefied Bad Company 2, although it could be said that the squad pays a lot more attention to each other than to you.

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

this was a really good article, and i agree, although just having friends isnt enough, they actually have to have to themselves be good characters, otherwise i just wont care about them, or be well written enough that it wont be obvious from the minute we see them that they'll eventually betray you or something.

in killzone 2 one of your squad dies after spending like 2 or 3 missions trying to rescue him, and there's this whole melodramatic scene where you and the rest of the squad are all sad, but i didnt care and i kinda just wish we hadnt bothered trying to rescue him at all.

one of the things i liked about dragon age 2 was that the characters actually seemed like your friends, who had their own stuff going on, and even had other friends themselves