Ludonarrative Whatnow?

Lately, I've been hearing a lot about this Ludonarrative Dissonance business, and it got me thinking. Ludonarrative Dissonance means that a game's narrative conflicts with the gameplay. That's a strange concept, but it happens more often than not in video games.

I first heard about this concept shortly after the release of Bioshock: Infinite. There was a bit of an uproar over the amount of excessive and grotesque violence within the game. It did seem out of place, for a Bioshock game. The violence was a bit over the top, with people's heads exploding, decapitation, and just some straight up gruesome visuals. The first Bioshock games were violent, as they both received an M rating, however, they were never this violent. However, upon reflection, the level of violence that Bioshock: Infinite did have its place, but only to a certain extent. In the game, players take control of a man named Booker DeWitt. Booker, is a Private Eye, and also a bit of a thug; he's sent off to the city above the clouds where everything is pristine and rather peaceful, until Booker shows up. When the action starts, it explodes with a tidal wave of blood and violence, and given the circumstances, Booker didn't have much of a choice. So, Ludonarrative Dissonance remained a mystery to me as to what it really meant.



A little while later, I saw another video discussing, or rather rhyming, about the concept of Ludonarrative Dissonance. This video, or at least the first half, really does properly illustrate the definition of Ludonarrative Dissonance in a way that common folk like myself can understand.

The Escapist : Jim & Yahtzee's Rhymedown Spectacular : Whine Out Of Ten

This happens a lot more in video games than it should. I think what it comes down to is how the player decides to play the game, and the options that the game gives to its player. If the player has access to a lot of things that, they most likely shouldn't early in the game, this tends to conflict with the narrative of the game. However, this doesn't happen with just sandbox games like Grand Theft Auto.



Final Fantasy XIII for example has a character named Hope. Hope is an interesting character, in that he is a coward. He never want to fight, and goes into the fetal position whenever confronted with any sort of conflict. Yet, when we are first introduced to the character, he whines, complains, cries, whines, and kicks ass. What? Wasn't he just crying in a corner two seconds ago, being scared of the monsters? Battles, and fighting are core components of Final Fantasy games, along with any other kind of RPG. This is an example of Ludonarrative Dissonance. The gameplay, where the character stands and fights, conflicts with the narrative, where the same character preaches nonviolence and literally cries at the precipice of every battle.

This reminds me of  another character from an old anime called Gundam Wing.  Quatre Raberba Winner, is exactly like the aforementioned Hope. Quatre is a pacifist, but he's not a very good one. He pilots his Gundam Sandrock, who wields two sickles that are unbreakable and can slice through pretty much anything. The whole concept of this character is out of wack. He's a pacifist, who is specially trained to pilot a custom made giant robot that was designed to fight and kill. Just like Hope, he doesn't want to fight, and he prolongs the inevitable as long as possible with talks of peace before he ends up killing everyone in his giant robot.



Pacifism.

I loved that show, but looking back on it, it has some weird stuff about it.

So, I suppose that Ludonarrative Dissonance exists in media other than video games, and while it doesn't necessarily break a game, it does break immersion.

What are your thoughts? What video games, or other media has some kind of ludonarritve dissonance? Tell me your thoughts in the comments

Violence as a Tool

Video games are violent. More often than not, we see video games get called out by the media for being just that. Violent. Though, no one really seems to take the context of the violence into consideration when discussing this issue.

Please note that I do not condone violence, this post is to explore how game developers use violence as a story telling, rather than just a gameplay mechanic.

Hotline Miami

Hotline Miami is an independent game that come from Dennation games. The game is fast, frantic, and absolutely brutal. The game is in a 16 bit graphical style, which leaves the details of the deaths up to your imagination. There's lots of blood and violence to be had here, but what's the point? Hotline Miami takes that into consideration. You take control of a nameless, faceless man who receives anonymous messages on his phone's answering machines that leave addresses for him to go to and straight up murder everyone inside the building.The game plays up the whole "glorification of violence" even more with the scoring system. Players are rewarded for being, brutally efficient. The more effective the player is, and how quickly they do it nabs them a high score. This is what makes the game fun: its pacing. The game moves so quickly that death doesn't phase the player, but makes them retry over and over again, employing different tactics to beat the level. If the player fails, it's their fault, and not the game. But, why? Why do this? What is the point? Who are these people? Are they bad? Are they good? Who am I? How does my character play into any of this? Hotline Miami takes these questions and runs with them at a hundred miles per hour. Then at the end of each level, the game forces players to walk all the way through the level, past the corpses they've made, back to their car. The quiet of the each level, after the murder and the killer soundtrack, provides an opportunity to reflect upon just what they had done.

Spec Ops: The Line




At first glance, Spec Ops: The Line is an average, ordinary, 3rd person action shooter game with cover and squad based gameplay. The game follows a team of soldiers that are sent to Dubai to save the day and escort all of the civilians and refugees out of the city to safety and get any remaining US soldiers out as well. However, the whole thing gets turned on its head when everyone in the city has going crazy. Nobody is willing to reason, so the situation comes down to shoot first and ask questions later. In the end, the soldiers that were sent to save the city, end up doing more harm than good. Killing thousands of soldiers and refugees alike. The game puts players through some pretty traumatic stuff. Spec Ops uses brutality to cement the evils of violence and why no good comes of war and fighting. The gameplay of Spec Ops the line satirizes the industry and its constant pumping out of violent video games. Every headshot that the player lands is emphasized with a moment of slow down to hold it right up to the players nose. The game made me feel like a terrible person after all of the things that the game had me do. The game does provide the opportunities for "moral choice" but they all end badly. I still highly recommend this game, and that you do the same and recommend it to everyone you know.

The Last of Us



The Last of Us is definitely one of my favorite games of 2013. The game follows the two characters Joel and Ellie as they try and survive in the mad world that they live in. In the year 2013, humanity was wracked by the cordyceps fungus, which is normally found in species of insects that have become over populated. The Last of Us has a distinct way in which it uses violence. Every fight is a fight for survival, and Joel and Ellie have to survive. Both of them use whatever means necessary to ensure that they are able to make it to tomorrow. Supplies are scarce and players have to be more resourceful to ensure that they make it to the other side. Vicious blows to the head with blunt objects and gunshots that tear through flesh fill the screen. Each encounter with other survivors is tense and dramatic. The Last of Us does a good job to give a sense that the people that you are killing are just trying to survive as well. They make sure that their group stays alive and that they make it to tomorrow. This equality between the two parties gives a sorrow to taking them out. You kind of feel bad for them, but then you quickly move on when you realize that it was either him or you, or that you've been spotted by his friend. Every hit, every shot, every action is made with the intent to kill. Joel is a bitter, violent person, who doesn't hold back when it comes to dealing with the enemy. Contrast to him, is Ellie, who is an optimistic light in the darkness. I tried playing to where she wouldn't see as much of the violence, to protect her, but it was all for not. Ellie evolves into a survivor of this world. It has changed her, and how she acts. When the game gives players control of Ellie, it becomes crystal clear the effects of being around Joel, and the terrible violence.

Violence is often looked at as a gameplay mechanic, and approached casually. Yet, it's a big thing to take another persons life. The terrible ways that people die in these games are truly horrific, and cringe worthy. The difference between these games and others is that they have context that evoke emotion and remorse for pulling the trigger. Violence is not a good thing. It's never the right thing to do. If anything, it should be used as a last resort. Too often games use violence willy nilly, and make a farce of the gravitas of the act of killing.