Art
STORYTELLING
as
in Video Games
Delving into an unfamiliar interactive world, there are a few things you may be wont to rely on:
the game’s tutorial,
your friendly introductory companion character (sometimes),
and the art that unfolds before your senses, plunging you into a deluge of information—sometimes more subtle than what first meets the eye.
The many facets of video games, from world-building to mechanics to characters, can be overwhelming to digest—although, at the same time, that breadth and interactivity are what make them so appealing and distinct from other forms of media, such as books or TV-series, where you are only really an onlooker, not a protagonist. In those more traditional forms, narratives can be delivered much more directly than in most games, which rely notably on the player’s inputs and choices and not only on the intentions of the creator. This indirect yet integrating model poses an obstacle, an opportunity, and something of an ultimate quest to developers: to provide a meaningful and immersive storytelling experience; essentially, to create art.
The most common method of artistic design is often
VISUAL.
Cutscenes, environment details, character design, even user interface—these visual elements are crucial to video games due to their ability to convey information such as mood, context, and subtle details which deepen the story and world in an instantaneous, intuitive, and easily digestible way. After all, we are a largely visual species, and one conditioned to many of the principles and psychological phenomena related to visual choices.
Color to build mood. Lighting to illuminate or obfuscate information. Shapes sharp or rounded, open or closed or completed by our Gestalt minds anyhow.
Assets to building a cohesive and intuitive experience for gamers.
One visual aspect that is thoroughly influential and permeable through the entirety of a game is environment design. The environment or background in each moment of gameplay is the most vital to conveying the mood and context of that moment through choices of color, lighting, subtle details, visibility, and essentially every facet of the design. With that in mind, let’s dive into a few examples:
A unique turn-based RPG, Honkai: Star Rail features an open-world map spanning across planets. On one of the first planets the player encounters on their journey, there exists a city by the name of Belobog, which is split into two halves: the Overworld, and the Underworld. The two serve as direct antitheses to one another, with the Overworld comprising of bright white and blue color schemes, romantic luxuries, and polished metal while the Underworld is shrouded in darkness, offset only by neons that feel almost acidic and rusted iron pipes and beams holding the town together. These design choices make blatantly obvious the concepts of classist separation and struggles of those living in poverty and less favorable conditions which play critical roles in the story and world of this chapter in the game’s plot.
This interaction between the immersive world we see and the one we understand the game’s meaning by is integral to player experience in every game, but some genres do rely on it more than others. In horror games, the environment not only represents thematic elements and context, but also serves to instill the fear, creepiness, and unsettledness for which the genre is known and loved for. Indie horror title Poppy Playtime employs this in the design of its dilapidated toy factory, the destruction and intentionally placed bloodstains in stark contrast to the childish props and designs and washed out pastels of what once was a vibrant and successful facility. It also plays with visibility, forcing players to brave seemingly bottomless pits, nearly pitch hallways, and narrow tunnels, always seeming as though it is hiding something from the player, whether that’s a jumpscare, or something even more sinister. Hiding in the details of the factory are numerous implications and corroborations of even darker theories, such as blood around stuffed toys that imply the products manufactured there were in fact organic and can bleed (just think about it for a moment…), and exposing the proficiency of environment design at containing subtle details to lend to theories, underlying ideas, and enriching the nuance of the game’s world.
Sometimes, though, these details aren’t hiding in the background—they’re in plain sight, mottled in with the details of your character. Really, character design holds its own distinct place in game experience, particularly in games featuring playable characters or where characters are very present and influential in gameplay. Visual design is crucial to a player’s first impression of the character and can be used to represent important details and concepts about their personality, background, and role in the world of the game, as well as make evident any real-world cultural symbols, myths, or other references that inspired them.
Hailing from the same company as Honkai: Star Rail, the popular open-world RPG Genshin Impact makes apparent how subtle yet effective these small details in a character’s design can be when examining the patterns across the game’s various regions, each of which is based off real cultures and geographies.The use of stylized cloud motifs reminiscent of Japanese yokogumo, traditional Chinese knots in place of ordinary buttons, and European lace decorating an outfit all evoke distinct senses of fashion and culture inspired by their respective ethnicities in our world. At a glance, distinguishing between characters from different regions is easy. And what of each individual character? With over seventy playable characters, being able to quickly and uniquely represent each via their design is crucial to easing the overwhelming amount of choice. Color scheme, dress style, repeated motifs—all of these serve to portray and differentiate each character’s personality, occupation, and identity.
Alternatively, character design can be used deceptively to mislead the player about a character’s nature and intentions or create a purposeful disconnect between a character and their appearance to further the game’s theme or mood. This is particularly effective where plot twists or uncanny and psychological horror are involved, as we are prone to making assumptions about other people (or humanoids) based on appearance as a more effective way of processing our interpersonal affairs. Returning to Poppy Playtime for a moment, we can see how this concept is well employed in the bright, usually innocent colors and toy-like textures of the player’s enemies, evoking an eerie and uncanny disconnect.
Admittedly, games sometimes focus more on making the designs aesthetically appealing rather than on conveying a story or carrying on a theme. This may be more profitable to reach their main audience, but can also limit their depth and consistency between the characters and the world and plot of the story. Infamous for this is the iconic MOBA game League of Legends, whose early designs involved a lot of stingily dressed women and outfits that seemed to be sexualized imitations of what they were supposed to be. Its publisher, Riot Games, has, however, since updated these designs to better represent their characters.
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