Characters in Games

[Girandole]

I haven't decided on an visual approach to my story's characters so I was hoping to hear you talk about your do's and don'ts that you've learned or observed, in either yours or someone else's games.

Here's some questions to start with:

What lets you humanise and sympathise with characters the most? Expressive avatars? The writing? Other?

Which art style do you prefer to see in character artwork? Anime, realistic? Are there differences that you've noticed in using or seeing either in the overall game experience?

Would the lack of character artwork or an unusual approach to characters design hinder your appreciation of the story? Or would it make no difference?

Were there ever character design choices in a game that affected you very positively or very negatively?

[tigerkidde]

I think it depends. I've gotten to bond with characters in text-only novels. But sometimes expressive avatars can be consolidated to about six major expressions (neutral, happy, sad, angry, in pain, annoyed) with emotional supplements (anger, nervous sweat, tears, dirt) may work. A voice can also do wonders when I don't like the character design (e.g. a magician that looks like a librarian in a clown costume... voiced by Kari Wahlgren, redemption, I now listen to what this character has to say).

For art style, it depends on the proportions for me. I think it's more difficult for me to enjoy visuals when all teenage or adult characters have small child-like faces. In an anime like Kanon howe'er, this did not stop me from getting over empathetic due to a combo of music and dialogue. If anime-style, prefer character art closer to Gundam 00. If non-anime, X-Men Evolution or Superman: Apocalypse has a preferably art style too.

Character design would impact my initial impression. I've gotten through non-preferred character designs (e.g. Phineas and Ferb or Vaan from FF12) to enjoy excellent presentations or gameplay mechanics.

[papillon]

The most likely thing designwise to put me off a game completely is if the character design suggests something unpleasant about the thought processes of the writers. If the game is supposed to be serious and not porn, but all the female characters are in really ludicrous clothing? Pfft. If the game's characters are all in one style except for the one character who is "other" (gay, fat, black, whatever) and that one is drawn as a ridiculous caricature? Um... Not feeling comfortable playing this game thanks.

Other than that, I have likes and dislikes but art style and character design are just individual facets of a long list of things that affect my level of interest in a game.

[Blane Doyle]

To me, the writing and the art work best together instead of separately in a medium like a visual novel. More often than not, however, the writing is what makes the characters more human, sympathetic, and easier to relate to. More often than not, the art is more of a helping hand.

As a personal preference, I prefer an anime-esque but cartoony style. More cartoony and more anime like is ok as well, while realistic is a nice touch. I am not picky, I just want good art overall. (Though the more unique the art, the more I tend to enjoy it. I also tend to think of stories written in certain styles as going to be more silly or serious based on what I see.)

While it would not have any effect in something like a normal novel, a visual novel has the staple of character sprites. I am highly disappointed without them, as I play visual novels for that visual aspect. However, unusual approaches are ok with me.

Design choices that affected negatively and positively... well, in a general sense, the more cartoony the design the more interested I am on your game... does that count? Nothing really affects me negative aside from "WHY NO THAT IS NOT PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE WHAT" so... I dunno.

[Misfile]

I think the first and last questions really need the answers as the middle two I feel make very little difference to the end product.

For me it's the writing that needs to stand up, if after a time with these characters, mainly the protagonists, I find myself not able to complexly image them I am unable to relate. To quote from John Green to make clear what it is to imagine complexly.

As Leo watched people at the bus stop on a foggy London morning, he imagined the pixie-ish girl of about his age complexly, and suddenly felt he understood the wanderlust behind her sullen, deep set eyes.

Had he not imagined her complexly, his thought process could have probably been something a bit more like "She's probably tired. Kind of pretty, though..." and he would have moved on to the next commuter.

Blatant stereotyping in the character design tends to be a turn off unless either the game can take a defense in absurdity or it is using such designs to talk about a sensitive subject matter such as race or sexuality.

[junna]

What lets you humanise and sympathise with characters the most? Expressive avatars? The writing? Other?

Writing. Mainly because it's the one thing that I look for the most. the art is just a bonus.
And...I'm partial to a voiced narrator even if the characters are not voiced at all.

Which art style do you prefer to see in character artwork? Anime, realistic? Are there differences that you've noticed in using or seeing either in the overall game experience?

Neither.

Would the lack of character artwork or an unusual approach to characters design hinder your appreciation of the story? Or would it make no difference?

LOL... umm, if I wanted a non-artwork VN...I'd go and read an ebook. that being said unusual design doesn't hinder my appreciation IF the story is good enough.

Were there ever character design choices in a game that affected you very positively or very negatively?

BEAUTIES like the game Cinders just made me enjoy it more...even though by the 4th play I was bored with the game, I still loved the characters popping through my screen.

[gekiganwing]

What lets you humanise and sympathise with characters the most? Expressive avatars? The writing? Other?

I'd say writing. Even if there's a beautiful on-screen character with excellent poses, I won't be interested in the character if I find him/her to be uncreative or shallow.

Which art style do you prefer to see in character artwork?

Anything can be done well. Though it helps if the aesthetics seem to fit the story. For instance, if your story takes place in a relatively realistic 1700s England, then it would make sense to use an art style similar to William Hogarth's.

Would the lack of character artwork or an unusual approach to characters design hinder your appreciation of the story? Or would it make no difference?

If you use a visual style that's abstract, unusual, or difficult to appreciate, then you may find it difficult to get an audience. A straightforward art style that compliments your storytelling won't give readers a challenge, but it's not easy to like avant garde art and presentation. (That sentence was loosely based on a brief segment of Scott McCloud's book Understanding Comics.)

If you decide not to show your characters on screen, help us understand why you made this choice. For instance, write about something other than human characters, or use a framing device that's easy to understand.

Were there ever character design choices in a game that affected you very positively or very negatively?

In the DS game Freshly Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, I'd describe just about every character's appearance as ugly or unsettling. Unlike much of the Zelda franchise, this is not a game with straightforward good or evil. It's a world seemingly ruled by greed. I didn't exactly like this game, but I found it fascinating, and I thought its strange aesthetic was rather appropriate for its content.

[Girandole]

Interesting viewpoints. It helped me reach these conclusions in regard to my game:

• Abdicating a possible resource like character sprites in this medium would be a pity.
  
  Game context should be considered in the style of artwork (time period, genre, etc.)
  Even novel approaches should be cohesive but, above all, relateable.

And always a good reminder:

• Depiction of gender and sexuality should be respectfully handled.

[neowired]

I think you need to have the characters act and think like real people, with problems easy to relate with.
More so, they need to be likable people.

An old man weakened by an illness, trying to pretend he's healthy before his granddaughter.
A little girl scared of the dark but protecting her little brother from a monster, even though it means facing the darkness, she's shaking but tells the boy to stay behind her.
A soldier backing up from a little urchin who has a dangerous looking bag, the soldier doesn't want to shoot but the child is likely to have explosives in the bag, the soldier isn't even scared of death, but has a daughter and wife who need him...
Incidentally, the urchin doesn't want to kill the soldier, but there is nowhere to escape, yet the child still has doubts about what the others told him about the soldiers... after all, if the soldiers are monsters then why is this one backing away and why is his gun shaking.

It can be much simpler even, let's say a boy was gathering money for a month to buy a game, but he just found out his friend's birthday is today, and the same shop happens to have something that friend always wanted... and to make matter worse the shop is closing for a month in just a few hours. It wouldn't be so frustrating if not for the fact that the boy has 5$ and each item costs 3$, leaving him only 1$ short. The boy would ask his parents... but they are at work, and it's unlikely they'd give him more anyway. He also doesn't have other friends.

What I'm getting at here is, believable characters who are easy to relate to, and who aren't complete assholes.


As for the art it should fit the mood and genre and create a wholesome, engaging experience. If you make a happy cute story, use cute art. If you make a dark sinister story, use dark and sinister, probably more grainy art. If the story is energetic and bright, a more shiny colorful style may work. If the story is more romantic and soft, centered around feelings, a more pastel style may work better.
Same with the music.

Would the lack of character artwork or an unusual approach to characters design hinder your appreciation of the story? Or would it make no difference?

I feel what matters most is the overall design/style, and what matters less is the amount of details.
If you want to use something weird and unusual for artwork, it would work best with weird and unusual writing. Always think about the game as a whole, writing+graphic+music (and gameplay, if applicable), for the best result it all needs to fit together.

[Numnutz]

I think it's the uniqueness of the characters that let me humanise and sympathise with them.Expressive avatars and good writing helps too, but ultimately there's not a single game where I sympathise with most of the cast.(I hate do-gooders,superstitious people,and so on.)

About the artwork,good,matching artwork makes the game better,ugly artwork makes the game worse,what's more to say?

And the style,I like anime more,and I think it's more versatile,but it's a personal preference anyway.
(I'd love an anime style Dead Space,but who'd like a realistic Lucky Star?)