Why Games Don’t Make Us Cry
By Audrey Wells
Games don’t
tend to affect gamers nearly as much as any other type of media when it comes
to emotions. Specifically, I’m talking about evoking the most embarrassing of
emotions: tears. I’ll admit that I’ve had several books make me cry, and even
more movies. Why don’t games do the same? There are probably lots of reasons.
First of all, the majority of games are not even designed for that purpose. Games
in strategy, sports, simulation, and action genres normally aren’t intended for
evoking this kind of emotion.
The adventure genre is different. Many adventure
games do strive to evoke emotion in their players. These are the types of games,
generally referring to third-person graphic adventure games, that I like the best
(probably because invoked emotion equates to a good story). But in all but the
rarest cases, they fail to get even one tear to trickle from my eyes. Why? I’m
a very emotional person so it shouldn’t be that hard. I cry when I watch
sad movies, I cry when I read sad books, I cry when I feel sad.
Movies designed
for tear-wrenching, for example, do an excellent job because they are crammed
into approximately two or three hours. There are no breaks during which the person
can regain calmness or return to his/her life. Instead, people are bombarded with
a steady stream of moving pictures while in a semi-hypnotized state, completely
absorbed in the events of the movie. If the movie is designed to make people cry,
chances are that most people will succumb to the emotion of it all. In contrast,
games are typically played in spurts, to break up the 20 to 50 hours that an average
game might last (depending on the skill and experience of the gamer). The breaks
in between play sessions allow even the most emotional of gamers to return to
an unexcited state.
That doesn’t explain why books can evoke tears, however,
since they are typically read in spurts as well. Perhaps the reason is that books
utilize one of the most powerful aspects of the human brain–the imagination.
Books let you imagine the characters, events, and settings, thereby involving
the reader in the story and emotions that may come along with it.
Conversely,
games are limited by their technology. If the illusion of realism is not created,
some gamers may not be fully captivated by the game in order to feel emotionally
involved. Poor graphics, imperfectly animated characters, or inferior acting may
hinder adventures in this respect. Text adventures are probably the only exception
to this because they have no graphics and resemble interactive books.
Theoretically,
as technology improves for graphic adventures, so should the illusion of realism,
but that is not always the case. For example, the surge of real-time-rendered
3D adventure games features somewhat blocky polygonal characters and textured
environments. King’s Quest: Mask of Eternity, Grim Fandango, Gabriel Knight
3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned, and the upcoming Monkey Island
4: Escape from Monkey Island are all based on three-dimensional worlds. But
with each subsequent 3D adventure, the graphics become more refined. It’s as if
we’re taking a step backwards in order to improve more in the long run. Gabriel
Knight 3 did an excellent job of overcoming many 3D graphical limitations–there
was less pixelation and much more realistically rendered characters.
Though
there is still a long way to go with 3D technology, I must say that I am welcoming
any 3D adventure after my experience with GK3 and Grim Fandango. Both
of these games nicely demonstrate how an adventure can be done in 3D without
losing any of the vital qualities that make an adventure game (such as those lost
in Mask of Eternity). GK3 was also one of those rare games that
put me on the brink of tears with its phenomenal storyline. I even found
myself preferring the 3D-rendered characters to the FMV and 2D characters seen
in the previous GK games. Perhaps 3D graphics are the key to drawing gamers
further into the emotion of games, since they provide a much greater level of
detail, exploration, and character movement.
In any case, I have noticed
that all of the games I have been emotionally affected by (even though I’ve never
actually cried–yet) have several things in common. For example, there are many
prevalent themes that are seen in emotion-invoking games. The theme of lost or
unrequited love is a strong one. The end of The Last Express is utterly
heart-rending (I won’t be specific in case you haven’t played these games). Similarly,
the poignant end of Gabriel Knight 3 left gamers begging for a resolution
between Gabriel and Grace. These types of love themes are my personal favorite,
being the hopeless romantic that I am.
Another potent theme involves ghosts
and other supernatural beings. In Sanitarium, the amnesic protagonist confronts
his own personal demons though his interactions with ghosts and monsters. Amber:
Journeys Beyond, Morpheus, and The Blackstone Chronicles also deal
with quite a few sad ghost stories. The most emotional of games usually include
somewhat controversial endings, such as GK3, Black Dahlia, and Tender
Loving Care. In addition, games are much more effective at bringing out emotional
responses if the player feels a special bond with one or more of the characters.
Perhaps the player finds a similarity to a situation he or she is in or has been
in or feels a resemblance to one of the characters. Thus, every game has a different
effect on different people–it all depends on the perspective.
And now,
to conclude, I present to you the top 10 list of emotional graphic adventures.
If you’re looking for some good, old-fashioned emotion, play these games.
Top
10 Emotional Graphic Adventures
1. Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the
Sacred, Blood of the Damned
2. The Last Express
3. Sanitarium
4. Grim Fandango
5. Amber: Journeys Beyond
6. Black
Dahlia
7. Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
8. Tender
Loving Care
9. The Blackstone Chronicles
10. Morpheus
Many
thanks to the people of GameBoomers for their assistance.
