Mark Richard
Arcane
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2016
- Messages
- 1,213
Recently the topic has come up on my Codex travels a few times, so I'd like to jot some down for future reference. What I'm speaking of are games where all the important narrative themes (love, friendship, sacrifice, betrayal, redemption, etc) happen to somebody else. You exist to help the true hero fulfil their destiny, and expect to become a footnote in the history books at best.
Enter the Matrix - This game features over an hour of original footage and turned out to be supplementary to The Matrix Reloaded. It follows Niobe & Ghost, two characters with around 5 minutes of screentime in the movie. You probably don't remember them since their sole contribution was to act as a moving platform for someone who actually mattered. They've got more stuff to do in the game, but you're essentially stuck playing the B-team in a story that runs parallel to the events in Matrix Reloaded and occasionally intersects with it to remind you how unimportant you are. It's like playing a nondescript dwarf who follows The Fellowship of the Ring around to occasionally do some busywork for them.
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North - Oh right. That happened. I imagine this is an issue with a lot of movie-based games. So many of them insist on not only creating a new character for the player, but including them in the epic plot of the movie. The result is a game that severely limits your impact on the world so the events of the movie aren't compromised, providing you with tasks that can't possibly compete with the epic quest of the movie characters.
Battletech - The most personal thing that happens to the player in Battletech is when a distant acquaintance who once instructed the player in mechwarrior combat for a season is killed (it happen in the opening minutes, so forget the spoiler tag). The employer gets all the juicy stuff. She's betrayed by her royal family, leads a resistance movement, and is even a formidable mechwarrior to boot. So why are we not playing as her?
The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion - You work for a character who has a classic medieval fantasy origin built for a protagonist. Fostered as a child? Check. Grew up on a farm? Check. Unaware of their true lineage? Checkcheckcheck. Another RPG with the same setup came out recently, except it had the novel idea to put you in the role of that hero. Crazy, right? The name of the game was
Enter the Matrix - This game features over an hour of original footage and turned out to be supplementary to The Matrix Reloaded. It follows Niobe & Ghost, two characters with around 5 minutes of screentime in the movie. You probably don't remember them since their sole contribution was to act as a moving platform for someone who actually mattered. They've got more stuff to do in the game, but you're essentially stuck playing the B-team in a story that runs parallel to the events in Matrix Reloaded and occasionally intersects with it to remind you how unimportant you are. It's like playing a nondescript dwarf who follows The Fellowship of the Ring around to occasionally do some busywork for them.
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North - Oh right. That happened. I imagine this is an issue with a lot of movie-based games. So many of them insist on not only creating a new character for the player, but including them in the epic plot of the movie. The result is a game that severely limits your impact on the world so the events of the movie aren't compromised, providing you with tasks that can't possibly compete with the epic quest of the movie characters.
Battletech - The most personal thing that happens to the player in Battletech is when a distant acquaintance who once instructed the player in mechwarrior combat for a season is killed (it happen in the opening minutes, so forget the spoiler tag). The employer gets all the juicy stuff. She's betrayed by her royal family, leads a resistance movement, and is even a formidable mechwarrior to boot. So why are we not playing as her?
The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion - You work for a character who has a classic medieval fantasy origin built for a protagonist. Fostered as a child? Check. Grew up on a farm? Check. Unaware of their true lineage? Checkcheckcheck. Another RPG with the same setup came out recently, except it had the novel idea to put you in the role of that hero. Crazy, right? The name of the game was
Mary-Kate & Ashley: Spear of Destiny
