Game design to life. Seamless download or full immersion in God of War 4
Good day!
A little about the author: my name is Maria, a game designer. This article is from a series on the application of game design theory in life. Today we will analyze it using the example of God of War 4.
The game was released in 2018, becoming a continuation of the story and a revision of the personality of the main character Kratos. Someone was delighted, others complained about the uniformity of fights, but in my article I want to touch on the topic "how to make everyday life a continuation of immersion."
First, some interesting and useful links:
An article about Atreus (as for me, one of the best companions of GG). Here you can read about the connection between mythology and the game (a lot will be clarified). Also, it is worth watching a movie about the development of the game itself .
Now about the topic of the article.
In games with a large or open world, the player always has a need to move between locations - you can use portals, ships, horses. But often all this happens either to the sounds of the world, or in silence. At such moments, the player may fall out of the flow state, if these are not moments of stress relief after a frantic pursuit.
In God of War 4, the journey brightens up the satellite, or rather, part of it - the incomparable Mimir. The most interesting interlocutor in the game.
After the rescue of Mimir, Kratos and Atreus return to Lake Nine in order to reach the highest mountain in all worlds. The player can quickly go on the plot, or explore all the surrounding areas.
And it is precisely the journey from the treasury to various gates and territories that takes a huge layer of time: while on a boat you will reach the desired shore, while you collect loot on the lake itself you can get bored. But the development team decided to use the time wisely - Mimir tells stories from the life of Odin, Thor, giants and just jokes. As a result, the player listens to the story (not everyone reads what Atreus writes in his book) and swims to the end point not in silence.
Mimir’s stories never repeat, and, most beautiful, when you go ashore, he interrupts his story and continues after returning to the boat. A couple of times specially got into the boat and just listened to his stories.
What we have? The player is constantly in the game world , when trying to stick his head out and take a breath of fresh air, he is drawn back by another story of Mimir or risen from the dead. The game does not allow you to do something thoughtlessly, i.e. in silence to collect the gifts of the lake or quietly ride on a boat.
The second example is portals. When Kratos and Atreus travel the world tree, the location is loaded into which the player headed. And again you are busy with business - run with the heroes along the world tree, perhaps, like many curious ones, jump into the unknown, listen to the stories of Mimir.
If during the game you, according to the precepts of Jesse Schell, observe your gaming experience from the outside, you understand that there is not a single moment in the game when the player is forced to wait for something or when the game process stops. Even during cutscenes, you can’t be sure that now you won’t be asked to grunt the gamepad in attempts to fill up the dragon / god / troll.
Such a continuous gameplay immerses the player in what is happening more than with his head, alternating adrenaline, with ringing bells and periods of calm in battles with nightmares.
Is such a solution good, because the continuity of the experience gained is loading the user, and he no longer perceives the game world adequately?
In my personal opinion, the game was first-class. It pays a lot of attention to details and history, even the limited interaction with the world is more a plus than a minus, otherwise the game would be too heavy for perception. What do you think, what are the pros / cons in the game?
A little about the author: my name is Maria, a game designer. This article is from a series on the application of game design theory in life. Today we will analyze it using the example of God of War 4.
The game was released in 2018, becoming a continuation of the story and a revision of the personality of the main character Kratos. Someone was delighted, others complained about the uniformity of fights, but in my article I want to touch on the topic "how to make everyday life a continuation of immersion."
First, some interesting and useful links:
An article about Atreus (as for me, one of the best companions of GG). Here you can read about the connection between mythology and the game (a lot will be clarified). Also, it is worth watching a movie about the development of the game itself .
Now about the topic of the article.
Silence is not gold
In games with a large or open world, the player always has a need to move between locations - you can use portals, ships, horses. But often all this happens either to the sounds of the world, or in silence. At such moments, the player may fall out of the flow state, if these are not moments of stress relief after a frantic pursuit.
In God of War 4, the journey brightens up the satellite, or rather, part of it - the incomparable Mimir. The most interesting interlocutor in the game.
After the rescue of Mimir, Kratos and Atreus return to Lake Nine in order to reach the highest mountain in all worlds. The player can quickly go on the plot, or explore all the surrounding areas.
And it is precisely the journey from the treasury to various gates and territories that takes a huge layer of time: while on a boat you will reach the desired shore, while you collect loot on the lake itself you can get bored. But the development team decided to use the time wisely - Mimir tells stories from the life of Odin, Thor, giants and just jokes. As a result, the player listens to the story (not everyone reads what Atreus writes in his book) and swims to the end point not in silence.
Mimir’s stories never repeat, and, most beautiful, when you go ashore, he interrupts his story and continues after returning to the boat. A couple of times specially got into the boat and just listened to his stories.
What we have? The player is constantly in the game world , when trying to stick his head out and take a breath of fresh air, he is drawn back by another story of Mimir or risen from the dead. The game does not allow you to do something thoughtlessly, i.e. in silence to collect the gifts of the lake or quietly ride on a boat.
Instead of speaker statics
The second example is portals. When Kratos and Atreus travel the world tree, the location is loaded into which the player headed. And again you are busy with business - run with the heroes along the world tree, perhaps, like many curious ones, jump into the unknown, listen to the stories of Mimir.
If during the game you, according to the precepts of Jesse Schell, observe your gaming experience from the outside, you understand that there is not a single moment in the game when the player is forced to wait for something or when the game process stops. Even during cutscenes, you can’t be sure that now you won’t be asked to grunt the gamepad in attempts to fill up the dragon / god / troll.
Such a continuous gameplay immerses the player in what is happening more than with his head, alternating adrenaline, with ringing bells and periods of calm in battles with nightmares.
Is such a solution good, because the continuity of the experience gained is loading the user, and he no longer perceives the game world adequately?
In my personal opinion, the game was first-class. It pays a lot of attention to details and history, even the limited interaction with the world is more a plus than a minus, otherwise the game would be too heavy for perception. What do you think, what are the pros / cons in the game?
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