I like to play RPGs. I don't play them hard-core, I don't micromanage, I rarely experiment with more than 2 builds in a single game, I don't get too deep beneath the surface, I don't play'em in multiplayer, I just like to enjoy them for what they are. As far as gaming's concerned I'm simple.
When I start to play an RPG one of the first things I do is get the hang of the main character. Sometimes there is not much to get the hang of, RPG protagonists are usually not too strongly defined and leave some space for you to fill with, well, yourself. Be it a distant echo of the AFGNCAAP, the laziness of the designers or common sense: it works. At one point, very early in the game, something clicks and you inject a considerable dosage of you into the brain of the hero through a very thick needle. To a greater or lesser extent, consciously or not, you roleplay.
Sometimes, however, the protagonists are well-defined, especially in newer RPGs. They usually get full voice acting (which is psychologically significant; with a voice comes personality, or at least a hint thereof). Take The Witcher for example (note: played the original version where the dialogues were not butchered) there's not too much room for the player to project him or herself into the character and, in most cases, Geralt (the protagonist) is being himself more than anyone else. The thing is the man's a bastard, you can only decide how much of a bastard you want him to be which is OK because in fiction a well made bastard is worth at least a dozen fair haired do-gooders. In my case something clicked and I found the experience enjoyable.
Now take a slightly older game: Gothic. The protagonist is boring, no catchy lines, no decent voice acting, nothing that would make him distinguishable. And it's a simple solution and it works: his personality is so minute it doesn't really get in the way at all. You get immersed. Something clicks.
I played a few RPGs in my time, starting with the old BGs and Torment and experimenting with the Ultimas and I never really paid any attention to this, let's call it, "protagonal immersion". I took it for granted.
Now, Mass Effect.
I like the game. I like the mechanics, the plot is quite intriguing, the characters may not be the superbly crafted but there are signs of brilliance. But nothing clicks, I just hate Shepard. The man has nothing. Nothing. He's dull, stupid, primitive, with no personality, only that same old boring expression (you can model his face and that's the face you'll see through the game, precisely that never-changing expression you make at the beginning, while the faces of other characters express emotions). Even if you try to make him act like a bastard he doesn't even do that right. He just goes on being the prototypical jarhead that you don't get in any decent work of fiction or, I suspect, real life.
The problem is, at least for me, that this primitive dullness is too visible, as if the writers thought it to be a decent character trait. It takes up too much space and there's no room for anything else. It feels as if the guy from Gothic suddenly thought he has the right to be a character all by himself. And it bothers me a lot.
Well, if you've read the product of my sad graphomania to this point you probably have an opinion of your own, I'd like to read it. Did you feel the same way? Am I missing something important? Or maybe the game's reputation boosted my expectations too much?
When I start to play an RPG one of the first things I do is get the hang of the main character. Sometimes there is not much to get the hang of, RPG protagonists are usually not too strongly defined and leave some space for you to fill with, well, yourself. Be it a distant echo of the AFGNCAAP, the laziness of the designers or common sense: it works. At one point, very early in the game, something clicks and you inject a considerable dosage of you into the brain of the hero through a very thick needle. To a greater or lesser extent, consciously or not, you roleplay.
Sometimes, however, the protagonists are well-defined, especially in newer RPGs. They usually get full voice acting (which is psychologically significant; with a voice comes personality, or at least a hint thereof). Take The Witcher for example (note: played the original version where the dialogues were not butchered) there's not too much room for the player to project him or herself into the character and, in most cases, Geralt (the protagonist) is being himself more than anyone else. The thing is the man's a bastard, you can only decide how much of a bastard you want him to be which is OK because in fiction a well made bastard is worth at least a dozen fair haired do-gooders. In my case something clicked and I found the experience enjoyable.
Now take a slightly older game: Gothic. The protagonist is boring, no catchy lines, no decent voice acting, nothing that would make him distinguishable. And it's a simple solution and it works: his personality is so minute it doesn't really get in the way at all. You get immersed. Something clicks.
I played a few RPGs in my time, starting with the old BGs and Torment and experimenting with the Ultimas and I never really paid any attention to this, let's call it, "protagonal immersion". I took it for granted.
Now, Mass Effect.
I like the game. I like the mechanics, the plot is quite intriguing, the characters may not be the superbly crafted but there are signs of brilliance. But nothing clicks, I just hate Shepard. The man has nothing. Nothing. He's dull, stupid, primitive, with no personality, only that same old boring expression (you can model his face and that's the face you'll see through the game, precisely that never-changing expression you make at the beginning, while the faces of other characters express emotions). Even if you try to make him act like a bastard he doesn't even do that right. He just goes on being the prototypical jarhead that you don't get in any decent work of fiction or, I suspect, real life.
The problem is, at least for me, that this primitive dullness is too visible, as if the writers thought it to be a decent character trait. It takes up too much space and there's no room for anything else. It feels as if the guy from Gothic suddenly thought he has the right to be a character all by himself. And it bothers me a lot.
Well, if you've read the product of my sad graphomania to this point you probably have an opinion of your own, I'd like to read it. Did you feel the same way? Am I missing something important? Or maybe the game's reputation boosted my expectations too much?
