Somewhere I Belong: The Elements of a Good Game Story

The elements of a good game story can be as varied and as deep as the elements of any good novel that you pick up at the local bookstore.  However, a game story benefits from a few freedoms that can limit most novels.  Game stories can branch in multiple directions based on the players choice, they can introduce a larger number of descriptions, events, and plots without worry about a page count, and the stories can be experienced by multiple people who work together in order to finish and experience them.

Just as with a good novel, a good game story must focus on setting, character development, conflict, and resolution.  If these elements are strongly written and combined with smooth, interesting game mechanics, a great game won't be far behind.

The setting of a good game story needs to fit with the characters and contain the conflict.  The description of locales should be constant and every place, item, and character should seem like it belongs there (unless the story involves something that shouldn't be there).  Even amongst different locales with different races of beings, there should be some story element that ties every part of the setting together.  Maybe all of the characters speak the same language or Imperial Guards are present in every village from the deserts of Anduin to the ice fields of Clickspire.  A great setting readies the stage for the player and the characters he or she will control during the entirety of the game.  If it is bland or seems broken it can seriously hurt the believability of the story.

Character development in a game story can refer to the development of a single player-controlled character to the development of an entire race of beings controlled by the player.  Depending on the type of game, character development can be extremely linear, presented to the player through narrative, or deeply varied, controlled by the player through in-game choices.  In either case, the character must develop in a way that seems believable.  If that character goes in a direction that is completely unexpected, there had better be some form of explanation as to why, otherwise the player may become confused with the story.  If the player has control over the character's development, the best way to make the story good is to allow for a lot of choices.  Character's should be able to branch in several directions that will engage the player and make them feel that they are actually an active part of the story.

Conflict in a good game story needs to be compelling.  Every hero needs a goal, and that goal is usually guarded by some giant creature, on the far side of pit full of moving platforms, or at the end of a long line of enemy combatants.  Why doesn't the hero just turn away from his enemies and go home?  Why does he keep fighting?  These kinds of questions need to be answered in order to justify the conflict that the player will overcome during the game.  If the hero is doing it "just because", the game loses a chance to immerse the player deeper in the game world.

Equally as important as conflict in a good game story is resolution.  Nothing is more anticlimactic than defeating the last man threatening the world and cutting right to the credits.  A good story tells the player how the hero is received after his victory, how the game world changes, or how the characters of the world grieve for the hero's sacrifice.  Cliffhanger endings serve a purpose that all too often leads to a feeling of being cheated.  Done well, an ending will provide the closure of a great novel and leave a player sitting in their chair marveling at the amazing game they just experienced.

The Grand City of Pervima: A Story Setting

Bisected by the great Thaydin River, the Grand City of Pervima is a major city on the continent of Tryemys.  Surrounded by flat land used for farming outside of the western and southern walls, the city is bordered on the north by the Naigalan forest, and the ruins of Fort Peligos at the foot of Mount Valerian can be seen from the eastern guard towers.  Because of its location on the Thaydin River, the city is a trade hub and home to members of every civilized race on the continent. Dominant among the myriad races are the Crailin, a human offshoot that are known for their exceedingly long, nimble fingers, the bluish hue of their skin, and pupil-less eyes that change color during each of the six stages of their lives.

During the initial planning of the Grand City of Pervima, following the destruction of the Feraxid by Sidis Pervima's forces at Fort Peligos, the Crailin were consulted extensively because of their knowledge concerning the Thaydin River.  Sidis Pervima, hero and founder of Pervima, rewarded the help of the Crailin by setting aside a large swath of land inside of the marble walls for them to call home.  Few citizens of the city know, or even guess, that Lord Sidis Pervima has ruled the Grand City for nearly three thousand years.  The graves behind the Pervima manor, marking the resting place of each Lord, are empty, and Sidis must fake his death and the rise of an heir every ninety years or so through the use of his powerful magic in order to maintain the facade of a perfectly normal ruler.

The Garden of Colored Melody and the Forest of Whispered Thought

The only wild growth within the high marble walls of the Grand City of Pervima, the garden and the forest constitute three square miles of space that is surrounded by ornate silver fencing.  There are two entrances, one from the north and one from the south.  The garden acts as a buffer between the forest and the city on all sides and the great number of flowers and interesting plants draw residents of Pervima for morning strolls, afternoon naps, and lover's meetings.  Those who walk the garden during the early hours of the morning, when all is still and quiet, have reported hearing a melody, the barest whisper of a hum, that seems to sway back and forth with the wind.  Most who have heard it say that they would gladly have listened to it all day, but the noise of the city as it wakes always drowns out the soft music.  Nobody tends the garden and yet it always seems maintained; the hardiest plants for the season will appear in place of those that have withered, and anything that is picked or destroyed is replaced in its full glory the next day.

The Forest is only rarely entered.  Those who stray close to the densely packed trees often hear voices with the rustle of each branch.  Those who have entered the forest to do it harm have either returned in a state of madness or have never been seen again.

On cloudy, moonless nights, the people of Pervima have seen lights of different colors glowing amongst the garden and the forest, but talk of the Fay has discouraged all but the bravest from investigating.

Lord Pervima’s Manor

Set atop a hill that overlooks the city, Pervima Manor is the home and resting place of the ruling family of the city.  It is an impressive three story structure with a tower in the rear that looms another thirty feet above the main complex.  The expertly crafted stonework of the building is untarnished and, at dusk, can just barely be seen to glow a soft magical blue.  The steepled roof is broken only by the addition of a few chimneys that rarely issue any form of smoke.  The windows are tall and broad but dominated by heavy black drapes.  The focus of the well maintained lawn and gardens is a large fountain topped with a statue of the original Lord Sidis Pervima, founder of the Grand City of Pervima.  A plaque at the foot of the statue reads “To our Generous and Gentle Lord – A Dedication from his People."

Citizens are welcome to visit the complex at all hours and meet with officials that speak for Lord Pervima during the day.  Lord Pervima himself only holds court immediately following nightfall, which most believe is due to his busy schedule during the day.

Behind the tower of the Manor lies a plot of land that is thought to hold the remains of each Lord to have presided over the Grand City of Pervima.  Thirty headstones, each crafted from the same stone that the manor itself is made of, are arranged in five lines.  The Lords of Pervima have been well known for the privacy they maintain regarding their personal lives.  No public weddings take place, yet there is always an heir, and no one from the city has ever been invited to the funeral of a past Lord.  Most citizens overlook the peculiarity of it because every Lord of Pervima has been a gentle ruler during peace and a ferocious defender of the city in times of strife.

The Retaw Inn

Built almost entirely on top of the Thaydin River, the Retaw Inn is believed by most to be magically anchored to the small plot of land that part of the building actually occupies.  As the largest, most well supplied, and easily accessible place of refuge for those who travel by way of the Thaydin, the Retaw Inn is a constant source of light and sound within the Grand City of Pervima.  Eight stories tall and built from almost every conceivable material except for leather, each floor is offset from the floor below it in a way that makes the entire building appear to be reaching across the Thaydin to the opposite shore.

The first three floors of the inn are dedicated to food, drink, and entertainment.  Griff's Grub and Grog on the main floor is especially well known because it is the first place that visitors see, and the last place that troublemaker's see before Griff, a nine foot tall iron golem and owner of the inn, tosses them into the river through a window behind the bar.  Most visitors count this among the many available forms of entertainment at the Retaw Inn.

The other five floors are made up of visitor rooms, staff rooms, and meeting spaces.  Unique to the buildings construction, the Retaw Inn also boasts a harbor below the main floor for all but the largest ships.  This eliminates the need for long voyage sailors to carouse the streets of Pervima looking for a fine drinking establishment.

As a hub of activity on the Thaydin, the Retaw Inn is also the most lucrative center of information in all of Pervima.  Those who want news from the farthest shores need only buy a drink for somebody from a given area and they'll be sure to learn whatever it is they want to know, plus a little extra.

Jonathan's Soul

Adjudicator Gram lowered his lantern as he watched the approach of Caliph Friar and a third Order soldier he didn't recognize. The soldier raised his fist and thumped it against his chest plate.

"Probate Michaels, sir, I'm honored..."

Gram cut him off, "We've got a real big problem coming and little time.  You look particularly green, is this your first time on a Soulfield?"

The Probate nodded, "Outside of the simulators, but I scored top marks in all..."

Gram waved his hand, "Your marks don't matter."

The flame of Gram's lantern burst into brilliant white light, illuminating the red walls of an enormous cavern veined with pulsing blue tubes.  Close below the surface of a pool of motionless liquid was an object that's shimmering, flickering motion defied description.

Gram addressed the Probate, "What is a Soulfield?"

"A container inside of each human heart that..."

"And that body of liquid you see there?"

"The human's personality; this one is quite shallow, which..."

"And at the bottom?"

"The human's soul, which we protect from the Bedlam."

Gram nodded to Friar, "He knows the basics, hope he fights better than the last Probate."

Friar offered a wry smile, "What's up Gram, you said there was 'big trouble'."

Gram flattened his hand and a square of light appeared that resolved itself into the image of a young man.

"This is Jonathan, the human who's Soulfield we defend," Gram said, "His soul is being targeted for corruption, likely due to its purity and the small number of Soul Guards defending it.  It seems they aren't taking any chances with this one, they're sending the Five to corrupt it."

"Are you sure?" Friar asked.

"The Bedlam Fetcher that I put down earlier seemed certain. They will likely be led by Fillion, a fallen Soul Guard."

"Filthy betrayer," Friar spat.

"We need backup," the Probate interjected

"You are the backup." Gram shrugged.

"Three Soul Guards against the Five Bedlam Chieftains!?  That's suicide. Why wouldn't the Order send backup?"

"To them, Jonathan isn't worth much," Gram replied.

"Then why die defending the soul of a human the Order doesn't value?"

"Because, he's a good person, and I will never yield a good person to the Bedlam.  If I die to save his soul from defilement, then I die honorably.  If you cannot die for the cause, Probate, you should not be a Soul Guard.  Run, while there is still time."

"Time's up," Friar interjected casually.   

Five shapes, each a mass of darkness without definition, emerged from the wall on the far side of the cavern.

"Ah, Adjudicator Gram," said the largest.

Gram stepped forward, "Be gone from this place, Fillion. You have not, and will never, defile a soul on my watch."

"You stopped me centuries ago, Adjudicator, but now I am not alone," replied the creature, as it stepped forward into the light of Gram's lantern.

Gram set his feet and raised his lantern.

"For Jonathan!" he cried as he leapt forward into battle.

Story Driven: The Relationship Between Gameplay and Story

The relationship between gameplay and story is one that changes depending on the type of game.  For some games, like Bejeweled and Tetris, no story is really necessary.  For other games, like Super Mario and Snake Rattle and Roll, the story gets the game started and gives the player the initial push into the gameplay.  Then there are the games where the story is what drives the gameplay.  In these games the story is discovered over the course of the game and the player continues playing in order to find out what happens next.  Story is not necessary for every game, but in games where even the smallest amount of story exists, it is important that it adds an interesting element to the gameplay and that it is presented in a way that flows with the game as whole.

Depending on the type of game there are different ways to connect a story to its gameplay.  For platforming and sidescrolling games, the story can act as a container, bookending the game with an initial quest and an ending.  These games can also contain story material inside of the action itself.  In Braid, a sidescrolling platformer, the player is confronted with a number of books on pedestals before each level that tell the story of Braid’s past and why he continues to go forward.  This kind of in-game story design has the potential to immerse the player deeper into the game itself.

Real Time Strategy games usually utilize the time in between missions to relay the ongoing story.  The Command & Conquer games under the Tiberium story arc are famous for presenting live action cutscenes between the missions in order to alert the player to what is happening in the story.  These cutscenes usually take place from a first person perspective with the actors looking directly into the camera.  This makes the player feel like they are actually part of the action, immersing them in the story and creating a link between the story and the gameplay that follows the mission briefing.

Role playing games usually focus on in-game character interaction that directly links the story to the gameplay.  Players are often tasked with finding a character or enemy that is pivotal to the story and either talking to them or killing them in order to advance the game, and the story, at the same time.  Role playing games like Mass Effect 2 also make use of collectible journal entries on objects in the game world that add depth to the setting and immerse the player more fully in the experience.

There are as many ways to connect a game’s story to its gameplay as there are games.  It is important to find something that fits seamlessly with the game, does not detract from either the story or the gameplay, and further enhances the experience of the player.  After all, that’s who the game is made for.

Hardcore vs. Casual: An RPG Battle

In an ongoing quest to capture the newer audience of casual gamers, role playing games have needed to make a few small tweaks in order to be more broadly accessible.  When you come right down to it, I believe that both casual and hardcore gamers are going to want the same thing out of their role playing experience, but they are going to want it at different speeds and in different doses.  Things like choice, compelling story, interesting characters, fun combat, and stronger abilities will all be important to both types of gamers, the difference can be found in the presentation and the pacing.

Most hardcore gamers already know that a role playing game is going to consist of combat that is balanced against their characters statistics, which are augmented by their equipment and abilities.  Most hardcore RPGs consist of character menus, inventory menus, skill menus, and lots of numbers.  This kind of presentation can be overwhelming to somebody who is just getting into the world of role playing games, so, simplified statistics and inventory are the status quo for a casual RPG.

Combat is almost a definite for any role playing game.  Hardcore RPGs will consist of combat that requires strategy and a well rounded party.  Casual RPGs will probably consist of simpler combat that is more straightforward with little or no strategy necessary.  Both types of combat will need to be gratifying with exciting animations and challenging opponents.

Hardcore RPGs consist of quests that can take hours of game time to complete, with intricate puzzles that require hard-to-find pieces in order to solve them.  Casual RPGs consist of smaller quests that will allow the player to drop in and out of the game at their leisure while still managing to accomplish something with each session.

Hardcore RPGs, on the whole, require a greater time investment and less hand holding than casual RPGs, but make no mistake; players from either side of the spectrum want a fun, engaging experience with a great story and memorable characters.

Ingredients of a Role Playing Game

Now that we’ve covered the design aspects of a role playing game, we should probably cover what an RPG needs to be called an RPG.  In no particular order you will need: a setting, a story, at least one character, an adversary, a goal, a leveling system, and provocation for one character to reach that goal by defeating that adversary.

The setting, made up of time and place, should probably include some form of history as well so that it doesn’t seem like it just popped up out of nowhere, unless that’s part of the story.  The story encompasses everything that will take place during the game and should include everything that the character, the setting, and the adversary will do.  The character will be controlled by the player for the majority of the game. Players should be able to like the character or at least identify with the character.  The adversary should provide a challenge that the character has to overcome and will most likely drive the story forward by forcing the character to act or by presenting an obstacle that the character has to overcome.  The goal should be what the character strives to reach during the course of the game, whether it be the defeat of the adversary, the love of the princess (not mentioned above), or the destruction of the setting.  The goal is usually attained after a final confrontation with the adversary. A leveling system can be anything from increasing stats after a set of requirements are met, to donning new equipment that is found, dropped, or rewarded to the character. This will make a player feel that they are being rewarded for their efforts in defeating enemies, solving puzzles, or exploring.

Doesn't Feel Right Without It: The Important Design Aspects of a Role Playing Game

Role playing games require a variety of different design aspects and mechanics to be properly created, tested, and rolled into a finished product that will be enjoyable to as wide an audience as possible.  The graphics must fit the game, the sound has to roll with the action, the story has to be engaging, the characters must be believable, the combat needs to be exciting, the loot has to be rewarding, the controls need to be tight, the locales need to be fresh, the menus should be non-intrusive, the inventory system should be manageable, and the ending had better be satisfying.  With everything that goes into an RPG, it is truly spectacular when one comes out that gets everything right and provides the player with a memorable experience that they will come back to time and time again.

As a general guideline for creating an RPG, a developer should focus on the character, setting, and story design, the combat, and the controls.  The character, setting, and story need to be interesting enough to engage the player so that they want to spend time with the game.  The story needs to move the game forward at an even pace, allowing the player to feel as if they are actually part of an ongoing tale.  The characters have to be designed in such a way to make the player like them, identify with them, or want to destroy them; this is an important aspect of keeping a player engaged with the game.  The setting needs to fit the story and the characters.  It needs to be interesting, well designed, and believable.  The smallest details, like flowers in a meadow or squirrels in the trees of a forest, can lend believability to a setting and make it more interesting to play inside of.

Combat is normally a central mechanic to any role playing game.  If the player is going to be engaging in any activity repeatedly, it needs to be entertaining.  This can be achieved through visually interesting combat animation, well designed set piece battles, challenging AI, new abilities and equipment, and different enemy types.  Combat should never feel like a chore that simply connects the dots between story points.

Finally, we come to controls.  If the controls for a game are cumbersome or unintuitive it does not matter if the story or the combat is good.  Control schemes should always have the option to be remapped by the player.  No button on the keyboard should be hardwired to any given command.  The number of regularly entered commands should never exceed what a normal player can press or hold at any one time.

These are more general design elements that are necessary to make an RPG enjoyable or accessible to the greatest number of people. However, some of the design aspects of an RPG really depend on the type of player.  If you’re a player who enjoys a story driven, dialogue heavy role playing experience then you’ll probably want a developer to focus on the plot, the locales, the character design, voice acting, and interaction.  Story driven players will want enemies that are smart and powerful, puzzles that require some thought, music that fits each scene superbly, and menus that don’t disturb the story immersion.

More action-oriented players will probably want a developer to focus on the graphic experience, loud and gratifying sounds (explosions, metal on metal, crunching bones, etc), the inventory system, and loot drops.  They won’t mind spending a long time examining their items in a menu as long as they get detailed descriptions and statistics.  Action-oriented players will want their character to vanquish hordes of monsters at a time with only mildly engaging puzzles, and music that is at least different with every area.

How to Make it Better

I will now present thoughts on how to rectify some of the design problems in a game that I thought had a nearly perfect presentation: Dragon Age Origins.

“The visuals, while solid for the game type, are basically everything we’ve seen before in a number of fantasy games.”

Dragon Age Origins presented a well designed world with intricate detail that was, at first, exciting to look upon.  However, as the game progressed, I realized that it had all been done before.  The game borrows from work that has already been completed. The basis for way the characters look, and how most fantasy characters look, can be directly related to Tolkien’s different races from the Lord of the Rings.  The Dwarves are short but muscular, the humans are tall and proud, and the elves are slight and pointy eared.  There was a game that was released in 2001 called Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura that also contained a number of fantasy races, but the designers of Arcanum changed the character designs ever so slightly by adding a steam punk flare and outfitting the dwarves and trolls in tailored coats.

The characters aren’t the only elements of the design that were lacking in originality though.  The equipment was, for the most part, standard RPG swords, shields, and armor.  The armor became more bulky as it grew in power, and the shields became broader, but there was never an instance where I put on a piece of armor and said to myself “Wow; now that’s awesome.”  There was a moment in Final Fantasy 7 where I equipped a sword called Organics, entered a battle, and never wanted to unequip the sword again.  Here was a design for a sword that I had never seen before and it made me enjoy the visuals of the game even more.

So how do we make the visual presentation of Dragon Age Origins a little bit more original?  When it comes to the characters and character races, there should be some detail that makes them belong to the Dragon Age universe.  Perhaps the elves pointy ears are longer than normally expected or they are unusually tall and wiry.  The dwarves can be short and stout, but maybe they have beards or hair that is made of crystal.  There are a number of small changes that can be made to the characters in order for the Dragon Age universe to own its characters. 

Equipment should be even easier to design for a gritty, down and bloody universe like Dragon Age.  Buckles, spikes, a missing pauldron, gloves made from the claws of some dangerous creature, helmets that demand authority through the use of crowns, armor that shifts magically around the wearer’s body, swords that don’t look practical but are fashioned from diamond hard minerals, tower shields made from the scale of a dragon, and the list can go on forever.  Taking your standard armor and removing or enlarging a piece of that armor can be the difference between ho hum steel armor and “Wow, that’s awesome.”

Some of the boss fights, particularly the final boss, are boring. There are regular enemy encounters that will tax a player harder than some of the set piece battles.

I fought a group of spiders in a cavern that killed me and my party an unknown number of times before I finally relented by lowering the difficulty and trying a brand new tactic.  While frustrating, it was also interesting to me to see if my new character load out would finally be enough to withstand the eight-legged onslaught and move on to the next deadly challenge.  Unfortunately, the final boss of the game, the gargantuan Archdemon, lord of the Darkspawn, killed me once, and only because I got stuck in a bit of the environment.  A few ballistae and a door that spewed really low level Darkspawn fodder do not make an adequate challenge when the final boss is the size of a mansion and only stands in the middle of the fighting arena.  The battle becomes even more relaxed when you realize that most of your men will survive the initial slaughter and kill off the Darkspawn that come out to help the Archdemon during the middle of the battle.

It is important to feel challenged during a boss battle after wading your way through everything else guarding the route you take to get there.  In order to do this, some of the set piece battles in Dragon Age should have introduced a bit of randomness that would keep players on their toes and force them to switch between sets of tactics.  Instead of an entire battle with the Archdemon in one arena, what if the hero was forced to follow the Archdemon to different places and figure out how best to use the environment against it?  What if the Archdemon had the ability to shape shift into different forms, like a ten foot tall, Sauron-esque melee engine of pain that would force the player to go on the defensive for a time?  Maybe the Archdemon should have been able to randomly possess the body of one of the important NPC characters that go into battle with you, forcing you to make a decision on whether to kill that character to get to the Archdemon faster, or fend them off until the character was able to shake its hold.  Unpredictable behavior in a boss fight can make that fight much more epic, especially for the final battle in a fantastic game.  Obviously, the battle has to be winnable, but, there should be surprises in store for the player as they approach the final climax.

The side stories for the non-romanceable characters, as in the cases of Oghren and Wynne, seem to be a bit shallow when compared to those characters that the hero can become romantically involved with.

Character development in BioWare games is one of the major selling points for story junkies like me and Dragon Age Origins definitely developed the playable and non-playable characters into individuals with goals and fears.  However, I did find that when talking to Oghren and completing his side quests, that they were a lot less involved or engaging as characters like Morrigan.  While Oghren comes off as a comic relief character for most of the game, there are instances where he seems to have a deeper, more thoughtful side.  His loyalty quest belies all that by turning the hero into a dwarven matchmaker for the recently widowed Oghren.

Why should Oghren, or any of the non-romanceable characters for that matter, get less attention in the story.  More exploration into each of the character’s back stories would have been preferable.  Exploring Oghren’s character further would be a start, but other characters deserve a larger amount of story as well.  Wynne’s loyalty quest involved finding an apprentice she had once estranged in the past who just happens to be hiding in the woods near the Dalish Elves.  Having lived such a long life, the player gets to know very little about Wynne, even though she seems to have lived through some interesting experiences.  To go even farther, I would dare to say that even the Mabari War Hound character should have some kind of back story, especially when you acquire him after Ostagar.  Because of the connections that most people form with Dogs, or pets of any kind really, the potential to create a strong, poignant moment is lost as the dog always remains 100% loyal to the hero character.

The silent protagonist.

This design element has been argued back and forth on multiple fronts.  The silent protagonist can be used to decentralize the focus of the player and draw attention to the supporting cast of characters. It is also espoused that this form of hero helps players pretend that they are the ones controlling the action.  However, it also has a tendency to disconnect a player from the character that he or she controls for the entirety of the game because the lack of voice can dehumanize the character and make them seem like less of a person (dwarf, elf, ogre, what have you).

There is a risk in voicing the main character in an RPG.  If the voice acting is bad, the player will become annoyed and likely stop playing the game.  If the voice acting is good, but doesn’t fit the players perception of the character, that can cause a disconnect between the player and the character as well.  In order to ensure that the voice acting goes along with the game, and that the player will identify the voice with the character, the player must be given options.  Simply having two male voices and two female voices to choose from will give players more choice and make them feel as if the character is theirs.  I realize that budgeting for four people to voice two lead roles may not always be financially sound, but if players are given a choice, they are more likely to enjoy the character they create in the end.  Also, during a particularly frantic scene where a group of characters is being chased by a flesh eating cloud of nano-bots, do you want to hear the main character yell “Get the hell out of here!” or do you want to read it in a text box?

Positive and Negative Game Elements

This written work will critique some positive and negative game elements of Just Cause 2, Dragon Age: Origins, and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War:

Just Cause 2: Positive Design Elements

An expansive, detailed game world. As a gamer, I find exploration and discovery to be a necessary part to most of the games that I enjoy.  There’s nothing quite like starting up a game, looking at the world map and realizing that you’ve only explored 8% of the map in a few hours of gameplay. Sacred, Morrowind, Oblivion, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, these are all games that offered me a huge amount of area to explore, and even better, there were little things to discover along the way that made exploring the game world more interesting.

In-game weapons, vehicles, and tools–like the grappling hook–allow the player to complete the missions in many different ways. There’s something to be said for riding on the nose of a fighter jet, jumping off of it before it explodes in the middle of a group of enemies, landing on top of a limousine and attaching a passing car to a tree with your grappling hook before ducking inside of the limo, removing the driver, and kidnapping a dignitary at eighty miles an hour.  Games that don’t lead me by the hand have some of the most memorable mission events.

A fun, lightheartedly sarcastic and cynical main character that is instantly likeable. Rico Rodriguez is an anti-hero of sorts.  Yes, he’s an operative, but he’s an operative who does the job the way he wants.  He knows that the likelihood of his survival is miniscule, but what the heck, he’s going to have fun until he dies.  A likeable main character is integral to enjoying a video game, because you’ll be seeing a lot of him or her.

A physics engine that is aimed more towards enjoyment than realism. The Half Life 2 physics engine was amazing.  It created a game world where air-filled pontoons are buoyant enough to lift wooden ramps, where bricks can be used to anchor things in place, and where falling from twenty feet would probably break your legs.  Just Cause 2 isn’t quite that literal.  Rico’s momentum-cancelling grappling hook allowed you to free fall from a helicopter at 30,000 feet, hook the ground as soon as possible, and pull yourself to safety without so much as a grass stain.  Sometimes the fun is in the ability to do things that we can’t in real life.

Just Cause 2: Negative Design Elements:

Mouse and keyboard controls are cumbersome enough to detract from the fun of the game. It’s pretty obvious that this game was designed with the console gamer in mind, which is fine, but it makes it quite difficult for a PC gamer who likes to use a keyboard and mouse for, well, just about everything.  I don’t own a gamepad, and I don’t want to spend the extra $30 to purchase an additional Xbox controller or wireless adapter just for my computer.  There are more controls to set in Just Cause 2 than either a left or right handed player can comfortably reach at any given time. Additionally, being a left-handed player, I’ve got an even greater handicap because of the right hand side of most keyboards being as sparse as they are.  Games that are ported to the computer need to have controls that are intuitive to that platform, otherwise it looks like the company who released the game just wanted to cash in on another group of players.

The story takes a back seat to the rest of the game. As I stated in the Positive Design Elements section, the story for this game is much the same as for its predecessor.  You’re an agent.  You have to overthrow a ruthless government.  Here’s a grappling hook and a parachute.  Albeit, the action is definitely the focus of the game, but a good story makes completing the game a worthwhile endeavor.  Without a good story, players are likely to only play the game for its sandbox quality, quickly grow bored with it, and sell it back to a game store.

With the exception of the initial tutorial section, interactions between Rico and the supporting characters becomes boring and tiresome as these characters are often voiced badly. Rico is a likeable, fleshed out character.  His supporting cast is not so bright.  Bad accents, poorly scripted dialogue, and cliché riddle Rico’s interactions with these NPC’s to the point where you want to just skip the cut scene and read about it in the mission log.

The size of the game world makes it difficult to get anywhere in a hurry. Even after commandeering a fighter jet, it takes a lot of real world minutes to get from point A to point B in Just Cause 2.  There is a fast travel option, where a guy with an annoying accent can pick you up in a helicopter, talk your ear off, and then drop you from 10,000 feet above your destination, but the mandatory cutscenes of the helicopter picking you up, and the subsequent parachute drop, leave you tapping your foot and thinking about what else you could be doing.

Dragon Age Origins: Positive Design Elements

Fantastically immersive storyline with multiple twists and turns that pulls you in and makes you care about each and every character in some way, even the bad ones. Why should you care about Loghain Mac Tir after he caused you so much strife during the majority of Dragon Age Origins?  Because he is doing it for reasons that would almost seem noble in any other light.  Dragon Age Origins delivers a narrative that is both engaging and intriguing.  You want to move forward and experience the rest of the story and you know that, for the most part, character actions are going to be explained.  The thing that really makes the story great though is your influence on it.  Your choices as the hero affect the greater game world and you may find yourself, twenty hours in, thankful or regretful of a choice you made sixteen hours ago.

The musical score for the game is so good you’ll buy the soundtrack. A good soundtrack can make a game fun to play; a great soundtrack can manipulate your experience by pumping you up during battle, creeping you out in a dark cavern, or jerking tears from your eyes as you witness the wholesale slaughter of a favorite character.  I still listen to the Dragon Age Origins soundtrack because it makes me feel like a hero, even when I’m not playing the game.

The game is genuinely challenging, forcing you to think strategically during battles in order to win. This is important to a game that has so many different skills, pieces of equipment, and character classes.  If the enemies could be destroyed by simply equipping the strongest sword you have and right clicking a few times, the game would quickly become boring.

The voice acting, for the most part, is top notch and fun to listen to. With a few exceptions, nothing ruins immersion in a game like bad voice acting.  Great voice acting really accentuates the story by ensuring that players will listen to everything a character has to say.

Dragon Age Origins: Negative Design Elements

The visuals, while solid for the game type, are basically everything we’ve seen before in a number of fantasy games. How many dirty, medieval villages have we seen over the years of fantasy gaming?  A lot.  Dragon Age Origins presents strong, technically proficient graphics with some great detail, but the characters, equipment, and locales lack original flare.  The splattered blood is a nice touch, but I think I’ve seen those werewolves before.  Dwarves are short, swarthy drinkers, and elves are slender, pointy-eared lovers.  The role reversal of the elves (as indentured servants) and the dwarves (as a caste system society) challenged gaming norms, but the visuals were standard fare.

Some of the boss fights, particularly the final boss, are boring. There are regular enemy encounters that will tax a player harder than some of the set piece battles. The final boss battle in Dragon Age Origins wasn’t as exciting as I felt it should have been.  It was anticlimactic and easy.  The rest of the game, minus a few of the other larger boss battles, was fantastic, but when you build up to a battle with the ultimate incarnation of the Darkspawn, you want that battle to be epic.

The side stories for the non-romanceable characters, as in the cases of Oghren and Wynne, seem to be a bit shallow when compared to those characters that the hero can become involved with. In contrast to the back stories for Alistair, Morrigan, Leliana, and even Zevran, the other characters seemed to get the short end of the story-stick.  For a game with such an engaging story, and characters that make you want to know them, pursuing a back story that comes up short of your expectations can be a real let down.

The silent protagonist. This is a difficult argument to make because part of playing through the eyes of a silent protagonist is imaging yourself as that character, and obviously if that character doesn’t have your voice, then he or she can’t really be you.  However, I’ve seen this done well.  Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 had fantastically voiced main characters that were still developed the way the player wanted them to be.  I believe that character interaction between the player and the NPCs is damaged when it seems like the conversations are one sided.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Positive Design Elements

An engaging storyline that is told during in-game cutscenes, during mission briefings, and during character interaction on the battlefield. It is harder to tell a good story during an RTS because your major form of interacting with other characters is hacking them to pieces and then doing the same to their comrades.  Warhammer delivers the story during multiple points during the game without it seeming like they had to shoehorn it all in.

Visuals that stand up well, despite the game’s age, and impart an original feel to the game universe. They aren’t groundbreaking anymore, but it is nice to come back to a game that is six years old and still be able to enjoy the game’s graphics.  It also helps that the character and environment designs really make the game universe feel lived in and battled upon.

An equal balance of offensive and defensive abilities gives the player the ability to choose from different play styles in order to complete each mission. I find that my strategy in RTS games usually consists of hardening my defenses until my guns are bigger than the other guy’s guns.  This doesn’t work in every game or in every situation, but Warhammer allowed me to do it for a few missions and there was nothing more enjoyable for me than to utterly devastate the computer when I finally did leave the confines of my walled in base.  However, the tech tree grows quickly enough to allow players to go on the offensive much earlier than I did, which would appeal to the zergling rush type of player.

The limit cap on units and the finite supply of resources means that players have to think strategically about what to build and train in order to complete each mission. Even when I’m employing my strategy of holing up behind a wall of bolter turrets it is still necessary to go out and capture more strategic points in order to gain the resources needed to build my conquering army.  Also, the limit cap on units means that I have to make sure I’ve got units to handle whatever the enemy has waiting for me outside of my protective ring.  This kind of strategic thinking can make a game more fun and engaging.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Negative Design Elements

Players who don’t know anything about the Warhammer 40,000 universe will not understand many of the references in the game, such as the Imperium’s blind adherence to the “Emperor’s Will” and why the Chaos Marines seem so similar to the Space Marines. I made it a point to go out and read about the different factions in the Warhammer 40,000 universe because I was intrigued about the mythos surrounding the Imperium.  Other players may not be so active in finding that kind of information.  Any lack in knowledge about the character or characters that a player is using can lead to confusion or detachment from the game world.

The special powers for the different units, unit commanders, and hero units are cumbersome to use during gameplay, especially when you have a large number of units. I completed most of the game without even using the ultimate special powers for Gabriel, Toth, or Isador because getting to those powers after you linked the hero units to an infantry unit and then added that unit to a group meant hitting the tab key a few times to select the unit and then remembering the hotkey or left clicking on the power button and then left clicking again on the area or unit that the power would effect.  I found that the game was a lot less aggravating when I pretended that the hero characters didn’t have any special powers.

During the single player campaign, the player controls the Imperium forces and the Eldar forces but does not have the opportunity to use the Orks or the Forces of Chaos. You do get to see some cutscenes that explain the link between the Forces of Chaos and the Orks, but you never get to truly experience those factions like you do with the Imperium and the Eldar.  I believe an approach in the vein of Warcraft III or Starcraft, where you had the opportunity to experience the story from all sides, would have been more enjoyable.

The enemy factions have no good defense against the Imperium tanks like the Predator and the Land Raider. The Land Raider, in particular, really makes the game too easy when it is available.  With a lack of defensive units, structures, or strategy, or the underutilization of them, the Land Raider and a healthy number of other units can literally steam roll all opposition in the single player game.  This makes the game too easy at points, and made me feel like I was just playing a point and click adventure.