This paper analyzes the reasons why players like the plot of the game, and analyzes the generation of the sense of substitution.

"Substitution experience based on interactive elements is the charm of video games"

Whether games deserve the title of "the ninth art" is still controversial, but there is no doubt that no one will classify games under the traditional categories of film, painting, music and literature, not only because the carrier of games is essentially different from them, but also because games can provide an experience that is more difficult to obtain in other forms of expression-the sense of substitution. Players gradually overlap with the characters in the process through the interaction in the game. Finally, how difficult is it to have a sense of substitution? What does a game need to give players a sense of substitution?

In this article, I will analyze the seemingly mysterious emotional experience of substitution for you from three games.

A distinctive feature of role-playing games and Sony's first-party movie narrative games is that the core text defines the core gameplay and ultimately determines the direction of the core game. Of course, the first two are complementary rather than explicit inheritance.

In god of war 4, Santa Monica designed an excellent character growth system and combat system for Kratos and his son, and put a lot of excellent puzzle-solving challenges on the map, but I don't think most players will be immersed in god of war 4 because of these contents. The real driving force is a father-son journey, which is the core text plot. The player will play Kratos and build a deep bond with Atreus step by step. This is the so-called I will replace him. After Kratos regained the chaotic double-edged sword, Santa Monica designed several emotional vent points, which were distributed in the second half of the process, in order to let the player complete the sublimation from me replacing him (playing Kratos) to me replacing me, that is, to have a sense of * * * with Kratos and experience the emotions conveyed by the game. And this emotion is the so-called sense of substitution.

A similar design also exists in The Last Survivor 1. Why do Joel and Ellie see giraffes recorded in the game history? Because this is an atmosphere that only games can create, and it is a performance with interactive elements, so that players can vent their feelings accumulated in the previous process. Countless people feel the charm of video games in this scene. "At this moment, I am Joel." This also makes "the last survivor 1" sacred. After all, apart from interaction, it is only a traditional road film, but with interaction, it becomes a road film experienced by players. This cross-dimensional sublimation is the reason why this work is regarded as a standard by countless players and designers. It almost perfectly explains how video games complete cinematic narration through interactive elements, and provides the direction for the whole PS4 generation 3A games.

In addition to these Sony first-party games, JRPG can also provide players with such a sense of substitution experience. Throughout the games included in JRPG, epic and heroism are unavoidable topics, but it is this kind of story script that looks like the onlookers are second to none, but it can make people feel lost after customs clearance. After I experienced the game of movie narration, I mostly remember the performance on the emotional node. On the night when I went through the customs clearance of Goddess 5 alien records, I looked at "Thank you to all persona5 players" on the screen, and my mind was blank, as if I were still trapped in the story of thieves. This is the charm of JRPG, and their strong sense of substitution is reflected in the sublimation process from me to him.

Give the player a fictional experience at the beginning of the story. As long as this experience conforms to the player's values, the foundation has been laid. Then through a shocking story script, let the player play from an outsider to the last place, "I am Yu Honglian." "I'm Lex." Completely substituted, moved by vivid characters, of course, this is what all excellent plot games have in common.

However, once the values are inconsistent, players are doomed to be irreplaceable, and all well-designed interaction points and emotional curves have lost their functions. Then there is no interaction, no sense of substitution. Why don't I go to the movies?

Compared with the JRPG where I replaced him, the design of CRPG is simpler. In these traditional games, the role played by the players is often a mystery, and when it is handed over to the players, it is a blank sheet of paper. If you can record the whole process when the game goes through customs, it will be a ups and downs fantasy novel. This second life-like feeling is the sense of substitution that CRPG brings to players.

Since I took my place. When the player gives a name to the character he controls, the * * * song has already appeared. Without the constraints of the past, there is naturally no premise of whether the values are consistent. As long as the subsequent words meet, plus the branching route that even S/L can't take care of, the whole story is the mapping of players, because they are in it from the beginning. For example, exotic requiem, such as radiation, or bliss disco with several restrictions.

The above games create a sense of substitution, rely on the core text to define the core gameplay, and finally decide the direction of the core game. Then according to this standard, some games that do not belong to RPG can still provide a strong sense of substitution. For example, in the early "Assassin's Creed" Ezio trilogy, at this time, Ubisoft had not stuffed too many RPG elements, and the play experience of ACT was still dominant, but these trilogies still created a strong sense of substitution for players, only because they successfully used the core text to shape the fantasy world in line with values.

It is not difficult to see that the proliferation of RPG system now, replacing fine checkpoints and dialogues with relatively simple numerical stacking, is a phenomenon that bad money drives out good money. There is nothing wrong with RPG, but the design formulation and process digitalization in order to shorten the construction period and save costs are definitely not a healthy development direction of commercial games.

Then it's time to make some summary of the previous contents. The topic of substitution is extremely idealistic in itself. The examples given in this paper can't be consistent with every player, but every player's sense of substitution must come from his feelings about things in the game, and it is the player's values that guide this feeling.

Because even if I am given the CRPG suggested at the beginning, the player will start from the perspective of a bystander. Only when the story can cater to the values will there be a sense of substitution, which means that this ass must sit up straight! It is not regrettable that the game that disrespects the player is dead.

With this premise, it is time to test the basic skills of screenwriters. The narrative of a fixed script should conform to the design of a given person, and the narrative of a large number of branches should make each branch smooth, coherent and logical. So even though CDPR is the best in the world, as in Wizard 3, "Your brother has just been killed! Do you want to play quint? " This kind of dialogue is really a failure in creating a sense of substitution.

But one thing should never be forgotten. If you want players to gradually substitute characters and unconsciously integrate into the story, you must rely on interaction to strengthen the * * * sound between players and games, which is the accumulation of emotions. The more emotions players accumulate in the process, the easier it is to have a sense of substitution. At this time, the designer must give the player an outlet. Only when repressed emotions, whether positive or negative, are vented through a performance or a dialogue option can players enter the final stage of my substitution, and the substitution experience is perfect.

But if the game script is suppressed to the end or even refuses to give the player an outlet, don't leave any logical loopholes in the script, otherwise the sense of substitution will split. A vivid example is the upcoming Last Survivor 2. There are many positive examples of ups and downs in the script. After all, a game that successfully creates a sense of substitution will at least give players an outlet to vent their emotions. Imagine, if Bader can't be killed at the end of god of war 4, even if the players can understand the entanglement and helplessness of Nordic mythology, I don't think it's a pleasant thing to end the process for dozens of hours.

In any case, the process of creating a sense of substitution is the process of letting players substitute me. As long as the player successfully regards the virtual character as his incarnation during the game and maintains this feeling to the end, this is the sense of substitution.

If a game can't give the player the slightest sense of substitution, it must be a failure, but this sentence does not apply to Nintendo's first-party games and most independent games. They give players a deeper experience, just as game designers all over the world are learning how to build the level of Mario and Zelda, but Shigeru Miyamoto said that this only restores the fun of rural childhood. This is pure game fun, and it is also the reason why people love video games. Substitution is just an effective way to strengthen this hobby.

For those indie games that have no protagonist or even plot, although these theories are not applicable, they still have a sense of substitution, but instead of substituting the protagonist, they are substituted into the audience and get similar emotional experiences from the perspective of onlookers. This article will not describe them.

At the end of the article, it is time to use this excellent negative material to demonstrate the viewpoint put forward earlier-the biggest joke in the game circle in mid-2020, the last survivor II.

The reason why The Last Survivor Generation is deified is precisely because it makes the players have an emotional voice with Joel and Ellie through a unique interactive way. At the same time, after the player finally replaced Joel, the game explained the behavior of all the characters who appeared. Joel's final choice conforms to the values and the design of the created person. At the same time, the whole story is smooth and coherent, with many emotional outlets. Players' sense of substitution is naturally hard to find.

Looking back on the second generation, the biggest problem is not political correctness. It is entirely possible to discuss politics in the game. For example, Blissful Disco is a hodgepodge, but it is not intentional. At the same time, its narrative structure and script logic are still valid when digging deep into potential stories, but The Last Survivor 2 did not. When you study the motives of Ellie and Abby, you will find that all the authors are cheating you. Neil tried to make the players rationalize the behavior of the characters in their minds through various ways of forced indoctrination and preaching, but when you think about it carefully, you will find that Abby and Ellie met less than 1 hour in the whole game, so the ending of the story became completely illogical. In the face of illogical stories, no player can have a sense of substitution. No one can replace me at all. Even if I replace Abby, I can't replace Ellie. Looking back at the whole story, it is even more fragmented.

As for the problem on the emotional curve, it is even more prominent. After Joel was brutally killed, the player's revenge is at a high point. At this time, there should be a vent point to release, but the naughty dog placed an open world here, so the whole emotional curve was completely destroyed and the revenge was consumed by the open world. If you don't give the player a chance to vent, the sense of substitution you are generating will be split. After the opening of the world, a series of vent points finally came, but when I finally faced Abby, I directly turned to Abby's perspective and forcibly switched from substituting Ellie to substituting Abby. But the player is far from the level where I used Ellie for me, and then I started a substitution experience from scratch, so it is only a ghost that the script of this game can be successful.

If The Last Survivor 1 is the best textbook on how to create a sense of substitution in cinematic games, then The Last Survivor 2 is the best negative textbook. From this perspective, this work is indeed a "miracle of video games". At least the naughty dog sounded the alarm for the industry with his word of mouth. If the commercial 3A game tramples on the player's substitution experience for the producer's self-expression, it will be doomed.

After all, the sense of substitution is an extremely important driving force for people to play video games.