What's the appeal with first-person gameplay?

[hermes]

Its a philosophical stand in game design.
- If the game has strongly defined protagonists and your role as a player is to accompany him/her on their journey, then a 3rd person perspective is the preferred choice.
- If the game doesn't have/need a strongly defined main character and wants to create the illusion that the player is the main character, a 1st person perspective is the preferred choice.
- If the game doesn't have/need a strongly defined main character and wants to create the illusion that the character commands the characters in the game, an isometric/bird's eye perspective is the best choice.

The problem is that, sometimes, even experienced game designers forget about that distinction, or adds them to make it look good, which leaves some dissonant scenes, like Skyrim 3rd person or God of War last boss...

 

[Mr Fixit]

I prefer a good mix the way Skyrim does it, lets me run around in third & swap to first for talking to people & killing things. My biggest problem with FPS is the lack of field of view, same reason why I don't much care for hoodies & I never sit with my back to a door.

 

[Bluestorm83]

And he goes, "But the only human sacrifice was Jesus, who gave his life willingly to pay for Man's sins!"

Wat? Does your step dad not know about some of the other religions that were mentioned in the old testament, the ones that various prophets had a hard time keeping the Jews from joining? Some of them practiced human sacrifice, that's why there's quite a few mentions in the old testament of why you shouldn't do that.

So even Biblically, that's not correct.

He meant the only valid one. Forgot to include that.

 

[Rariow]

Makes some kinds of gameplay a lot better. Shooter's the obvious one, but it can work for hack-em-ups: Chivalry's one of the most satisfying things I've played in a long time. Also, for games where you're supposed to *be* the character, it just feels more correct. I'm not a Dark Elf with an epic beard, so whenever I see my Skyrim character I remember it's not me. But, as I said, most games that have it are designed with it in mind and wouldn't really work otherwise. Just like platforming doesn't work from a first person perspective, shooting or specifically designed types of slashing don't work in a third person perspective.

From a storytelling perspective, I find it's better to go 3rd person for a character with a voice, and 1st person for a player insert. I'd feel very weird if Cloud Strife didn't talk, or if Gordon Freeman started chatting. It's not always that way, but it always feels off to me when it isn't.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

And he goes, "But the only human sacrifice was Jesus, who gave his life willingly to pay for Man's sins!"

Wat? Does your step dad not know about some of the other religions that were mentioned in the old testament, the ones that various prophets had a hard time keeping the Jews from joining? Some of them practiced human sacrifice, that's why there's quite a few mentions in the old testament of why you shouldn't do that.

So even Biblically, that's not correct.

He meant the only valid one. Forgot to include that.

Oh. That makes more sense, but it makes the way he got upset that you were trying to stop one even funnier XD

 

[El Camarado]

In regards to the thing about First Person Perspective being more immersive, I find that Third Person Perspective can be just as immersive.
That being said, I greatly prefer First Person Perspective in many 3D games. Third Person Perspective means that I cannot see some things that my character should be able to see (either due to the camera or due to my vision being blocked by my character). The visibility problem (or, at the very least, the visibility that is blocked by the character) can be reduced by having the camera a further distance away, but then distances become much harder to judge. I find gunplay in Third Person perspective to feel odd (as if I am trying to look over someone's shoulder and point out to them where to shoot) if not difficult, and melee combat and interactions with the world to be a bit awkward at times as it is can be hard to judge distances.
Third person perspective works really well in 2D games (top-down perspective or side-view and such) where visibility and cameras are not a problem, and it is easy to tell distances.

 

[TheRookie8]

Oddly enough, I felt like the recent "Bioshock: Infinite" would have been better in third person. Speeding around on zip-lines would have been much easier that way.

Also: Normally a first-person game lets a player project themselves into a role, but this is not the case for a character whose look is already established early on (In the case of Booker DeWitt).

I remember starting Bioshock Infinite, entering a lighthouse, looking into a bucket of water and saying "Yup, I'm a white guy". It sort of defeats the purpose of the first person if you need to go out of your way to see what you look like.

Mirror's Edge suffered from this, too. Free-running or parkour is fun, but the first-person perspective made it awkward. Again, using this makes sense if I'm trying to immerse myself into a role, but I knew I wasn't playing myself...I was playing Faith. The cut scenes kept showing me that.

In that games defense, however (and Infinite's), the first person view allows for some breathtaking, picturesque scenery. Skyrim did this well, too.

 

[Bluestorm83]

And he goes, "But the only human sacrifice was Jesus, who gave his life willingly to pay for Man's sins!"

Wat? Does your step dad not know about some of the other religions that were mentioned in the old testament, the ones that various prophets had a hard time keeping the Jews from joining? Some of them practiced human sacrifice, that's why there's quite a few mentions in the old testament of why you shouldn't do that.

So even Biblically, that's not correct.

He meant the only valid one. Forgot to include that.

Oh. That makes more sense, but it makes the way he got upset that you were trying to stop one even funnier XD

Yes, that EXACT THING. I was like, "Dude, 100% agreement with everything you're saying, ERGO, actions to prevent evil witch human sacrifice." but his brain was caught in "Videogame BAD!" like I'd been dealing with since I was, like, 5.

Also, just noticed the Amuro Ray. Nice.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

And he goes, "But the only human sacrifice was Jesus, who gave his life willingly to pay for Man's sins!"

Wat? Does your step dad not know about some of the other religions that were mentioned in the old testament, the ones that various prophets had a hard time keeping the Jews from joining? Some of them practiced human sacrifice, that's why there's quite a few mentions in the old testament of why you shouldn't do that.

So even Biblically, that's not correct.

He meant the only valid one. Forgot to include that.

Oh. That makes more sense, but it makes the way he got upset that you were trying to stop one even funnier XD

Yes, that EXACT THING. I was like, "Dude, 100% agreement with everything you're saying, ERGO, actions to prevent evil witch human sacrifice." but his brain was caught in "Videogame BAD!" like I'd been dealing with since I was, like, 5.

Also, just noticed the Amuro Ray. Nice.

You know I think you may be the first person on this site to recognize who that is in my avatar? I've had plenty of people who recognize the screen name, but apparently UC continuity Gundam is way, way less popular than The Wheel of Time around these parts. You win cool points just for knowing classic Gundam.