“What if?” has always been a popular question amongst fans. Long before it was introduced as an actual miniseries, comic fans hashed it out in “Marvel vs. DC” debates, wondering aloud what would happen if Batman and Captain America squared off, or who would emerge victorious if the god of thunder traded blows with Krypton’s favorite son. Comic fans aren’t alone in their musings; hypothetical dream collaborations and mash-ups are not a new concept, and they span the gammut of forms of entertainment, from sports to horror movies to video games.
However, a relatively new conversational topic in regards to gaming is the idea of “player-dictated narrative”. Open-world gaming is attractive to many because it provides a vast, living world to explore and tons of content to sink your teeth into, but one cannot disregard the narrative opportunity of games like Skyrim and Dark Souls. By placing the player into a fully-realized, non-linear world and simply telling them “Go Forth”, the game’s creators pass the narrative mic to the players, allowing the gamers to write their own grand tales of high adventure to share with their friends and peers. In today’s gaming landscape, where control is often wrenched from the player’s hands via QTE’s, excessive hand-holding, and road block set pieces, player-dictated narrative is an appealing philosophy indeed.
A Nexus Community member's Geralt of Rivia enjoying a Skyrim Sunset
What bridges the two fanciful notions of “what if” and “player dictated narrative”? The answer is: character creation. Player customization has a deep and rich history and has been celebrated across genre's, ranging from classic JRPG's to rare gems like E.V.O: Search For Eden, to pro-wrestling titles like the Smackdown Vs. Raw franchise. As gamers, we love choice; being able to decide whether to take road A or B, how to level up our characters, or how our protagonist look, we get giddy over the idea of our experience being solely our own, wholly individualistic. When you truly think about it, no other medium in entertainment allows for as much immersion as gaming: the world is ours to discover, save, and in the best of all possibilities, interpret and innovate.
When I recently fired up Fallout 3 for a new playthrough, the question of “what kind of character do I want to be, and what play style do I want to incorporate?” was presented to me. Pondering my decision, I took a look at the world of Fallout: a bleak, amoral world crawling with ghouls, filled with constant visual reminders that civilzation is in ruin and that the world we knew is gone. That’s when it hit me; in the world of Fallout, I wanted to be Rick Grimes from The Walking Dead. I fashioned my character’s appearance in his resemblance, and decided to limit my weapon usage to melee weapons, a revolver, a hunting rifle, and a sniper rifle, all seeming to be Rick’s weapons of choice from the comic and the show. Not only was it fun to put myself in the shoes of a favorite protagonist from another medium, but it allowed me to impose my own gameplay challenges through limitation of weapon and armor choices in order to remain true to the character.
"Ready men?! CABRAAAAAAAA!!!!!"
The community surrounding The Elder Scrolls IV: Skyrim clearly digs the notion of character creation and customization, and a quick Google search or visit to the Skyrim Nexus community will provide you with dozens of examples of character displacement in Bethesda’s latest effort: William Wallace leading the Stormcloak rebellion for Skyrim’s independence, The Witcher’s Geralt of Rivia strolling (and presumedly, fathering innumerous illegitimate children) throughout Windhelm, and even The Legend of Zelda’s Link exploring dungeons and throwing down with some sword-wielding skeletons. Besides just how damn cool the ideas are, a lot of these player-created homages are incredibly visually impressive, and remarkably true to character.
We stand on the brink of a brilliant new era of character customization and player-dictated narrative. From MMO's to open-world Blockbusters, there is a growing trend of embracing player creativity on a large scale and giving them the tools to create an epic experience as whoever they wish to be. The exciting "What if?" notions of yesterday are rapidly becoming the gaming reality of today. By sharing the experiences we create, whether it is Rick Grimes downing a Feral Ghoul with a headshot, a Belmont facing the horrors of Blightown, or William Wallace liberating Skyrim from the Thalmor's tyranny, we get to flex a bit of our own individual creativity, and hopefully inspire other gamers to pursue some "What if"s of their own.
Do any of you have a particular character creation that you are proud of? How about an example of character displacement that you would love to see? Sounds off in the comments below, and thanks for reading!
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