Viewpoints are very essential in combination with the controls and visual  interface for creating the overall game interface. In my opinion, viewpoints have always strayed me away from certain games. I felt the style of top downs was too unappealing to the bigger models of first person and third person games. Back to perspectives, many text based games do not use a viewpoint, while many modern games can have anything from a top down, first person, side view or third person. It’s interesting how these different views can enhance or restrict a player. Top down normally allows the player to see much more than what their playable character might be seeing. Some games don’t even have a set character like Civilization where you may have a movable army, but you aren’t connected to them in the same way as a narrative with one playable character. Different angles can allow you to relate more with the character or less depending on what the narrative needs. 

Viewpoints can also change how mechanics feel, which can benefit or hinder the gameplay. Mentioned in class, Dead by Daylight has the killer with a first person perspective, while the survivor is in third person. This allows the survivor to spot the killer faster and enables the killer to focus on searching for their targets. Another example, Night in the Woods was a side view and this worked with the mechanics given because the game was a platformer and 2D. Side view might also make things easier for a small group of developers versus a 3D platformer like Super Mario Galaxy, which is third person and had a large group of people to produce.

Overall, games can go with or without a certain perspective. Text based games don’t need angles, but many games today do and which ones that are chosen can affect the mechanics and feel. If the angle is an artistic choice, mechanics might have to be altered if the gameplay doesn’t feel proper with the new angle. “The view point is then “both a formal and a dramatic design element (Fullerton, 263).” It is a mechanic and a part of the storytelling.

Works Cited

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