What is the deal with Boss Battles? This isn't some stand-up bit, I'm genuinely confused as to why video games think that there has to be some kind of boss battle as the form of conflict-resolution at the end of the story. With the levels of storytelling that is coming out of video games these days, boss battles seem like a lazy, and last minute, substitute for the end of the game. Personally, I blame Mega Man.
In my mind, Mega Man is the purest form of video game. Running, jumping, shooting, and challenges that nearly make you throw your controller across the room, this is Mega Man. Each level is designed as a challenging obstacle course that puts the players skills to the test. Mega Man was it's own game, and maintained the feel of an arcade game with its simplistic design and extreme level of difficulty. For its time, Mega Man was the perfect video game. To many, it still is. However, the evolution of game design has rendered Mega Man's format somewhat obsolete.
Video games have a way of telling stories that is unlike any other form of media that has come before it. It seems silly to relegate it to the format of : Challenge - Boss Battle. Games can be so much more than just that. Journey, The Wolf Among Us, The Stanley Parable, and many others have shown us how to do games differently. With the progress of technology over the course of the years, game developers are finding ways to engage with the player on many different levels. However it seems as though developers think that there still must be some kind of format to adhere to.
One of my favorite games of all time, Mass Effect 2, has some of the best storytelling that I've seen in a video game. I have lost many hours playing Mass Effect 2, and have enjoyed my many adventures as Commander Shepard. The universe of Mass Effect is one that is rich and full of character. The entire game of Mass Effect 2 is a memorable journey right up until the end. That end being a really lame boss fight.
The entirety of Mass Effect 2 is comprised of tight gameplay with intense firefights that take players through captivating environments with stories that engage and enchant. Then, at the end of the game, Shepard takes a crew and rides off to face down the end while the rest of the Normandy crew stays behind to cover the commanders back. The end of course, being a boss battle.
The problem with Boss Battles is that they change the rules. Yet, this has become expected of video games. It is standard practice for a video game to have its story, and have its challenges, and have its levels, all to end with a boss battle. It's lazy! Conflict resolution does not always have to end with a fight. It doesn't always have to end with fighting an enemy that is one hundred times larger than you are. Journey let players blissfully fly around at the top of the mountain and let them walk into the light in triumph and relief. The Wolf Among Us had players working to prove the guilt of the accused. The Stanley Parable throws all expectations of how a game should end, or even play, out the window and changes the rules of storytelling. Games can be whatever they want to be, and by assigning these expectations of having levels and bosses and challenge, you hold back potential for something truly amazing to emerge. Games are an art form the likes of which have never been seen before, and they are constantly evolving with emergence of new technologies and creative ways in which developers are finding to change the expectations of players and video games. Games don't have point systems anymore. Games don't have levels anymore. Games have changed, and they do not need to be defined by how difficult they were, or how high the players score was. Games are now experiences. Games can take players into the world that the developers imagined. Games change the way we think, the way we perceive things, the way we analyze things, the way that we move, the way that we live. Games have changed! For the better, as well. The video game industry is constantly moving forward. In small ways, and in big ways, things are changing. Whether it's some independent developer that is going to make something that stands out, or a large production house that takes the market by storm with a game that raises the bar. Games are changing.
No comments:
Post a Comment