Previously I
talked about visual composition in games and how it was almost like creating a
movie, but with an added twist. It needed to include great aesthetics and interactivity
with the player if it wanted to break the boundaries.
Not only the
interactivity would be important, but also the playability and dynamism. The
environments can’t always necessarily stay the same throughout the game, there
needs to be some sort of dynamic elements or developments as you progress
through the game, Or else it would become uninteresting and won’t really sell
itself. (unless its flappy bird)
For example, take
a game like Journey, an incredibly successful indie game.
Journey will
probably be one of the timeless classics in video game history that everyone
will remember for generations to come, so what is journey?
Journey is well,
a Journey, an epic one for that matter, set in an adventurous open world, with
beautiful crisp visuals, soothing dynamic harmonious music, puzzles and even a
seamless co-op mode where the only way to communicate with the other person is
to ping with your character, which isn’t even a human, it’s more like a humanoid
scarf which frees trapped pieces of cloth for energy and power up’s, and these
pieces of cloth or small scarfs interact with the environment really nicely,
they dance with the music and give access to new passageways and bridges for
you if you manage to free them and gain their powers.
As soon as you
start of you are instantly met with beautiful visuals, and emotional/harmonious
music. The game subtly gives you hints of where to head using its environment
rather than any obstructive arrow or signal on the middle of your screen or on
a mini-map, speaking of which there is none, there isn’t any HUD or UI. It uses
wind to slowly push you in the right course if you are going towards a dead
end. It’s nice, open and clean. It’s set in a desert to start off with, and as
you climb over the big sand dune, you are met with the title, and a giant
mountain in the distance with a bright star at the top. The game has a lot of Arabic and Egyptian
influences with its architecture and storytelling which is something you’re
supposed to interpret for yourself with the images and cut scenes it spreads
throughout the journey.
Why was it so
successful? And why is this such a good
example for level design?
This game really
nailed the visual components and design principles really well it did it while
keeping you immersed into the world the whole time, which is difficult in my
opinion.
It has a very
simple art style, but combined with its dynamic environments, emotion,
atmosphere, Playability and incredible interactivity with the player and
environment. It really did a great job. It even has a lovely multiplayer co-op
where it subtly blends your game with a random person who is playing the game
and is at the same stage of the game you’re at so you can go on this journey
and solve the puzzles together. The game uses its environment to teach you what
to do rather than telling you outright, it uses clever cinematic camera angles
when you approach a puzzle or environment where you need to go somewhere in
order to progress. It uses the little dancing scarfs everywhere to gently guide
you along. The level design is very
clever and subtle, which is why it’s so good, because it doesn’t just shove the
change in your face, it’s a gradual one, a nice journey.
Here’s an article
about how Journey can stir up our emotions just like a Hollywood movie does or
an intense sports match. http://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2012/nov/21/journey-emotional-game-design
And an awesome video of how they designed
journey:
http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1017700/Designing
A lot of the time
when it comes to games, people judge the entire game based on just its graphics
and visuals and not take time to consider how the game will actually play
out. While it is very important to nail
the visuals and atmosphere side of the game. It’s also very important to have
solid mechanics, so it’s actually really fun to play and would make people want
to play again and again.
You can see how
much they planned and devoted just for the mechanics of this game, it did come
from the creators of “flower” which is another beautiful emotional game.
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