2nd Person View?

[Ashsaver]

Tell us what you think a game would be like in 2nd Person View. Not 1st like Half-Life, not third like Shadow of the Colossus, but second.

That would be what they did in Siren games.

You know, seeing from the eyes of your enemies.

 

[prinnydood3231]

Siren: Blood Curse offers what second person view would be. That is to say a view from an enemy approaching you dood.

 

[Pyroguekenesis]

In terms of writing, first person is "I did this" and third person is "He/she did this".

Second person is "You did this" and is very, very rarely used in storytelling mediums because the first and third are far better for this purpose. The only instance of second person I can think of is perhaps in advertising campaigns.

Second person is NOT through the "eyes of someone else", nor is it a "fixed camera view", that is the same as third person if you think about it.

There is no such thing as a second person point of view as it were and a second person game as you seem to be thinking is not possible. The closest thing I can think of is a first or third person role playing game with a voiceover/cinematic narrative referring to the player as "you".

I think this clears this up, but please feel free to ask for clarification/post a counter-argument.

EDIT: Some of the things I just said might have been covered while I was typing.

What about RPG's like Persona series...? Everything is "You....you..."

 

[Whitenail]

So wait, would Resident Evil not cover this with it's fixed camera angles for most rooms?

It's not very close but aside from a few chase sequences in games where you saw through the eyes of whatever beast was chasing you (Such as a sequence in tomb Raider Legend, and yes I bought trl and thought it was actually quite good) I can't think of anything else.

 

[Krion_Vark]

I'm pretty sure you can't do that with a game, correct me if I'm wrong.

game for the PS2 that used a Mic you had to navigate a person through a hotel that had a killer in it using only the surveillance cameras. Cannot remember the name of it but it didn't do well if i am remembering correctly.

 

[Doive]

In terms of writing, first person is "I did this" and third person is "He/she did this".

Second person is "You did this" and is very, very rarely used in storytelling mediums because the first and third are far better for this purpose. The only instance of second person I can think of is perhaps in advertising campaigns.

Second person is NOT through the "eyes of someone else", nor is it a "fixed camera view", that is the same as third person if you think about it.

There is no such thing as a second person point of view as it were and a second person game as you seem to be thinking is not possible. The closest thing I can think of is a first or third person role playing game with a voiceover/cinematic narrative referring to the player as "you".

I think this clears this up, but please feel free to ask for clarification/post a counter-argument.

EDIT: Some of the things I just said might have been covered while I was typing.

What about RPG's like Persona series...? Everything is "You....you..."

I think you have misunderstood what I am getting at. This thread seems to be about a definitive 'second person camera angle'. You're "Everything is you...you.." is essentially the same as my "voiceover/cinematic narrative". I understand that many RPG games could be seen as second person in their NARRATIVE, as you have customised a character to be you. The feel of a game, especially an RPG can be second person, but I disagree with the idea of a definitive second person camera angle.

EDIT: I may have worded this better earlier in the thread -
Second person narrative in games exists, such as role playing games, where instead of playing a character, it could be said that you are the character because it is one of your own creation. However, a second person viewpoint simply does not exist.

 

[DustyDrB]

Maybe it's because I just read The Book Thief but could the person who is constantly watching the player character be Death? And whenever PC dies, he comes in and takes him away.

Mario 64 kind of did this with that camera guy who rides his cloud. Remember how you could see him in the mirror? That was a nice touch.

 

[MrGalactus]

I always thought second person was when some other character's eyes was the camara.

Like if you controlled a superhero, and saw through the eyes of his sidekick.

Exactly. Its playing as Gordon in the episodes through the eyes of Alyx. It would be a pain in the arse.

 

[cricketlenny]

but would any of you try a second person game if it was released, or say maybe a short demo of one to test the possibilities?

 

[irani_che]

through the eyes of the victim/enemy
that would be a mindfuck

 

[TheNamlessGuy]

DELETED

 

[AnthonTheSkabot]

I've always called isometric games (Postal, Fallout) as second person

 

[Th3_drunk_monk]

wouldnt sight jacking in penumbra sort off be 2nd person??
=s

 

[Jonluw]

Second person gameplay is an oxymoron. If you were to play in the second person, you would have to play as a character interacting with the player character; which is impossible since the player character is you.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

is second person like over the shoulder?
I honestly don't know

No. First and Second person both place the reader in the shoes of the protagonist. In First Person, the character is a unique construct of the author but the narrative is explored strictly through their own perceptions. In second person, the protagonist represents the reader personally and is not a unique construct of the author but rather of the reader. Third person the protagonist is observed by a third party of varying levels of perception.

Doom is second person in that the protagonist literally represents the player in the world. Duke Nukem 3D is first person because the protagonist is a construct of the world. Half-Life skirts this line and is technically first person but the actual effect is closer to second person (thus why the character of Gordon Freeman is so well regarded in spite of having no real characterization to development to his credit. All of this is the result of the player changing and growing in response to the story that unfolds around them). Fable is distinctly third person but, since the character is a construct of the player, it becomes a largely second person narrative that shifts to third person from time to time during cutscenes.

It is worth noting that in terms of camera perspective (what most people are discussing in this thread) both first and second person are best represented by a first person camera perspective while third person is ideally represented by a third person perspective.

It is also worth noting that, in many, many games while the narrative is very technically first person (you are controlling a character that is a construct of of the developers), the game is largely second person because of a complete lack of characterization. In Call of Duty, only the barest details about the PC are given and the rest is simply the player's creation. As a general rule, FPS games are neither first person nor second person explicitly but rather a combination of the two but they very generally favor second person.

 

[Akirai]

Fire Emblem is second person, the game consistently adresses you with you.

 

[stygN]

Just play any game where you can play Mario and Luigi together.. The guy playing Luigi will get the 2nd person view of the game since Mario gets all the credit. It's like Luigi was just watching the whole time..

Poor, poor Luigi.. : (

 

[The Urban Moose]

First Person: Through the eyes of the hero.
Second Person: Through the eyes of someone else, but you still control the hero.
Third Person: An "over the shoulder" view.

I don't think that second person would be considered through the eyes of someone else. I mean wouldn't that make them the same as the camera of a third person game?

I guess a text based game is the closest you can come to making a SP game. Or maybe I don't properly understand the differences between a second person story and a second person game.

I admit, I'm kind of guessing at it in terms of a second person game. However, a second-person text based story is in the style of you do this, you do that. For example, "You wake up in the middle of a field. Wondering what happened to you, you begin to wander towards a nearby town."