What Creates Longevity in a Game?

Yes, hello, my name is Dan, and...uh... I play Animal Crossing.  It feels so good to admit this to all of you and finally get this enormous weight off my chest.  I can't even get out of bed in the morning without digging up fossils, and at night I can't sleep without knowing all of my precious hybrid roses are watered and safe from accidental trampling.  I used to tell myself that I could stop anytime; that I didn't need to play.  But its become more than that.  Playing is my responsibility and obligation.  I am the sole reason that entire town runs and I'm the only thing preventing it from descending into a weed covered anarchy.

If you play Animal Crossing, this probably sounds eerily familiar.  No one can deny Animal Crossing's longevity.  It has enough charm to be a great escape from the stresses of ordinary life; a place you can go where hard work pays off and you're always needed.  Plenty of options await you as well.  Whether you're fishing, catching bugs, hunting for new furniture, or interacting with the village residents, you'll always find a task awaiting completion.

But, Animal Crossing has longevity for another reason, and its a common trait among other games that people can't help but play for years and years: fear.

Now you may laugh; "Animal Crossing?  You mean the child friendly game about befriending cute animals and decorating your house is so addicting because of fear?"  Yes, I realize how daft it sounds at face-value, but with some explanation you'll find it to be just as true.

In Animal Crossing, neglecting your town, for even a few days, means the start of decay.  Your flowers will wilt and die if not watered, weeds begin to spring up all over town, and worst of all, your beloved neighbors might decide to just pack it up and move away forever.  Plus, a slew of new furniture, clothing items, wallpaper, carpet, and shoes come to your town's shops daily, meaning that not picking up your 3DS today could mean missing out on that Roccoco dresser you've been waiting to pop up for months.  Whether its seeing your in-game buddy disappear for good or coming back to find your flower garden in ruin, its this fear that relentlessly grips you and draws you back in every time, ensuring that the cartridge never leaves your system.

Animal Crossing isn't the only offender; this is a very popular mechanic across other life simulators and even MMO's.  With games like World of Warcraft, the fear is more centered around being left behind and not being able to keep up with the competition.  When you have millions upon millions of people playing a multiplayer focused game, playing becomes a race; who can level up fastest, grind for the best gear, and create an unstoppable clan while everyone else is still getting a hold of the basics.  You want to outplay the others, so you're forced to log in as many hours as you can to ensure you stay one step ahead.

Now, this form of longevity is not necessarily a bad thing.  Obviously enjoyment is at the basis or people would not continue buying WoW expansion packs (and I would have quit Animal Crossing after the Gamecube installment).  But, its interesting look at a different, more single-player oriented approach to longevity and an example of it I find so blatantly well-done in Dark Souls.  This longevity stems from mystery.

I realize that Dark Souls has come up a lot recently, but the reason that I really can't stop talking about it is because the game continues to stay relevant despite primarily being a single-player experience and having been released two years ago.  Dark Souls has a story to tell, but it does not read it to the player like an audio book on a road-trip.  Instead, the story is almost hidden from the player, locked away in the details of the environment, meaningful NPC conversations, and in the item descriptions.  If you just pick up the controller to hit bad guys with swords, then you'll find a great, challenging game with a harsh, but fair combat system.  If you, however, go into the game and begin to absorb the little hints of lore the game presents to you ever-so gently, you'll be gifted with one of the most rewarding lore experiences of this generation.

Within the game there is an opening cinematic, a few short, voiceless cutscenes before bosses, and two ending sequences.  Other than that, you are left to decipher the words of other characters to discover clues that lead to a much bigger painting than initially imagined.  And with this vague story telling comes plenty of secrets to find and a lot of theory crafting and speculation that has kept fans of the game extremely busy even two years since its debut.  This type of tale swapping with other players via online forums and Youtube channels has given Dark Souls a life that will breathe well into the birth of its sequel.  I just hope that Dark Souls II gives us plenty more to stay occupied with.

Of course, Dark Souls, isn't the only title to use this form of narration.  Games like Bioshock Infinite and the Last of Us give the player plenty of hidden gems to find within the game world that can open up new ideas for story hypotheses.  Places like Columbia or the post-apocalyptic city-turned-jungle become characters themselves, delivering information to the player through observation as opposed to dialogue.  Its this sort of story-telling that makes the second, third, and fourth playthrough more gratifying every time.

There are plenty of other forms of longevity to be found across the many genres of gaming, but I consider the duality between games like Dark Souls and Animal Crossing particularly amusing.  Its a battle between wanting to play a game and needing to play a game, and both methods are equally viable.  In fact a lot of games have become mixtures; wanting to experience a story, but needing to grind out more levels.  Wanting to explore more of the world, but needing to forge better gear.  I think all games contain some form of each and its these elements that keep tied down to a series through the long waits between installments.

Lazy Sunday Games

Just doing a light jog down memory lane.  I recall my weekends as a kid; a busy week of school, little league games, band concerts, and boy scouts. I had quite the packed schedule for a 12 year old.  Saturdays I'd spend the afternoon outside with friends or getting ready for a baseball game, and my parents really didn't care for me playing video games when I could be outdoors.  But Sunday, even in our busy family, was always universal "Lazy Day."  My dad and I would catch the football game (and fall asleep to it), my sister would be in her room listening to music, my mom would do some reading, and I finally had quality time for gaming.

At this point, my Nintendo 64 ought to have been made of precious gold.  And those graphics!  Oh man, you better believe my prepubescent mind was blown away by the number of polygons they shoved into Link's pointy ears.  I owned most of the essentials; Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Super Mario 64, Banjo Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64, Jet Force Gemini, and Star Wars Shadows of the Empire (Han Solo, eat your heart out; Dash Rendar did it all!).  I'd relax in the living room, sun beaming through through the curtains (causing the most atrocious glare on our gigantic tube TV) and dive into my quest.  Why would I spend my Sunday being a bored little kid when I could be Dash, flying around the canyons on my jet-pack and having a gentleman's duel with Boba Fett?

Today, I still take Sunday to ease my way out of one week and into the next with some gaming.  Waking up with a flip of my 3DS to check on my town in Animal Crossing New Leaf, I let my mind slowly come to attention with a casual experience.  From there, perhaps I'll do a little grinding in Dragon's Crown or replay a section of The Last of Us.  If I'm feeling particularly ambitious, I'll turn to Dark Souls to give my ass a bit of a kicking (but dammit if I don't get a little turned on by the abuse).  Whether extremely difficult or completely without challenge, I love Sunday gaming.  The callback to my life over a decade ago keeps me in tune with my inner child (and inner adult).  Its a way to unwind and take some time to explore your games without the guilt that plagues a busy week.

So on this Sunday, I say game on, because come Monday our lives start buzzing by.  Why be yourself today when you could step into the shoes of Master Chief, or Nathan Drake for a few hours and save the world?

Why I'm Worried About Dark Souls II

Every death is a lesson.  Fans of FromSoftware's Dark Souls know this all too well, as 2011 became the first time gamers embraced masochistic difficulty levels since the days of the NES.  Rightfully marketed through the tagline "Prepare to Die," Dark Souls is heralded as one of the most punishing, yet rewarding experiences of this generation.

Predictably enough, a sequel has been announced for the end of March 2014.  We've seen a few gameplay demos from E3 and a teaser trailer featuring some additional unseen footage, but the majority of Dark Souls II information remains hidden from the public.  So why is it that long-time fans of Dark Souls and its spiritual predecessor Demon's Souls seem so worried about the direction the series may go?  Well, here are a few reasons:

Hidetaka Miyazaki, Director and "Godfather" of Demon's Souls and Dark Souls will not be a part of the Dark Souls II development process

In a preview featured on Edge's Online iPad app, Miyazaki states, "I will not be involved in the actual development of Dark Souls II.  I want to clarify that I will be a supervisor, not the actual director or producer." He goes on to clarify, "There will be two directors for Dark Souls II, which I have secured myself", and later admits, "The decision about the new assignments was not made by me; it was made by FromSoftware and Namco Bandai as a whole."

"It was a company decision," clarifies Namco Bandai producer Takeshi Miyazoe.

This is a problem.  You may be asking, "Well 'supervisor' still means he'll still have a big role, right?"  But, from the rest of the interview, it doesn't sound likely.  Supervisor, in this case, seems to be more apt to making sure projects are starting on the right foot and backing away to let the teams do their parts.  Again, this is a problem.  Its hard to know exactly where the fault lies or what transpired to lead to this "company decision."  Regardless, Miyazaki, an ambitious genius in crafting Dark Souls' ambiguous and mysterious world, is going to be missed.  I think Edge's staff said it best:

"This is a crushing revelation for any hardcore fan of Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls, akin to a cinephile learning that Pulp Fiction 2 is in production, but that Quentin Tarantino isn't attached to the picture."

Dark Souls story was not easy to follow and is scarcely present if you ask any casual player.  Aside from an opening cinematic and a few vague cutscenes, the narrative at hand essentially takes a backseat to the tight gameplay and obscene challenges.  But ask any hardcore Dark Souls fan, and they'll explain to you why the game has some of the deepest, darkest, and most satisfying lore to uncover that really makes your experience come full circle.  Instead of lengthy cutscenes and blatant statements of objectives, Dark Souls' dramatic story is only present in the little details of the world.  Through item descriptions, load screens, NPC dialogue, artistically crafted environments, and a lot of fan driven speculation, the history of this intertwined adventure starts to slowly make sense, as you see connected spiderweb of events and characters begin to make itself apparent.

Miyazaki intended it this way.  He has said before how he wanted the narrative of Dark Souls to be very Wiki driven and how important it was for the community to use their collective imaginations to fill in the gaps.  And he was right.  There is no doubt in my mind that the Dark Souls wouldn't be what it is today if they weren't forced to come together to exchange information and ideas regarding items, factions, world traversal, secret collectibles, and lore.  Without such a bold story, its safe to say that this dungeon crawler would not still be one of the most talked about games in the last few years.  Hidetaka Miyazaki will be sorely missed and we can only hope that his absence does not hinder the incredible story presentation of this franchise.

Tomohiro Shibuya, co-director of Dark Souls II, goes on to state that the themes, including the story, will be more straightforward

"I personally feel that the covenant system was something that was difficult to fully absorb and experience [in] Dark Souls, and I intend to make it more accessible to players. And that's not just with the covenant system, but with a lot of other aspects that I felt were difficult to adapt to. I will follow the same concepts as Dark Souls, but there were a lot of hidden story elements that some players may not have caught before, and I'm hoping to make some of that a little bit more clear or directly expressed to the player as well - not just in the story, but messaging. A lot of elements were very subtle in Dark Souls, and that was something that was characteristic to Dark Souls. But I personally am the sort of person who likes to be more direct instead of subtle, so I think that part of me will [result in] a difference [for] players when they pick up Dark Souls II. It will be more straightforward and more understandable."

Well, it looks as though my fears have already been confirmed (though, I will admit, a lot of this information could have a different meaning than how it sounds due to errors in translation).  I understand what Shibuya is going for; you spend time creating an expansive, interconnected world with a rich history, and yet half of the players who pick up your game will never understand it.  I agree, that is a shame.  A bigger shame, however, is thinking the solution is to go in the exact opposite direction with story presentation and bash the player over the head with elements and secrets that would have been a hundred times more rewarding to figure out on their own.  It seems like the co-director is misunderstanding exactly what has driven the Dark Souls community for so long and why we are so encompassed and dedicated to its lore.  Its the mystery and the gradual linking of the missing pieces that gives the experience such a gratifying overtone.

One thing story writers need to understand is that if a reader/player/watcher is into what you're presenting, they will dedicate themselves to figuring it out, no matter how vague.  This is exactly the force behind George R. R. Martin's successful A Song of Ice and Fire series.  The storytelling is vague and slow, yet deliberate and interconnected.  Fans have been reading, guessing, speculating, and interweaving the story for decades because that's half the fun of taking part in the adventure.  You can't appeal to everyone; some people are completely okay watching Game of Thrones on HBO to get their fix, but its the dedicated fans and their continuous activity that gave Game of Thrones the opportunity to exist as a show at all.  Without the original fans, without the hardcore readers and lore junkies, the series would not be what it is today.

Shibuya describes vehicles as something they want to implement in Dark Souls II

"We want to constantly think of something new that hasn't been tried before, so that's where that idea [of the chariot] came up."

A chariot?  Vehicles?  Possible horses/mounts?  My first question is "why?"  Looking back on the entirety of Dark Souls at no point do I stop and think, "You know what would make this section better?  A chariot.  Or a horse to ride."  It wouldn't fit with the overworld layout whatsoever (lots of tight corridors, dense forests, dark caverns, and castle halls) and definitely wouldn't make world traversal any easier (or maybe it would make it easier, and that would for sure be a problem considering the difficulty and dreaded danger of getting from one end of the level to the next is a key aspect in the game).

It seems as though they're trying to take a page from other RPG books.  "Is your game in a medieval setting?  Well, then you need horses and horse combat!  Didn't you hear?  That was all the rage in Skyrim!"  But what major publishers are missing is that not every game is supposed to be Skyrim.  I like Skyrim, but I don't want to buy another copy of it every single year, trudging through the same motions with mimicked gameplay elements and story ideas.  Not every RPG needs to be a strict copy of one another, in fact, that is exactly why Dark Souls is so incredibly refreshing!  And speaking of Skyrim...

Namco Bandai, Dark Souls publisher, wants to treat Dark Souls II like a AAA title in order to "widen the net"

"Demon's Souls, it was very focused, small-scale.  We're treating this [Dark Souls II] as a massive, massive triple-A title.  We're going to go guns-blazing with it, and hope to God that it works.  We're going after people who love and adore Dark Souls, while hopefully widening the net a little.  I'm not saying that every Skyrim player's going to be jumping on Dark Souls, but it would be nice if some of them did."

This statement, delivered by Lee Kirton of Namco Bandai's PR, nearly sends me over the edge.  It just goes to further show how completely out of touch video game publishers are with their consumer base.  Dark Souls was built upon a small, but loyal fanbase.  Dark Souls also sold incredibly well thanks to the word-of-mouth delivered by these fans.  But that's never enough is it?  Namco Bandai wants more; they see the RPG world as a large piece of cake, and currently Skyrim is holding the biggest slice.  As if players only want to play one type of game, over and over and over again, and can never buy or play another game so long as they own that first game.  Its incredibly insulting that RPG fans are getting lumped into one synonymous group that can be tricked into purchasing a game because it has the same features as Skyrim, or vehicle sections.

Widening the net is exactly what caused the downfall of games like Dragon Age 2, Assassin's Creed 3, Dead Space 3, Resident Evil 6, and Mass Effect 3; they have been trying to capture a bigger audience by implementing the elements that are popular at the time (3rd person cover shooting, large cinematic set pieces, weapon crafting) meanwhile throwing out all of the aspects that made the original fans fall in love, and support, the series in the first place.

Nothing is more upsetting to me; seeing an incredible IP become franchised and strapped to a milking machine the second it gains sizable attention.  The vultures swoop in to reap every drop of success they can get out of it before the sales figures start to drop.  And the worst part is, the publishers will never learn.  They'll blame the poor sales on "poor marketing strategy" or "distribution issues," never getting to the real heart of the issue; they alienate the fans that held the series on their shoulders for so long while trying to capture new fans who will never care enough to support the longevity of the franchise.

But maybe that is the age we live in; I mean, even indie titles, the rare breath of fresh air that broke the monotony of this generation are being honed in on by Sony and Microsoft (even Nintendo is starting to hop on this bandwagon) because of their growing popularity.  Both companies understand that controlling this emerging market will be key to controlling the large sum of money flow and downloads come the next wave of consoles.  All I know is that it worries me and I hate seeing series that I once loved and dedicated my time and money to get destroyed in the process of waging war over the biggest slice of the consumer pie.

Not every title needs to be AAA (isn't it funny how lately, the term AAA is more of an insult than it is a badge of honor?  To me, AAA means "cranked out as fast as possible for the sake of maintaining market share").  Its okay to capture a niche market and its okay to be satisfied with high praise and good sales instead of hungering for more money while throwing all excellency out the window.  Its incredibly short-sighted and only compounds the evidence that publishers really don't give a shit about the creative properties they manage.  They would see them all burn to the ground if it meant making another dollar.