Discovering the psychology of interactive narratives and characters

Player Characters shouldn’t be portrayed as emotionless bystanders, especially when using narrative-choice systems.  To illustrate: In the beginning sequences of Mass Effect 3, Shepard is on planet earth where he has been trying to warn others about the impending Reaper attack. During a meeting discussing his recent actions, the worst happens. Without warning, the skyscraper-tall reapers descend from the sky onto the cities across the globe. Mass destruction ensues as a planet-wide evacuation is called. During the battle, Shepard happens across a small frightened child. [Depending on player choice] Shepard tells him to run and get to an escape-ship and the boy disappears. As Shepard is finally making his own escape with the rest of his team, he looks on at the remains of the city he called home. Then, down below, he sees the small boy getting on one of the last ships. A moment of relief that he could at least save one. But it wasn’t to last as one of the Reaper ships turns on the fleeing vessels and fires. The Player Characters should respond to events and have opinions, ideas, and emotions of their own in order to humanize the character and match the likely motivations of the player. This in turn makes the character more identifiable to the player, promotes a higher level of empathy, and creates a new motivation for the player.

Supporting Characters benefit from humanization as well. It is important to develop the relationships of the character as you would with any real person, both positively and negatively. Doing so gives the player an emotional consequence for their choices (or their characters, depending on the narrative). In Telltales Walking Dead, Lee is at the center of a struggle for power between Kenny and Lilly. The two are constantly at each other’s throats and you are responsible for keeping them level. At one point you are volunteered to be in charge of food rations, but there aren’t enough to go to everyone. You, the player as Lee, have to choose who gets to eat that day. Whoever you end up choosing you will gain you favor with one while damaging relationships with another. It’s a difficult decision as each member of the group will display gratitude, discontent, understanding, or other emotions towards your decisions. The characters are given a voice for their emotions and opinions in direct response to the actions of the player. This creates a sense of responsibility and for actions taken and towards the state of the characters as the narrative continues.

The villain is a complex role that needs to be shaped for the purpose of the narrative. Possibly the most powerful version would be the Everyman (as opposed to the Functional Villain, who simply serves a role), as the Everyman stems from a background where the player knows and understands their view and, in some cases was their friend, family, lover, etc.. As long as the bonds between the Player Character and the Everyman are previously well established, this can be very potent when the climax of the narrative occurs. In Walking Dead: Season 2, Clementine is torn between two people she has come to trust and depend on: Molly, a new face who has shown trust and strength in dire situations, and Kenny, an old friend who Lee trusted most before his death. Kenny has begun acting erratically, becoming aggressive and violent towards other group members as the weight of losing those he cared about and loved keeps piling on. This comes to a head as Kenny attacks Molly in a fit of rage. Clementine (and the player) is forced to choose between the two as the gun in her hands decides their fate. So while villains can fit a functional role (such as Bowser), the better villains are the ones you don’t want to see coming. As these characters develop and in a sense devolve into villains, we try to pull them out of the hole they’re falling in; try to save them, but it isn’t enough and even in victory comes a sense of defeat. The use of moral ambiguity and lose-lose scenarios is becoming more popular in narrative-focused titles along, often coming hand-in-hand with choice systems.

Narrative choice is a very complex and deep topic. Using it can change how the other factors contribute to the various qualities of the narrative (transportation, immersion, perspective, emotional attachment, etc.). Adding a new level of control adds a new level of experience for the player. From what we have constructed here we can see that using narrative choice is very resource heavy and requires a narrative with the ability to adapt as much as possible and in various ways. Not every choice needs to be life or death to have impact. So long as the characters respond and something notable changes, the player will take notice as well. This is a topic that needs to be further explored as well as the issue of “Illusion of Choice” in game development.