All Great Journeys: Part Two

The type of opening sequence a game has is often influenced by the type of world that the designers created. Of course, there are certain worlds that fit well with certain opening sequences and worlds that just don't make sense for the sequence they were given.  It is not only important to note how large the world is, but also how much the player is allowed to explore it when creating your opening sequence.  Today I'm going to highlight the Hero Cutscene and what type of environments work well with it.

When you want a good example of a Hero Cutscene look no further than games like Skyrim and Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (KoA).  Games like these make great use of an opening cutscene that really sets the mood for the world that the player is going to be put in.  Now, I don't believe the opening sequence for Skyrim really ends until you kill your first dragon, and I don't think the sequence for KoA ends until you eventually leave the Well of Souls, but I'll explain that in a bit.

The opening sequence for these games highlight some of the conflicts that are going on in the world that you will be exploring.  The rebellion of the Nords against the Empire in Skyrim, the invasion of the Tuatha and the  Crystal War in KoA which give the player a sense that this is a world full of conflict.  The scene goes along and you see your first dragon attacking the public execution that you were a part of in Skyrim, and the character that you just recently created comes back to life in KoA.  In Skyrim, this dragon appearance gives the player a sense that there must be something far greater than the rebellion going on in this world, making said player want to explore it to see what it has to offer.  In KoA, this idea of coming back to life already establishes that the character is something special and confirms it moments later when you are told that you are the first, and, more likely than not, only success to come from the Well of Souls.

After these small sequences take place, the player is set off to escape the Well of Souls in KoA, and to go to Whiterun in Skyrim.  Once the player finishes what they were sent to do there, they leave that area with new knowledge, that they are the piece of the puzzle that could solve all of the conflict in this world.  When you finally leave Whiterun, you know that you are the Dragonborn, a being with the blood of a dragon who can actually end the lives of the dragons that are sprouting up around Skyrim and causing havoc.  A similar situation applies to KoA when you leave the Well of Souls and speak to the Fateweaver, only to learn that you are not a part of the tapestry of fate, a being that can create their own destiny and change the fates of others.

At this point, the player is established as the most important being in this world, the most influential person that no one knows exists.  Because of this, you are not really forced to go along a path that the game has set out for you.  Instead, because you are the one with all of the influence, you are the one that makes your own path.  You decide who you're going to help, you decide where you're going to go, and you decide how long it's going to take you to do every action.  You are given a world to explore and you are told right away, in the opening sequence, that you are the hero that you hold the fate of the world in your hands.

Of course, because you make your own path, you need an open world to explore to take advantage of this new found freedom.  This is why games like the Elder Scrolls series and KoA as well as a wide variety of other titles are incredibly popular.  They give you a world that is incredibly interesting that makes you want to explore it and experience all that it has to offer.  It takes a special kind of game that makes you invest hundreds of hours into it and have you still be less than a quarter of the way through the main story line.

In conclusion, the Hero Opener is a great way to establish that you, the player, are something special in this world.  They are usually paired with games that make you want to explore the world that you are placed in because you feel like you have so much influence over it.  There are plenty of other games that use this same opening formula that I didn't mention.

All Great Journeys: Part One

It's been said more times than I can count that all great journeys start with a single step.  As cliche as the saying is, no one can deny just how true that statement is.  If you want to do something with your life all you have to do is actually start something.  No one is going to come to you with an opportunity unless you start making opportunities for yourself.  All of these are things that apply to real life, but you're not here to get life advice from some twenty year old guy who thinks he knows more about the world than he really does.

If I remember correctly, you came here to read about video games, and that's exactly what I'm here to provide.  When you look at heroes from literature and from movies, you'll notice that a lot of them become great because they are put in extreme circumstances that they couldn't have possibly been prepared for.  Frodo only went on his grand adventure because he received the One Ring and took it upon himself to destroy it despite all his fears.  Harry Potter wouldn't have been anything special if he hadn't been turned into a horcrux by Voldemort when he was a baby, thus tying him to the villain and forcing him into greatness.  Even Bruce Wayne wouldn't have become Batman if he never witnessed his parents' murder, thus spawning his obsession with revenge and almost unhealthy obsession with cleaning the streets of Gotham.

So many great heroes from all forms of media are spawned from circumstances that are often times out of their control, and this phenomenon can often apply to video games.  Creating a hero in a game usually involves placing the player in a situation that seems too large for a single man or woman to handle.  The protagonist is often times placed in this situation in a cutscene or the first few minutes of gameplay.  These first moments of a game are usually referred to as the opening sequence of a game and should be considered the most important part of a story.

The opening to a game is usually what a developer uses to establish the world that you are going to be exploring during the entirety of the game.  Before any characters or plot elements are introduced, a game must first establish that the world you will be saving is something interesting.  No one wants to save a world with no depth.  They want a world with character, a world that tells a story that is almost as epic as the journey that the player is about to have in it.  The lore, the legends, the heroes of old, the mountains, the rivers, the cities and forts, every element of a world needs to be something that creates a sense of wonder for the player.  Of course, the seeds of this interest should be planted as early as possible, which is where the opening sequence comes in.

First Impressions

There are few things in life as important as making a good first impression.  Often times it will all start with a joke or some sort of attention grabber just to get a conversation started.  A couple of lines of banter later and you might be exchanging names and shaking hands.  Once you get to that point you are no longer two strangers having a passing conversation.  Now you're acquaintances, and once you part ways, you will have left an impression on the person you were speaking to.  Now the only question you have to ask yourself is whether or not that first impression was good, or bad.

Now that the attention grabber and the witty banter is out of the way, I'd like to introduce myself.  You can call me One More Credit, and I'm here to write about video games.