If you haven't picked up on it already
we're big fans of storytelling in video games here
It's intriguing
It's unlike storytelling in any other medium
and we're only just beginning to understand how to use it effectively
Today, we're going to do something a little different
We're going to look very closely at the storytelling in a particular series of games
the God of War trilogy
This is going to be spoilertastic, so if you haven't played the third game and don't want to know how it ends
get out while you still can
Let's start by looking at what God of War does right:
Characterization
God of War is a monument to characterization through gameplay
Kratos is instantly recognizable
because he is one of the most fully realized characters in gaming today
Everything about him just screams of violence bordering on madness
His design,
his combat
his finishers, weapons
even the way that he deals with encountering gods and monsters just
demonstrates his reckless disregard for living
Look at the way Kratos moves and behaves in-game
Without any backstory, cutscenes or even a single word of dialogue
you can easily see that Kratos is a creature of instability
and Burgessian ultraviolence.
The characterization of Kratos (through gameplay) is one of the greatest successes of the God of War franchise
But, now that we've looked at the biggest success in God of War's storytelling
let's look at where it fell short
They succeeded in turning Kratos into a ball of hate and rage
but they failed to make that fact meaningful in any way
God of War is clearly intended to be a Greek Tragedy
The first game was set up to be exactly that
and it succeeded to a fair degree
But, by the third game in the series, Kratos
for all of his characterization
is reduced to a caricature
and the plot discards any semblance of Greek Tragedy
and wanders off into the mediocrity of pablum videogame storylines
Just to make sure we're on the same page, let's talk Greek Tragedy 101 for a sec
When you boil it all down, Greek Tragedy has three principle elements:
Element #1
1. It usually involves someone of high status brought low by their actions
Element #2
The actions that ruin the main character do not have to be "bad" or "evil"
In fact, they don't even have to be the main character's fault
In Greek Tragedy, characters are judged for their actions
not their intentions
Element Number Three
The main character of a Greek Tragedy
upon becoming aware of his crimes
is filled with violent (if impotent) remorse
You with me so far?
Ok, let's look at God of War I with that in mind
Kratos is a rising captain in the Spartan army
Element #1: Check
He is tricked into killing his family, and then tricked into slaying a god
Element #2: Check.
Upon realizing the monstrous and irreversible nature of his crimes
Kratos throws himself into the Aegean Sea
Bingo. Hat Trick. Trophy Unlocked!
Seriously, the first God of War was carefully constructed
Kratos himself draws a great deal from Ajax
a warrior of immense physical strength and great rage
who is also tricked by the gods
To add to the Ajax archetype
developers layered on that which Aristotle calls the "most tragic" of all actions:
the unwitting murder of a family member
But these things are all just the setup
the prologue that allows Greek Tragedy to be effective
What is truly at the heart of Greek Tragedy
and what makes God of War I so great
is Element number three:
the character's realization of their own misdeeds
In this regard, God of War I shines
All throughout the game
Kratos is living in denial
sheltered by his rage and
his hope that redemption can be found at the end of his ridiculous quest to kill a god
His realization in the end that he has become more than just a killer
that he has slaughtered his own family and committed deicide
that he has left a trail of innocent dead in his wake
this realization, that he has been possessed by madness
done terrible, irreversible things
leaves him pathetic, pitiable
What gods and demons and Hades itself could not do
his own guilt does
Guilt reduces the great warrior to a beaten and broken man
impotent and pathetic
This is the great lesson of God of War I.
It is this last, revelatory moment that teaches us something about ourselves
and lets us feel pathos for the brutal killer
All of the action of the game has been a setup for that moment
Now let's fast forward to God of War II & III
When considering these two games, it's important to remember that
neither of them was headed by the director of the first game
David Jaffe
And the difference in vision shows through
God of War II begins with Kratos abusing his new power
and repeatedly ignoring warnings from all sides that his behavior will get him punished
When he eventually is punished for his abuse
he acts like a petulant child
and redirects his rage toward Zeus
completely negating his redemptive awakening at the end of the first game
By God of War III
the game is reduced to a spectacle of unmitigated, thoughtless violence
The player kills all of the gods
excluding those who he has an arbitrary sex mini-game with
and, in doing so, destroys the world
and sure, it was a great way to kick things up a notch in an already epic series
but, as we already discussed
actions define a character
And Kratos ripping through the Greek pantheon as if it were a paper towel removes him from anything the player can relate to
and drops him firmly in the realm of
Schwarzenegger-style action heroes
But, while this is a step backward for the series
perhaps we shouldn't be too quick to judge
I mean, even action heroes can be meaningful sometimes, right?
But, when we see the capstone to the series
the final moment in the final installment in this grand trilogy
we can no longer have any doubt:
Kratos is just an evil git with no redeeming qualities
There is nothing to learn here
God of War III dives into full parody mode
with lines like
"the power of forgiveness comes from within" and
"Hope is what makes us strong. It is why we are here."
These sort of lines belong in bad children's television
not in mature-rated games
And definitely not in Greek Tragedy
Worse still is what happens to the gameplay at this juncture
Rather than convey this final message in some interactive form
it is delivered by voiceovers while the player traverses an empty landscape
But perhaps the greatest tragedy of God of War III is in the very final moments
After all the talk of hope and forgiveness
the player escapes Kratos' psyche and regains control over the character
... and immediately goes back to beating the shit out of another god with his bare hands
Nothing has been learned, nothing changes
the character still answers all problems with violence and shows no remorse whatsoever
Worse yet, for the first and only time in all of the series
the player is brought into first person perspective.
Why?
What is it meant to symbolize or imply?
Does this perspective shift mean anything?
I mean, are we asking too much of a video game here?
No. We aren't.
And we should never ask that question again.
Imagine a novel in which the author switched from third to first person in the last twenty pages
Even if it was the worst hack novel in the world, would you not stop and ask why?
Video games must be held to the same standard
especially those that rank among the best we create
First person perspective implies that I, the player, am now taking action
that I am the character
Here would be a great place to include choice
to give the player freedom
but instead, it all ends with that most unpopular of devices
a quick time event.
There's a real lack of concern for storytelling here
The Development team forced the player to be responsible for the character's actions in these last few minutes
and then completely curtailed any freedom
and gave the player what amounts to little more than a cutscene
in which they blindly obliterate a character's face with their bare fists.
What's sad about this is that there's no excuse for it.
The God of War trilogy could have told a timeless story
but a haphazard attitude toward storytelling denied them the opportunity to tell that story
and denied players the opportunity to experience it
That is where God of War falls short.
Though the series is a blast to play and is a fantastic example of characterization through action
by the end of the trilogy, we are left with a story of no redeeming value
I know it seems like we've been a bit harsh on this game but I think we have to be.
If we're going to harp on and on about how games are a developing artistic medium
and an exciting new venue for storytelling
we can't then just ignore the areas where games are lacking
or praise competence as if it were brilliance.
It is only by exploring the triumphs and shortcomings of this medium
that will allow us to push games to their full potential
and that is what we are all about.
So, See you guys next week!
End song: Pipes" by Seventh Epic
English Subtitles by C.Storm