The 'Feel' of a Game

Let’s get metaphysical about games.

                When I say that I am not a metaphysical person I mean that I do not believe in some greater power in the sky that throws down sunbeams and lightning at us, or occasionally pisses upon us, but I do rather enjoy believing in some immaterial things – no, I do not believe that the spirits of the dead still inhabit this world, even if they do I rather doubt someone will have more power dead than they did alive since I don’t think ‘spontaneous telekinesis’ is something you attain when you’re worm chowder or ashes or whatever – but I enjoy believing in there being a metaphysical layer to things and experiences, that indeed there is a subconscious lurking within every human and that our physical and social manifestations are but our persona to deal with the world while we have shadows that hide our own deepest, darkest and strangest desires from us, like a fetish for women in suits, and I do enjoy believing that our enjoyment of media goes beyond merely experiencing it.

                Have you ever wondered why some works (be it books, series, movies or games – this article is going to be game focused like most of this blog) just ‘stick’ with you? Why, even though you might come across other things that are objectively better in some respects, some works just seem to have that mysterious and enigmatic ‘something special’ about them, which causes them to shine like a beacon of brilliance across the oceans of other works that just seem to fade into normalcy, and thus you hold them dearer than others? It’s a feeling that is often truly subjective by nature, and is often the basis upon which nostalgia is established – the feeling of returning to a unique feeling, a feel that that work seems to hold for itself, a feel that envelopes you while you experience it and leaves its aftertaste for you to remember, an aftertaste that might often be the catalyst for return and the catalyst for memorability.

                I have already established how atrocious I am at naming things, so I call this the ‘Feel’ of a work – this strange unique sensation that lingers on and indeed you might even call ‘the soul’ of a work. Though I am not going to call it ‘the soul’ because then I’d find myself hard-pressed to resume this in all seriousness since I find the theory of ‘a soul’ to be a rather redundant construct used to satiate those who wish to procrastinate in daily life for dear hopes that there is another life that is going to pop out of them and meander on for eternity – since I believe human beings and electronics are the same, once you’re done you’re done and the noble thing to do with what remains is to let the parts and pieces be repurposed for other constructs.

I need a better scanner.

                Now before I dive feet-first into rambling on in relation to games, I suppose I will take a moment to talk about how this ‘feel’ is present in various mediums. Books are perhaps both the easiest and toughest medium within which to establish a ‘feel’, since (reminder: by books I refer to novels here) they are restricted solely to the written word, which creates a paradox wherein the establishment of this ‘feel’ is also up to the reader her/himself and the depth with which one reads; the atmosphere, charm and uniqueness are all left to the writer alone. There is a reason why great writers are revered while pop writers fade with time, there is a reason why Tolkien and Wodehouse are revered while folks like Dan Brown and Reilly will fade with time; the latters’ works might be enjoyable but they are not going to be immortalised.

I need to learn to draw.

                TV series are the biggest mixed bag since they often consist of steaming piles of cash grabs, though there is a reason why some series are remembered far more fondly and often punctuate ‘top lists’ and other such listicles. Good writing is the first step, though it is unfortunately not the only step – the anime series ‘Phantom – Requiem for the Phantom’ will attest to this – because moving from pure written word to audio-visual introduces far more concrete foundations upon which to build the ‘feel’. On the sitcom front (ugh), I will always hold Frasier and Seinfeld higher than nonsense such Big Bang Theory, and the writers behind FRIENDS and Friends Redux (a.k.a. How I Met Your Mother) had a decent idea of the ‘feel’ that went into their series, which is why those two are far more memorable than most lifeless ‘comedies’ that fill the sitcom trough. On the serious series front we’ve been provided with a wealth of rather good series such as Breaking Bad (which I admittedly haven’t watched), Game of Thrones and so on, and time will tell which series will live on, Breaking Bad already wins points in my book for doing something all great stories must do – end when it is time to end, and I suppose Game of Thrones will always be there for those who can’t be assed to read through books. On the anime front there’s a solid reason why Cowboy Bebop is held so highly by many, the blend of music, zany rusty sci-fi, charm and interesting stories. And I have my reasons for holding Fullmetal Alchemist, Le Chevalier D’eon, Mushishi and Baccano! so dearly. I’ve haughtily rambled on far too long here.

                The case is largely the same for movies with regards to the dimensions that establish this ‘feel’. Once again there are reasons why the works of some directors (Tarantino comes to mind immediately) and some works are beloved, there’s a reason why the Lord of the Rings adaptation is regarded so highly and why many well written works might sadly fade away.

                However, the meat of this article lies within the discussion of this ‘feel’ with regards to games and that is the direction in which we now tread.

                Now, how does the ‘feel’ manifest itself for a game, long after you finish and even as you play it (in the case of lengthy or never ending games)? It manifests on three fronts: Replayability, Memorability and Impact. Replayability is your ‘desire to return’ – be it for greater challenges, alternate play styles or to just re-experience the whole thing. Memorability is less about how much you remember and more about how you might begin to associate things to the game in question, or how it ‘haunts’ you after you played it (Replayability and Memorability might not go hand-in-hand on that front). Impact refers to the universal value of the game, an analysis of both objective and subjective value alongside the legacy it has or might have.

                Perhaps the logical course of taking this further is to talk about games being a Sum of their Parts. Yes, all mediums are the sum of their parts, but games do take it further by having another layer to themselves due to them being interactive and what not. So, what are the parts of this sum we are talking about?

This was meant to be far more complex, but I got lazy. 

                So, as hopefully clearly illustrated above, the ‘feel’ is heavily attributed to two fronts: the Atmosphere and the Game, with the former comprised of the Aesthetic, Sound and Story, and the latter comprised of the Controls, the UI, the Flaws and the Gameplay, and a separate ‘wildcard’ element being the game’s Uniqueness.

Alien:Isolation has a pretty strong grip on its own 'feel' while living up to the movie.

Aesthetic: ‘graphics’ might be a highly simplified term to describe visuals but that doesn’t do it justice. By visuals I refer to the full scope of it – the art style, the design, the fidelity and the flourishes – graphics will always age, but good aesthetics age gracefully, often to the point of never being tarnished by time. There’s a good reason why the buffet of modern military shooters we have will fade away or have already faded away.

                There’s varying degrees of aesthetic strength/nature too, from games with very distinct radical art styles, to the extent of the game’s entire aesthetic being the art style (e.g. Bastion, Transistor, Baldur’s Gate) to games that have some great art design which helps them hold against the ravages of time (e.g. Half-Life 2, Dark Souls, Bioshock, FallOut).

Bastion: featuring great music and an incredible narrator.

Sound: this refers not only to the music, voice-acting and sound effects, but the full scope of all these things combined together alongside the ‘little’ things such as the sounds that accompany the UI (Baldur’s Gate, Half-Life 2) to distinct sound effects for certain elements (Deus Ex) or perhaps how silence can serve to amplify the sounds present, thus sharpening the atmosphere present (Dark Souls).

Story: this refers to… the story. But, as with videogames, there’s an extra layer to it owing to the added layer of interactivity. A great story is great, but even a great story needs those added bits to make it a great story. Some games leave many parts of the plot to the player, from letting the player explore and interpret things as he/she pleases (Dark Souls) to letting the player decide how far they wish to tread into it (most CRPGs) or having some interesting choices and paths to take the plot and the characters (Deus Ex, Mass Effect). And then there’s the all-important elements of charm, that delicious outer-crust to round-off the story and the characters, charm that makes you feel involved your first time through and might incite you into going through again (Half-Life 2).

Dishonored channels some Thief but manages to be its own thing.

Controls: this refers to, well, the controls. A unique, interesting sense of control which makes either adds to the game or just feels good can add a lot to the appeal of a game. There are some games with distinct controls which might be an acquired taste for many (Resident Evil, classic Castlevania, Dark Souls). Controls are not an integral part, since being functional is generally more important than being distinct though when they combine both it adds a fair bit of distinct flair to the game.

UI: this is a bit of an odd element, since the main purpose of it is to be fluid and functional, a very stylish UI that is clunky and obtrusive might be nice to look at it but it isn’t doing its job *cough* Skyrim *cough*. But, one that combines the two really, really adds to the game – be it by giving the game a signature look and feel, and adding to the above element. Of course, this can vary a wild amount as it depends on the complexity of the game, since a simpler game has a much simpler time combining style with functionality (Half-Life 2) while games with more elements tend to get a bit… complicated.

Flaws: and this is something wholly subjective and suspect to personal attachment, but is also a general source of criticism for the game. But flaws can, crazily enough, add to it in some strange ways. The most prominent example that pops into my mind is Baldur’s Gate and other such CRPGs that use the old DnD rulesets – which are incredibly flawed and silly in several aspects but bear this hyper-distinct charm which helps add to the immersion and depth. Similarly, there are games with wonky/aged AI that can be exploited in amusing ways or danced around (Deus Ex) and so on. This is a source of both charm and, often, frustration.

Divinity: Original Sin... soooo good.

Gameplay: oh yes, the most important part of a game… thought I’d forgotten about this didn’t you, you little mouse. Is the game enjoyable to play? Does the game play well? Is there enough to keep you motivated to get through it? Are the mechanics competent? Gameplay is the most important part, but it also isn’t everything. It doesn’t matter if modern military shooters control competently or handle well, they probably don’t have anything interesting going on and don’t have much to distinguish them from their twin brethren. It’s not the be all end all, but it is important since you do play a game, ergo gameplay is an important part of a game – logic!

Supreme Commander is delicious. 

Uniqueness: The beautiful wildcard entry, which can often have enough power to override weaknesses in other elements. Does the game do something not done before? Does the game feature some unique elements in some aspect? Does the game have some unique elements/ideas? Great ideas can override many flaws, can often make a cripplingly flawed game worth playing (Evil Twin) and even forgive derivative elements.

Now then, to do something utterly subjective that is going to heavy in the bias department: talking about the above in relation to some of my beloved games.

Deus Ex

Augmented.

                ‘When someone mentions Deus Ex, someone reinstalls it’. Never before has such a statement been so utterly true, and for good reason. The wary word of bias I must state is the fact that Deus Ex is my favourite game of all time, so expect things to be more puppies and rainbow than ash and grit as I speak… or write, or type or whatever.

                Deus Ex has aged poorly in several departments – visuals, shooting and voice-acting. The game wasn’t great looking for its time, with clunky animations and generally looking… not that great. But it fully immerses itself, and you, in its cyberpunk atmosphere with an emphasis on blue and nano-augmentations and shades. The Bladerunner influence is rather apparent in the fact that the game seems to take place exclusively at night. Then there’s Brandon’s music, which is a bit of an odd sort since it has that unique ‘retro-PC’ flavour to it (which might have to do with the fact that Brandon has composed for many other old PC titles, such as Unreal), but helps bring the game to life – from the atmospheric tunes that accompany you as you explore Hong Kong or Paris, to the almost arcadey tunes when you enter combat, very catchy stuff.

                Honestly, I don’t intend to talk (write (type)) so much for each game, so I’ll cut the cutlet short. The plot is, arguably, the main draw of the game – one heavy in conspiracy theories and twists and turns and one which you take as you want. And that combines well with the game’s focus on choices, from story choices (many heavy choices to make, but nothing radical (as is the case with most games, honestly)) to the myriad of gameplay choices – stealth versus confrontation, lethal versus non-lethal – which is further amplified by the fact that the game is an RPG with FPS mechanics and not the other way around.

                Then there’s the delicious cyberpunk-ness to the UI, with its beautiful sounds and transparent styling, which can be tweaked around to be various colours – though I like to keep it blue in order to keep it in line with the game’s colour motif.

                And I feel this is where I should talk about Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the prequel (released in 2011), and the fact that my favourite part of the game is how it managed to have its own identity or ‘feel’ which contrasted the original’s rather nicely, with its Black & Gold colour motif that, despite its sleek and futuristic aesthetic, manages to feel ‘old’ in comparison to the original (which takes place a few decades after Human Revolution).

Dark Souls

                Ah, Dark Souls. How I have already spoken praise of thee, and have criticised thine inferior successor. But I hath promised to not speak in length about each game from here on.

Grossly incandescent.

                But where to start for even a short write-up? There’s the plot, that doesn’t tell you much, which leaves many opening for you to fill with your interpretations, crafted together from bits and pieces you learn from the characters, item descriptions and your observations of the world. Then there’s how the plot is (as strange as this might sound) beautifully depressing, not the sob-story-in-your-face that many ‘dark’ and ‘serious’ things tend to be but portrays its nihilistic world with a sense of grace and majesty.

                Then there’s the gameplay, punishing and charged with a sense of caution and danger – the kind that keeps you on your toes even during your 7^th time through since you’re well aware of how everything can kill you rather decisively. And Dark Souls channels the wildcard of uniqueness rather proudly, since it permeates every element of the game – the gameplay, the plot, the characters, the setting and so on. Then there’s the music, or lack thereof, that makes the bits with music, be it ambient or accompanying a boss, prominent. Then there’s the delicious sound design, the metallic clinking that accompanies your character when she/he clinks around in heavy armour, the satisfying crunch that accompanies backstabs or ripostes, the haunting tone that plays when you die (which is rather often) or the echoes of the menu screen.

YOU DIED

Super Metroid

                Quite the classic this one is, and for good reason (boy, I’m saying that a lot) and one I’ve written about rather recently. The atmosphere is what truly makes this game and I’ll be bold enough to say that without it the game wouldn’t be so fondly remembered, thus making it a strong example of a game that is good on its own but it’s the aesthetic that truly makes it lovely.

Half-Life 2

                Yes, the ‘Let’s Breakdown’ series is in limbo currently and I am not sure if it will claw its way back… they are easy to write so there’s that *wink*. I write Half-Life 2 here because I consider it to be far superior to its predecessor, so much so that it is a shining example of a near perfect sequel. By all means and by all means of superficial judgements, Half-Life 2 is a rather straightforward ‘generic’ shooter – but there’s many things that make it anything but ‘generic’ (though it certainly is straightforward and honest), starting with the great game design and a pretty good (I’d say great, but we haven’t exactly got any kind of closure due to the fact that Half-Life 3 is pretty much in limbo) plot. The game is absolutely dripping, nay, over-flowing with atmosphere and charm – and then there’s the UI and its sounds, which are now legendary among PC games alongside the minimalist sound design.

Half-Life 2 enjoys tinkering around with its atmosphere a fair bit between chapters. 

Baldur’s Gate

                This is a little different since it isn’t entirely exclusive to Baldur’s Gate, but to all Infinity Engine CRPGs, but I consider Baldur’s Gate to the best of the lot… so there’s that. The game has a lot of charm, from the aesthetic, the DnD gameplay and the beautiful, beautiful UI with its lovely, lovely clicks and scroll-centric appearance. Then there’s the memorable plot, wholesome charm and the characters (most notably in the second game, with far more fleshed-out characters).

Roll d20 for Feel Rating. 

Dota 2

                Yes, thought I’d bring this in to showcase how the ‘feel’ is not restricted to singleplayer games but can be found in some competitive multiplayer games (‘competitive’ being the key word, since co-op games and MMOs have a lot more leeway with crafting their ‘feel’). Dota 2 is my competitive game of choice, and what I consider to be the best competitive game around right now, and it’s also so well-crafted in every aspect. Valve didn’t need to put so much into the game, but they did and the result is the fact that the game is dripping with character – each hero is a fully-fleshed out character, with numerous responses for anything that can happen as well as many inter-hero nemesis relationships. Then there’s the aesthetic, from the dynamic soundtrack to the unique visual style, with hero designs that are partially ‘remastered’ versions of their WarCraft 3 Dota counterparts.

MMmmmm... tech trees.

Sins of a Solar Empire

                A complex game that crafts a UI that is a (near) perfect balance of functionality and aesthetic is rather rare, though Sins of a Solar Empire has to tilt towards the functional side owing to its complex and ‘filled with things’ nature. It shares the faction-specific aesthetic/tone feature with games like StarCraft (another game with a fair bit of ‘feel’, but one I haven’t played a wholesome deal… and StarCraft 2’s story hasn’t pleased me a great deal), and it’s oddly atmospheric owing to the clear and simple visuals (owing to the fact that it takes place in space) and music.

Unreal

                The atmospheric classic, that enjoys tinkering around with its atmosphere and shakes things up. It starts quietly as you enter an alien world, picks up as you are ambushed in the mines, slows down a bit as you explore a castle and keep progressing further. Then there’s the sound, with Brandon’s music and delicious effects.

Shovel Knight

                What makes Shovel Knight better than so many other 8bit reminiscence platformers? The fact that it perfectly captures the spirit of series like Megaman and Castlevania while having its own identity and slice of charm. A loving homage to older days that mercilessly cuts out the old parts that need not be around anymore, perfectly capturing the divine parts and crafting its own ‘feel’.

Donkey Kong Country 2

                Everything. Just everything.

The Elder Scrolls games are flawed, but each has its own atmosphere. 

But what about the things that harm or hold back a game from reaching or truly capturing its ‘feel’? Well…

                That which holds back… there are three core parts that can potentially hold back a game, they are the Flaws, the Elements and Taste.

               

                              Flaws refer to well… flaws. Chinks in the game’s armour that generally work against it directly. There are several common flaws that commonly (redundancy, oh redundancy) hold games back:

Mundane/Generic: nothing turns me off from a game (or anything for that matter) more than when something is mundane, plain or just… meh. The modern military shooters I have spoken so much about are beautiful shining examples of this.

Been there, done that: in the same vein as the above flaw, when something plays or feels like something else, such that the ‘feel’ it has is more of a flawed carbon copy of another. If it feels like something else, it needs to either have some darn strong redeeming features on other fronts to be worth it.

Arbitrary Components: Does this game really need pointless platforming? Why does a devil hunter have to have carefully timed jumps interrupt the action? Parts of a game that don’t fit in and just deter from the meat of it. Obviously, the main example I’m referring to is the Devil May Cry series and the little bits of pointless platforming that interrupts the delicious action.

Dullness: ‘I am playing this game but I do not feel motivated to continue on… it’s all so dull.’ Ever had this thought? Then you’ve played a game that, often unfortunately, suffers from inherent dullness often due to the elements present within it. The strongest example I can think of, despite it not being a bad game, is FarCry 3.

Mollycoddling: Do you want to play through a game or do you want to be directed through a game? We’re all well aware of how many games hold your hand and never ever let it go, often telling you what to do, when to do it and how to do it. Too many examples.

Undying - a flawed but underappreciated gem. 

                Elements are various parts (you can call them mechanics or features under different circumstances) of a game that might be an integral part of the game, but can often end up working against it. These can be:

Quick-Time-Events: I FUCKING hate QTEs when failing them can cause severe losses or results in a game over. QTEs that add a bit of flavour to fights are acceptable, annoying, but acceptable, but games with QTEs sprinkled throughout tend to turn me off so darn bad. Even though TellTaleGames’ games are fairly replayable, I don’t think I’ll ever end up going through any of them again because I just don’t want to deal with so many QTEs again. God of War is a good example of a good game that I never wish to replay because of the sheer number of QTEs all over it. PRESS X TO READ FURTHER.

Gimmicky Obstructions: Gimmicks can be nice and often are an integral part of simple genres (FPS, Platformer) that need a great deal of variation to remain fresh, but unnecessary gimmicks can just slosh the pacing of the entire game.

Padding: Hail Hero, to see the Holy Lord you must kill the seven Demon Generals. But to defeat the first Demon General you must first kill his three Dragon Lords, each of which has Five Imp Knights you must first defeat. When a game fills itself with tasks, quests and side-activities for the purpose of just giving more meat to the game, add hours to its length to the extent that you might end up doing sequences of dull activities and thus tiring of the whole affair. Darksiders 2 is a strong example, as a good game that pads itself to the extent that Death feels like less of a Horseman and more of an errand boy.

Cutscenes: Yeah, cutscenes are used to tell a story and they certainly can be compelling but they can just be so… tiring. Since most games still attempt to tell a story like a movie, will flashy long cutscenes with high productions values and so on; you can expect most games to start with long-winded cutscenes and try to slowly ease you in with exposition and what not. And that can be just painful. JRPGs are a pretty definitive example of this.

Fanservice-Disservice: Fanservice is lazy, 90% of the time it is a very lazy tactic to increase the attractiveness of something… such as strange guest characters or blatant references to other works. Then there’s sexual fanservice, the usage of bland titillation that is ridiculously injurious to a work (female fantasy armour comes thundering to mind). Dark Souls 2 is a pretty nifty example as one that makes far too many blatant references to its superior predecessor.

                Taste is a highly subjective part of a work, which makes it quite the volatile part when it comes to how an individual might see it. This is the essential subjective element, because I clearly haven’t been subjective thus far.

Not to my taste. 

                All in all, that’s all folks.