On Making Players Feel With Mechanics - [game array]

[@nomukun1138]

YES! I've always thought this was the reason for the huge emotional impact of Aeris's death - it had a mechanical result that reinforced the story result. You hit the nail on the head and added more to my understanding. I'm sputtering in real life.

[@suhfee]

this is one of my favorite youtube channels by far

[@jasonjayalap]

The ending swim scene in Brothers could bring a tear from a statue. The game gave you something, took it away along with one of the players physical hands, then returned a small part back to both the in game and real player via a goddamn button press that you forced yourself to do just the like character. Sniff sniff

[@thinreaper]

Really great video. So many games take the cliched approach of starting the player out with nothing and slowly adding to their repertoire of moves/abilities/items as the game goes on in order to make you feel 'powerful'. It's become pretty trite to be honest and it's amazing how, what are generally considered to be some of gaming's most memorable moments, actually just do the opposite, take something away.

[@marcodelaflor1521]

I agree with all exepct the parallel with VII. Thats the weakest of them, not the strongest

[@theeggman85]

+Andy Evans I agree with Marco. Your argument could be applied to any JRPG where a character dies, or for that matter, any game where you invest in a character to later lose that character. This alone doesn't produce feeling through mechanics to the level that games like Ico and SotC do. I think the difference for those examples lies in the stark juxtaposition between the character's presence and the loneliness of the world. The existing atmosphere of the game is made real because in a way, the mechanics become lonely once you lose your partner. Aeris's death is sad in the context of the story, and mechanically you can't use her anymore, but those elements are disjoint and don't join together to create something really special. It may be a bummer to lose that investment, but for me it's not nearly at the world-building level of these other games.

[@DominicSnyder]

Man, I love your videos. Hope you've got more on the way. By the way, Agro's often mistaken for a male, but is actually a female horse!

[@gamearray]

Should have a new video going live on Monday! You'll have to let me know what you think.

[@DominicSnyder]

Oh, fantastic! Will do. Thanks for the heads up.

[@nomukun1138]

Yorda's removal took away an interesting part of the game's mechanics, but the player actually becomes more "powerful" without her. I blasted through the last section of ICO in one sitting, feeling like I was in turbo mode, completely focused on saving Yorda.

[@ScrambledRK]

great topic, I wonder whats still in it. you've focused on one particular technique (removing something important) but I am sure there is lots more. For example in the Walking Dead series EP2 where you have to decide who gets food or the Banner Saga deciding whether to pick up additional refugees and risk starvation. you've shown great and diverse examples and would like to throw in an RTS: Warcraft 3 The Frozen Throne, Arthas decreases in strength as you progress further into the campaign.

[@Echo21]

Pyre utilized this to great effect!

[@liamgibbons8602]

Great video! I am reminded of the end of Kentucky Route Zero's third Act, in which (spoilers!) your alcoholic protagonist is offered a drink. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZq2YoyObqiMhac Rather than simply making it so you can't progress without taking the drink, the game actually takes control of your mouse cursor and clicks the 'drink' command for you. Not only is it an unexpected fourth-wall break, but it also damages your trust in the game, and the character you're playing as. While you couldn't always control the events in the game, you always had at least some agency in the form of the cursor, which you used to walk around, select dialogue options, and interact with the environment. When this last, small piece of control is stripped away from you, you feel violated, and it serves as a perfect metaphor for your characters rapid spiral into helplessness.

[@BitPuffin]

Fantastic video as always! Very insightful. Are you going to make a video about SOMA any time soon?

[@gamearray]

+BitPuffin maybe... ;)

[@Spiderboydk]

The intro confused me for a moment. It is very similar to Jim Sterling's Nitpick Theatre series.

[@gamearray]

+Claus Jensby Madsen I know! I put that intro slide together before he started doing Nitpick Theatre! I guess I need to remake it or bring in different stock music.

[@Spiderboydk]

+[game array] Yeah, I assumed it was a coincidence, so I didn't mind. :-) Good video btw.

[@gamearray]

+Claus Jensby Madsen Thank you!

[@jakandem]

You should try to name that formula.

[@hemangchauhan2864]

I'm assuming you likes Team Ico's games a lot? If so, hello brother ^_^

[@Sharlock93]

what is the background music used here? its so soothing

[@dune3001]

+Sharlock93 the ICO/Shadow of the Colossus/FFVII soundtrack

[@civilwarfare101]

I disagree with FF7 but the other examples are pretty good.

[@GoldskinOST]

no more "The First Fifteen Minutes" vids ? :(

[@gamearray]

+GoldskinOST They're coming!

[@aaddiction7294]

Can you please tell what's the game at 0:27?

[@gamearray]

+Aaddiction Ni No Kuni fo the Playstation 3!

[@aaddiction7294]

+[game array] Thank you!

[@johnanth]

Is this a clone of errant signal or something? The branding looks very similar... Though this video at least is arguably better than his stuff -- I find him really wanky a lot of the time.