![]() ![]() The best narrators in video games are ones that have stakes in the game’s outcome. But it also leads to the end of us… Please, stay here. It also populates the world, and makes the player feel like they are not alone in a single-player world that can feel empty.Īs the narrator who is also the primary character, Elohim provides information coloured by his opinions, adding another layer to the world-building of The Talos Principle. The added voice in The Talos Principle serves to immediately create atmosphere and put the player in a time and place. It’s a different sort of action than fighting orcs or racing against other players, and it can feel lonely. They force the player to look internally, into their own mind, to contemplate and solve puzzles. Perhaps more than any other game genre, puzzle games are isolating. As you walk amongst these tombs, consider all those who came before you, and how they served the greater purpose of which you are also part. And know that this is a land of death, but also great beauty. Even better, this expected defiance of the player against Elohim feeds into the storytelling and progression of The Talos Principle’s story.Ī new land stands before you, my child. Using Elohim’s voice to subtly direct the player is more effective. However, there are no clues that this can be done before all the puzzles on the island are complete, and no clear indication of where the final puzzles might be. ![]() A number of activated turrets unlocks a final area that includes the final puzzles and endgame. After completing an area of puzzles, you can activate a turret. There’s a similar central goal in The Witness, but it’s more difficult to find. In a move that’s equal parts reverse psychology and game design, the voice of Elohim tells the player what to do by telling the player not to do it. But it’s obvious that climbing this tower is the main goal of this game. Throughout the game, Elohim repeatedly instructs the player not to approach the tower. For The Talos Principle, the voice of Elohim cleverly uses indirect control by telling players what not to do, and expecting them to do it anyway. In a sense, it’s the opposite of instructing the player, while expecting the same result. There are many ways of doing this, from visual cues to music to limiting the number of options for a player choice. Indirect control is a technique used by game designers to guide players to do what the game requires without explicitly telling the player. For in the day that you do, you shall surely die. But the great tower, there, you may not go. These worlds are yours and you are free to walk amongst them and subdue them. The Witness’ open-world design also causes players who end up in more challenging areas first to struggle to solve the puzzles without any directions. ![]() Doing this reduces confusion and frustration at the outset of the game, which could be a big hurdle for new players to the genre.Ĭonversely, Myst struggles with capturing anyone outside of the puzzler demographic because it leaves the player without any information at the beginning of the game. In The Talos Principle, Elohim’s clearly worded tutorial weaves in elements of the story and the world, while telling the player what to do and where to go. The most obvious use of a narrator in a game is to provide the player with instructions. InstructionĪll across this land I have created trials for you to overcome, and within each I have hidden a sigil. ![]() In this post, I will discuss several purposes that this voice fulfills in the game design of a puzzle game like Talos. Throughout the game, Talos includes narration by a voice called Elohim. The Talos Principle does something different. They provide no narration or hints and leave the player to their own devices, something that can be effective for puzzle solvers, but also lead to isolation and frustration. In these single-player games, players have to tackle puzzle after puzzle on their own, which can be a daunting task, especially when the puzzles become tougher.īoth Myst and The Witness lean into the players’ immersion and concentration to create a sense of zen around the puzzles. Playing any puzzle game requires a level of disconnect from the real world. Though it can get lost in the shuffle between the legacy of Myst (1993) and the star power of Jonathan Blow’s The Witness (2016), Talos does manage to stand on its own. When I played The Talos Principle, the puzzle game by Croteam released in 2014, it brought to mind other great puzzle games. ![]()
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