Interactive Narrative Week 7 Blog Entry 6

For this week I played the game Amnesia: The Dark Descent. It is pointed out in the opening of the game that it was made for exploring the game world. And for me, I think that the most interesting narrative element in the game is the player's role in progressing the story. The protagonist, Daniel, acts as the player's avatar in the game; the embodiment of presence and agency within that world. There is a good relationship between the duality of the character and the player. The case of amnesia that Daniel is suffering provides a perfect situation to integrate the personalities of the character and the player.

Daniel is the main character of the game. He is also a character in a sense that he is imbued with certain characteristics; he has his own identity separate from the player. The state of amnesia provides a great vehicle for the player to imbue the avatar with his/her own personality. The identity of the character (Daniel) only comes in certain situations, mostly through diary entries and notes (and a flashback gameplay). As the game progresses, the identity of Daniel slowly forms.

The game has a linear narrative. The gameplay is non-linear as the player has to explore different sections of the castle to gather items that are essential in progressing the story. Daniel has to collect tinder cans and oil for the torch to keep him sane. Not only is it a mechanic of the game but player empathy plays a part in this. The player empathizes with the character he/she is controlling. As Daniel is an avatar of the player, the player is driven to keep his/her avatar as healthy as they can in order to progress the story.

 According to Salen and Zimmerman, players are constantly shifting between cognitive frames that alternately place them “inside” their character in a relationship of direct identification and very much outside of it, aware of the character as an artificial construct and fictional entity, as well as their own status as players manipulating a tool or “puppet” according to the rules of the game. - Jessica Aldred, Characters (2013)

Double consciousness exists within the avatar of the game, When Daniel moves about the game world and interacting with different objects, the player's consciousness is the one present. But when the diary entries are narrated, the consciousness of Daniel comes into play and that reminds the player that he/she is playing as that character. The game uses diary entries and notes as exposition for the character to give Daniel context; how he fits in with the game world. The game is about exploring and that ties into the story itself which is a mystery that has to be uncovered by navigating different areas for certain items to progress it. Information about the story is told directly to the character, which is the player's avatar in the game world, through interaction with different objects.

The player's role is important in the progression of the story because without the player, the avatar is essentially non-existent; an empty husk. In saying that, the avatar is also important for the player because it embodies the player's presence and agency. The avatar is both ludic and representational because it is a stand in for the player. It has a certain mechanism which evokes empathy from the player eg. sanity level and health. It is representational because it is an entity that exists within the fictional world. The story makes sense through this fictional entity (Daniel) in the game.


References:

Aldred J. (Author). (2013). ,Characters from: The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies [Book]. Retrieved from: http://animation.onlearn.co.nz/pluginfile.php/2711/mod_resource/content/0/Characters.pdf

Frictional Games (Developer). (2010). Amnesia: The Dark Descent [Video Game]. Sweden: Frictional Games