I found the following idea while looking through Himeya, in the description of an import PS2 game: "His father allows him to go back to Japan on condition he finds what he really wants to do in one month. If he can't find it, he never comes back to Japan. Through meeting with various girls, will he be able to find it?"
That made me think: what do I want to see in renai games, and what do I want to create in my own? I've decided that I want main characters who are trying to achieve something. Either they have goals they've decided to accomplish, or they're trying to prioritize their lives. They might make these decisions through a logical decision tree, or they might set out to achieve things by focusing on certain subjects (in a simulation).
To all: do you like the idea of a motivated protagonist, or one trying to find his/her motivation?
(It's been about 20 years since "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"...)
"Welcome to WhiteSnow, a town filled with snow. Enjoy the world of snow."
-Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure
gekiganwing wrote:To all: do you like the idea of a motivated protagonist, or one trying to find his/her motivation?
An interesting question. To be quite honest both have their benefits. You can even mix the two as is the case with my VN, Deeplake. The protagonist begins thinking that he knows what he wants, later he realises that he may not truly know after all.
Either can work well as long as the writer does a good job of it. Personally I think that I would like a protagonist who tries to find his/her motivation though. How many people in life truly know what they want? I'd like to think that more people would be able to identify with the protagonist this way.
gekiganwing wrote:To all: do you like the idea of a motivated protagonist, or one trying to find his/her motivation?
As Septimus said, it depends - it's probably more a matter of personal preference - in addition to that I think that's quite a broad question. Either the protagonist has a motivation, or he doesn't (and may or may not be looking for it). There are probably thousands of motivations to have, and thousands of motivations to find - so it's hard to answer ^_^.
This may be a bit philosophical, but here it goes - I like it when the point of the story determines whether the protagonist is in pursuit of something, or in search of something. So it's kind of backwards. And it doesn't say more than "it depends", actually.
I enjoy protagonists like that too, Mikey. I'm also fond of the ones that give up on their dreams, but then the story forces their dreams back upon them.
