There are a wide variety of formal elements in video games. One element that resonates the most with me is characters and the difference between 2D and 3D characters. Many times I find myself stuck with 2D characters, like in multiplayer games, where the player’s actions matter more than the story of the character. The character might have a background, but nothing adapts in the game play to change the character. However, games like Assassin’s Creed have plenty of character development, where we go on an emotional journey as we discover unknown pieces of our life that drastically alters our perspective. That is the beauty of the 3D character. Unfortunately, 2D and 3D protagonists with a linear story line don’t allow much for the player to affect what the outcomes are for the character and their development. So, we are left with just many variations of the regular model, which have some positive aspects. Other types of characters can be more than just an emotional reflection of what the player should feel. As mentioned by Fullerton, The protagonist can be, symbolic for larger ideas, representative of a group of people, or be a historical figure.

Importantly, when developing this persona, there are two pieces to focus on, which is agency and empathy. Agency is when the character is a representation of the player, while empathy is the emotional attachment between the two. As I described before, a character doesn’t always have to be an emotional reflection. Multiplayer games are greatly influenced by agency, but it is not possible to never have any emotional pieces with a character. There is always something relatable. The character could be human or go through impactful events, where it’s hard not to relate to that.

The many elements of a character can drastically rework a game. With 2D, there might be less empathy and more agency, while with 3D there can be more empathy. A character can be plainly just a representation of yourself, where you have complete agency. Without them, we might find a game being less engaging because we have difficulty finding some sort of connection. However, even games like Tetris, have immersion without a protagonist to follow.

Works Cited

Fullerton, Tracy. Game Design Workshop: a Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games. CRC Press, 2019.