Games and Emotions

[RatRace123]

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about one aspect of games that I've decided is actually extremely important in how I view a game.
I'm talking about a game's ability to make you feel emotions.

The key way for a game to do this is through it's characters, I'll take my oft used example... Mass Effect, Bioware's writing talent and the skilled voice actors they cast allow me to easily associate with their characters; but for some reasons other games in this field (Fallout 3, The Elder Scrolls series, Fable series) don't resonate with me as much.

Why is it that I feel like I could actually have an in depth discussion with Liara, or that I cared more deeply about her than my Fable 2 wife and child? Is it Bioware's writing talent, I'm sure that factors in somehow, but not completely, I mean, Fable 2 was also pretty well written.6
Is it the fact that all of the main characters in Mass Effect or KotOR or DAO are all given extended screen time and they tell you about themselves, revealing themselves as real people rather than roles or caricatures... now that I wrote that, I think that might actually be it.
The more I got to know the characters the more I cared about their plight, and the more invested in the story I got, and I've said it before but, story in games is the biggest selling point to me.

At any rate, ignoring my rambling thoughts on the matter; What makes you feel attached to a game, what gets you emotionally invested in it?
Did you have any characters that you felt particularly attached to?
Do you disagree with what I said earlier, Did you actually find yourself getting attached in Fallout 3 or Oblivion or Fable 2?
And lastly, does getting emotionally attached to a game even matter to you?

Thoughts?

Oh, and I guess I brought this up because Fable 3 is nearly here and it actually seems to have a new emphasis on exactly this sort of thing, so that's what prompted me for this.

 

[Midnight Crossroads]

Characters, but it's usually accidental or not as important as the main character.

My favorite character ever had to have been Barret from FF7. Fuck Aeris dying, what about everyone Barret ever loved except one?

Another example was when I was playing CoD2 on the British levels in Northern Africa. I was walking through some trenches that a tank just cleared up when I came across a German luger by a corpse of some German soldier. That dead German suddenly felt human to me, and it drew me in.

 

[NeutralDrow]

I routinely play games that pride themselves on manipulating your emotions. I think it's in the characters, to be honest.

 

[Evilsanta]

I can say that it is the characters. Atleast in the games i play.

 

[TomLikesGuitar]

Playing New Vegas with subtitles off has me caring a lot more about the other characters... probably because you're looking at them and actually listening as opposed to skipping through. Also, Fallout and Mass Effect both have first person conversations, and I feel like that helps a lot.

 

[just ban me]

it's about character development. Bioware in general is famous for that be it Mass Effect or Knights of the Old Republic and the story can help too when combined with the characters

 

[Johnwesleyharding]

The more video-game characters are made to act like believable people, the more likely the emotional response I get will override the sense of disgust that comes with the uncanny valley-esque plastic looking aliens and humans in games like Fallout and the Elder Scrolls.

I look at it this way: when it comes to appearence, people in live-action films are about as realistic as you can get; however I won't believe the characters in the film unless they act in a believable way. This comes down to acting and writing. It's the same with games and even cartoons. The emotional investment comes from the way the characters act, not the way they look.

Edit:

A key problem some developers have is giving us too much information. Simple rule: keep it simple. I shouldn't have to read tons and tons of backstory to "relate" to characters, just like I don't have to know everything about my friends' pasts to relate to them.

 

[tzimize]

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about one aspect of games that I've decided is actually extremely important in how I view a game.
I'm talking about a game's ability to make you feel emotions.

The key way for a game to do this is through it's characters, I'll take my oft used example... Mass Effect, Bioware's writing talent and the skilled voice actors they cast allow me to easily associate with their characters; but for some reasons other games in this field (Fallout 3, The Elder Scrolls series, Fable series) don't resonate with me as much.

Why is it that I feel like I could actually have an in depth discussion with Liara, or that I cared more deeply about her than my Fable 2 wife and child? Is it Bioware's writing talent, I'm sure that factors in somehow, but not completely, I mean, Fable 2 was also pretty well written.6
Is it the fact that all of the main characters in Mass Effect or KotOR or DAO are all given extended screen time and they tell you about themselves, revealing themselves as real people rather than roles or caricatures... now that I wrote that, I think that might actually be it.
The more I got to know the characters the more I cared about their plight, and the more invested in the story I got, and I've said it before but, story in games is the biggest selling point to me.

At any rate, ignoring my rambling thoughts on the matter; What makes you feel attached to a game, what gets you emotionally invested in it?
Did you have any characters that you felt particularly attached to?
Do you disagree with what I said earlier, Did you actually find yourself getting attached in Fallout 3 or Oblivion or Fable 2?
And lastly, does getting emotionally attached to a game even matter to you?

Thoughts?

Oh, and I guess I brought this up because Fable 3 is nearly here and it actually seems to have a new emphasis on exactly this sort of thing, so that's what prompted me for this.

Story is almost ALWAYS the biggest selling point for me, which is one of the reasons I am so FURIOUS with developers that hire bad writers.

I love any game that makes me feel something. It is what I remember afterwards.

Spoilers from ME2, Fable 2 and BG2 will follow.

I remember so vividly the death of Talis father and her reaction. It was such a tender moment, with voice acting so good it almost brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.

I was shocked by the sudden death in the start of Fable 2...it really came out of nowhere, and when they have managed to build up such an innocent sibling relationship, it just hits home.

Also, I remember the death of Jaheiras husband in BG2, and its been AGES since I played that.

I am not sure exactly what it is some writers do that makes some stories work and some not, but I think it might be down to more or less 3 factors:

A lot of background/fleshing out: This makes the npcs broader and more believable, and a lot easier to relate to.

A well written dialogue: This makes what the characters say sound believable, and we can be immersed in a world/relationship instead of thinking: Hahah! did he really say that? Cheese inc!

Good voice acting: While this is optional, it still adds a whole new dimention to any character. And a well cast VA can be the difference between a fantastic character and simply a good one.

 

[Underground Man]

The thing that always gets me is the atmosphere.

Yume Nikki really kicked me in the brain. Once I started playing it, I couldn't stop thinking about it for at least a month.

Music + amazing visuals. And the lack of character development actually helps -- I can't relate to a character that's already all thought out for me. And, frankly, I don't give a crap about the lives of the random nobodies that I meet in-game. The more mysterious and up-to-interpretation, the better.

Uboaaaaaaa!

 

[CheckD3]

I love Boone in FONV, killed people I didn't even know were there.

I was actually playing DR2 and ran into some psychopaths, and they all gave me some odd emotions. Ted, a big guy trying to feed a tiger named Snowball, was a jerk, but I felt bad for him since he was only doing this since no one was ever nice to him, and even has he died, he was yelling "Kitty! Kitty come eat me! I'll be your supper", and I felt bad for him...I really did. Then I ran into Anotonie (spelling?) and you knew he was cooking something horrid. Then you saw his eyes near the end of the cutscene and I thought, holy shit, that's fucking as creepy as Adam from DR1.

I do like to connect to characters, but it isn't a game breaker for me to not. Though there are times that even when I'm playing evil or good, I'll do the opposite to keep someone I really like alive or kill off someone who's making me angry

 

[Mikeyfell]

Interesting characters.

You can give someone all the titles in the world - father, mother, wife, girlfriend, daughter, whatever - if they don't have an interesting personality, I couldn't care less about them.

hey! I was going to say that

and yes Bioware writes awesome characters

it's a combination of writing and acting that can endear a character to me
any character Bioware writes is great (except Miranda...but that's a story for another day)
the game Enslaved had the best acting and motion capture I've ever seen in any game ever
if you haven't played Enslaved you should get on that right now
Jak 2 had some unbelievable characterization
It would be remiss of me not to mention Silent Hill 2 or Prince of Persia
Fall out 3 has the whole uncanny valley thing but they're still well acted
Cortana is another character who I feel deserves special mention

 

[SuperNashwan]

I would say that the thing that makes you feel attached to a person in a game is the same thing that makes you feel attached to a person in real life: They show their emotions and inner self to you, make you feel they like you and that you somehow earned that liking, and they have flaws. Perfection is intimidating and alienating, but if there's not enough to respect it may be harder to like them.

 

[Sampsa]

Here I though we'd be discussing about ragequit's and other frustrasions of gaming.

As people have noted Bioware's writing team knows their stuff. Also in Red Alert 2 where Tanyas death meant failed mission I was really attached to that character. So basicly good writing or importance to game makes me develop some kind ofemotions towards charater.

 

[Always_Remain]

Well I'm pretty emotionally attached to a couple characters in both Fallout 3 and New Vegas so I dunno. Especially Veronica. *sigh*