“How can a narrative designer encourage empathy in players?”

Many video games seek to create a meaningful relationship between the player and NPCs in their in-game worlds. This can be a romantic, platonic or familial. Narrative designers want to create the illusion of a real emotional bond with a fictional game character, even though many of the stories these relationships exist in are linear. In screen-writing, there are distinct methods to generate empathy and engagement from the audience for characters on screen. However, players have agency, it is by the nature of the medium that they are able to shape and have a meaningful effect on the in-game world they are inhabiting. Viewers of film and literature do not have this ability. Thus, a problem arises. What is applicable from the language of film to generate these relationships in a medium where there is uncertainty about how a player will act? How does a narrative designer approach this issue? “What is taken to be real elicits emotions. What does not impress one as true and unavoidable elicits no emo- tion or a weaker one.”1 How can this scenario be avoided in games?

Whilst cinematography and acting bring weight and meaning to a story and its characters, in Commented [ST1]: Not sure if this was meant to be a full stop but a comma would make the sentence flow much game development; animation, level and mechanic design, as well as several other disciplines better must also align and flow to successfully generate player empathy. This is what shall be explored, through investigating case studies of how it has been approached with different degrees of success in several video game titles. Within these case studies I shall be focusing on a specific type of relationship and how empathy is created. Familial relationships between the player and an NPC in a parent and child dynamic. I narrowed my investigation to this type because there are numerous examples of these relationships in games, and traditionally they are a stronger emotional bond to investigate than that of a romance or friendship. Finally, I shall be referring to my own past game development projects, discussing how this research will affect my future developmental processes as a narrative designer.

‘The Walking Dead’2 by Telltale Games provides an excellent example of an NPC with a strong narrative design, that leads the player to feel empathy and a powerful bond with them in Clementine. Telltale takes many traditional storytelling techniques to create the bond with Clementine. How are these techniques applied in a gameplay setting and to what degree of success? John Truby argues in ‘The Anatomy of Story’ that “all characters must be a

1 Frijda, N. (2007). The laws of emotion. Mahwah, N.J.: Erlbaum.

2The Walking Dead. (2012). Telltale Games. variation of the theme” otherwise opponents and side characters will feel “cardboard and one- dimensional”. The theme being ‘the moral viewpoint’ of any given fictional world. In games however, theme often refers more to tone and setting than a highly conceptualised philosophical view. On the other hand, it can be argued that a strong theme from a screen- writing standpoint is expressed well in The Walking Dead. Maintaining empathy and compassion for others is one of the core themes of the game. Much of the time the choices that revolve around self-preservation and selfishness have poor consequences for the player. In the first game for instance, the player is punished entire chapters later if they choose to steal a stranger’s food. Lead writer Mark Darin has stated that the first season is Lee’s “Redemption story” and that “Clementine is the lens through which we see all of our actions.”3 The creative director, Alyssa Finley has added that “Clementine started out as a symbol of something to worry about but became a symbol of hope”4. This aligns with the tone of the game’s world, one of intense risk and danger, and so creates a relationship that feels tangible and fragile. Commented [ST2]: This whole paragraph was really nice, good shit Perron’s5 research into “Fiction/witness emotion,”6 maps directly onto Ermi and Myra’s three immersions, imaginative7, sensory8 and challenge based9. These concepts and theories have

3 THE WALKING DEAD Telltale Season 4 Teaser Trailer (2018) PS4/Xbox One/PC. (2017). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfVUXDczTMg [Accessed 29 Apr. 2018].

4 THE WALKING DEAD Telltale Season 4 Teaser Trailer (2018) PS4/Xbox One/PC. (2017). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfVUXDczTMg [Accessed 29 Apr. 2018]. 5 Perron, B. (2005). A COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH TO GAMEPLAY EMOTIONS. DiGRA '05 - Proceedings of the 2005 DiGRA International Conference: Changing Views: Worlds in Play, [online] 3. Available at: http://www.digra.org/digital- library/publications/a-cognitive-psychological-approach-to-gameplay-emotions/ [Accessed 9 Apr. 2018]. 6 Fiction/witness emotion is the response in the viewer to witnessing the actions of fictional characters and their emotions.

7 Imaginative immersion is when the gameplay world itself is strong enough in its narrative elements to draw in the player and suspend their sense of disbelief.

8 Sensory immersion refers to the audio-visual aspect of gameplay, and whether is it compelling.

9 Challenge-based immersion is when difficulty and flow align within gameplay, to allow the player to be challenged just enough to be lost in the moment and forget their surroundings.

Ermi, L. and Mäyrä, F. (2005). Fundamental Components of the Gameplay Experience: Analysing Immersion. Conference: Digital Games Research Conference 2005, Changing Views: Worlds in been useful when investigating player/NPC relationships designed with the desired effect of a close bond. Furthermore, it can be argued that deep emotional attachment from players towards fictional characters are generated, when the player feels drawn in during this fiction/witness response and experiences these three categories of immersion. If the player Commented [ST3]: This could do with being expanded on a little bit vicariously feels the emotions of another character successfully, it is very likely that they will feel empathy towards them. Empathy can also be generated and heightened if the player is successfully immersed in the game world. The level of immersion and type of emotion that is mainly aspired to in The Walking Dead is imaginative and fiction/witness. You as the player are consistently watching the emotional journeys of other characters struggling psychologically in the apocalypse. You watch Clementine’s emotional journey as she searches for her parents and struggles with feelings of terror, loss, abandonment and sadness. Commented [ST4]: Very nice Moreover, this ties into the game’s mechanics well, as she opens up to you about these emotions, and the agency to react to them is placed in the hands of the player. This feature is the core of the dialogue system and the player is forced to engage with it at all times.

Whilst working on Standby, a first-person horror puzzle game, we as a team aspired to create a bond between the player and the game’s antagonist, a malevolent house-keeping AI. We employed the use of fiction/witness emotion by having the artificially intelligent robot describe its pain and frustration over having being treated as a slave, as justification for its violent behaviour. This had a good degree of success at making this opponent feel legitimately threatening during playtesting. Perhaps what could have bonded the player further to our antagonist was more direct interaction. Such as the conversations between Lee and Clementine as she demonstrates her emotional fragility. Moreover, this would have strengthened the empathy and emotional impact of having the player be the one to finally destroy the robot.

Having utilised the model of the fiction/witness response in this project, and after carrying out further analysis, I acknowledge that it has limitations as a method to draw empathy from a player. There are many times where a player may be exposed to the emotions and actions of a fictional character but will regardless feel no empathy towards them. It is worth mentioning Parkes’s argument that “Emotions often do not arise when being told of loss, and the loss is

Play, June 16-20, 2005, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. [online] Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221217389_Fundamental_Components_of_the_Gamep lay_Experience_Analysing_Immersion [Accessed 9 Apr. 2018].

merely known. They break through when the lost person is truly missed, when the arm reaches out in vain or the desire to communicate finds its target to be absent”10. For instance, where side characters are concerned, The Walking Dead often tries to instil a feeling of loss in the player but fails to as the deceased character in question, is often very quickly replaced by someone just as capable. However, the loss of Lee at the end of the game is felt intimately in the game’s second season, as the loneliness and tragedy of this is highlighted by Clementine’s solo journey through the wilderness.

This is a great example of the fiction/witness model in action, and proof of its value as a starting point to generate empathy. It is also important to note that being immersed, even imaginatively in a game’s world does not guarantee player empathy towards its characters. For instance, the infamous escort mission of the president’s daughter in Resident Evil 411. The world itself is very well realised, but it is not often the case that players feel attached to the President’s daughter, but see her more as an annoying gameplay object. Interesting, Finley states that they avoided Clementine feeling like dead weight by making her “capable” 12 and “helpful” to Lee throughout the game. Commented [ST5]: This was all really nice as well

“Emotions arise, what’s more, in response to events that are important to the individual’s goals, motives and concerns.”13. You feel empathy towards Clementine as her emotional well-being is made your priority and concern as a player. Consequently, this generates the illusion of her vulnerability, as she cannot ever truly die at your hand. Thus, this gives the player a sense of illusory agency and a feeling of true impact over her happiness and safety.

In the Last of Us, many components and techniques of screenwriting and literature were used to bring the relationship between Joel and Ellie to life. There were several factors that meant that these techniques could be utilised successfully in a gameplay setting. In an interview Commented [ST6]: I’d be careful with the use of rhetorical questions here- too many rhetorical questions dilutes the main strong academic thrust of the essay. 10Frijda, N. and Parkes (2007). The laws of emotion. 1st ed. Mahwah, N.J.: Erlbaum.

11 Resident Evil 4. (2005). Japan: Capcom.

12 THE WALKING DEAD Telltale Season 4 Teaser Trailer (2018) PS4/Xbox One/PC. (2017). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfVUXDczTMg [Accessed 29 Apr. 2018]. 13 Perron, B. (2005). A COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH TO GAMEPLAY EMOTIONS. DiGRA '05 - Proceedings of the 2005 DiGRA International Conference: Changing Views: Worlds in Play, [online] 3. Available at: http://www.digra.org/digital- library/publications/a-cognitive-psychological-approach-to-gameplay-emotions/ [Accessed 9 Apr. 2018].

Druckman, the creative director stated that “The story is written organically as the game is coming together. That's because you can't predict what's going to work for gameplay.”14. What this meant is that individual scenes from the script were turned into levels, and then both parts were tested and adjusted according to the results of play-testing and experimentation.

This is arguably taking techniques from both screen writing and game development. Whilst a script is written before the production of a film, the previous redrafting process will have been exhaustive. In game development, a game may change immeasurably from its initial starting point to the final product. Thus, the way writing was approached in The Last of Us was combining and equating redrafting and editing with play-testing and iteration.

Symbolism is used intensely throughout to create player-empathy. A key example being Joel’s watch, representing his complex grief over the death of his daughter. What’s interesting here is the intersection of the fiction/witness technique, as his daughter’s death is the prologue, and Parkes’s previously mentioned argument “They break through when the 15 lost person is truly missed… “ . It is made clear to the player that Ellie is forcing Joel to re- Commented [ST7]: Nice link back, that’s really good live his feelings of pain and loss, by reminding him of how it feels to be a father. Furthermore, it becomes part of the mechanics that she must be looked after. The knowledge of what Joel is experiencing consistently generates a feeling of empathy in the player, a sense of empathy that increases as Joel and Ellie become increasingly closer and more akin to a father and daughter. Commented [ST8]: Very solid, that’s a nice ending to a good paragraph- only thing I’d change is the word snowballs, it’s a bit colloquial- maybe something like ‘deepens’ instead?

What’s important to note about how empathy was created in the Last of Us, was the care and attention given to its performances. Marker based motion capture was used to accurately render the acting done by the two leads, Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson. It took

14Radio, S. (2018). A peek into Naughty Dog game creator Neil Druckmann's creative process. [online] Southern California Public Radio. Available at: https://www.scpr.org/programs/the- frame/2016/07/13/50456/a-peek-into-naughty-dog-game-creator-neil-druckman/ [Accessed 24 Apr. 2016].

15 Perron, B. (2005). A COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH TO GAMEPLAY EMOTIONS. DiGRA '05 - Proceedings of the 2005 DiGRA International Conference: Changing Views: Worlds in Play, [online] 3. Available at: http://www.digra.org/digital-library/publications/a-cognitive-psychological- approach-to-gameplay-emotions/ [Accessed 9 Apr. 2018 approximately “three years”16 to entirely film the Last of Us before it was animated for an additional several. Facial expressions from every actor were carefully preserved in the animation process, as was the same with bodily movements. This heightens the fiction/witness response in the player to an intense degree, as the emotions displayed are extremely true to reality. Moreover, it is worth mentioning Grodal’s argument that “Video games therefore simulate emotions in a form that is closer to typical real-life experiences than 17 film: emotions are motivators for actions” . Empathy is being generated using multiple Commented [ST9]: Super nice integration of that quote, they always flippin love it when you can make a quote like methods, by involving the player’s emotions within their motivation to play, as well as part of a sentence, nice job creating a solid fiction/witness response. Furthermore, the graphic, level and environmental Commented [ST10]: Too vague- You gotta expand on that a little bit otherwise it just sounds like you ran out of time design result in strong experiences of all three types of immersion mentioned previously, halfway through a point imaginative, gameplay and challenge based. Leading from the previous point of writing to Commented [ST11]: Same here- if you say ‘multiple manners’ or ‘many types’ that doesn’t really mean anything, gameplay iteration, it is worth mentioning that it is likely levels were designed to create the u gotta be more specific possibility of dialogue and certain interactions happening. It is the coming together of these disciplines, as well as strong character arcs for the protagonists that result in a strong sense of empathy drawn from the player towards Joel and Ellie.

Illusory agency is also a key component is drawing empathy from the player towards Ellie. In gameplay terms she is invincible, yet you are made to believe that Joel, and by extension the player is a protective father figure towards her. In point of fact, Druckman has described the story as that of a “parent and child.”18 The player is aware that the further they play through this journey, the harder it becomes for Joel to preserve his sense of emotional control. Thus, this is where his character develops. He is forced to confront his “Character lie”19, that the risk of losing someone is too high to allow himself to have a family. A great sense of

16Baker, Troy. The Last of Us - Momocon. (2014). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYF-jnc5AqI [Accessed 22 Apr. 2018].

17 Perron, B. (2005). A COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH TO GAMEPLAY EMOTIONS. DiGRA '05 - Proceedings of the 2005 DiGRA International Conference: Changing Views: Worlds in Play, [online] 3. Available at: http://www.digra.org/digital- library/publications/a-cognitive-psychological-approach-to-gameplay-emotions/ [Accessed 9 Apr. 2018].

18 Lanz, M. (2016). A peek into Naughty Dog game creator Neil Druckmann's creative process. [online] The Frame. Available at: https://www.scpr.org/programs/the- frame/2016/07/13/50456/a-peek-into-naughty-dog-game-creator-neil-druckman/ [Accessed 9 Apr. 2018]. 19 Truby, J. (2008). The anatomy of story. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Page 84-5

empathy is created by watching Joel’s need for love and family conflicting with this lie, resulting in the eventual crisis and resolution of saving her life at the end of the game. He has elicited the change he needs within himself to grow. Commented [ST12]: Another excellent paragraph but is that the end of the essay? It’s a flippin great paragraph but it To conclude, paraphrasing Perron, the study of player empathy and narrative design “To our doesn’t feel very conclusive, I’d try and round stuff off just a bit more summarily if I were you. great pleasure, deserves further study.”20 There are many aspects of film and screenwriting that can combine beautifully with narrative and gameplay design to demonstrate this phenomenon. As games with powerful, relationship based narratives continue to be made, games as a medium are quickly and already becoming as powerful as the play or literature to delve deep into our souls.

References

Moriarty, C. (2013). The Last Of Us Review. IGN. Sartori, P. (2013). The Last Of Us - Review. [online] The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2013/jun/05/the-last-of-us-ps3- video-game-review [Accessed 12 Mar. 2018]. Hughes, S. (2015). Get real: Narrative and gameplay in The Last of Us. JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE RESEARCH IN ANTHROPOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY, [online] 6(1), pp.1-6. Available at: http://compaso.eu/wpd/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Compaso2015- 61-Hughes.pdf [Accessed 12 Mar. 2018]. The Last of Us. (2013). Naughty Dog.

Lanz, M. (2016). A peek into Naughty Dog game creator Neil Druckmann's creative process. [online] The Frame. Available at: https://www.scpr.org/programs/the- frame/2016/07/13/50456/a-peek-into-naughty-dog-game-creator-neil-druckman/ [Accessed 9 Apr. 2018]. Resident Evil 4. (2005). Japan: Capcom. THE WALKING DEAD Telltale Season 4 Teaser Trailer (2018) PS4/Xbox One/PC. (2017). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfVUXDczTMg [Accessed 29 Apr. 2018].

20 Perron, B. (2005). A COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH TO GAMEPLAY EMOTIONS. DiGRA '05 - Proceedings of the 2005 DiGRA International Conference: Changing Views: Worlds in Play, [online] 3. Available at: http://www.digra.org/digital- library/publications/a-cognitive-psychological-approach-to-gameplay-emotions/ [Accessed 9 Apr. 2018].

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