The Importance of NPCs to Immersive Gameplay

Hello my sweet pumpkin pies and welcome back to my blog!

This week, I played through the first three episodes of Telltale's The Walking Dead: Season 1, a game which I have seen played on YouTube, but never played myself. I'm not sure what I expected going in, but I was surprised by just how immersive and engaging the game was, despite being the first game of its series with no doubt, less intuitive game play mechanics than its later installments in the series. There were, of course, some times when the mechanics weren't so smooth (for example, not being able to move the mouse and walk at the same time during certain action sequences) but these few flaws were the least impressionable thing about the game. Instead, what mesmerized me was the attention to detail, the plot and story-telling devices employed, the animation, the voice-acting, the engaging characters, and the sheer amount of work and effort the developers put into this game. They have truly created an immersive, emotionally provocative game that gets the player caring for (or disliking) the NPCs as much as if they were interacting with them in real life.

In this game, you take control of Lee, who is trying to survive a zombie apocalypse while protecting a young, abandoned child named Clementine. There are an array of NPCs who you can interact with and build relationships with throughout the course of the game, and every action you take affects the next step of the story and plays a crucial part in your survival. It is up to you to decide which characters to side with, which characters to protect, and which to turn against to keep yourself and Clementine alive. At times, the trustworthiness of certain NPCs comes into question, and you are forced to observe that NPCs words and behaviors to determine the truth. All characters have a voice actor, and all dialogue is spoken, which adds to the reality and immersion of the game. The animation and voice acting work together to present the NPCs in a realistic way; we can see and hear when they might be hiding something, feeling nervous, feeling angry, etc. and these expressions help to shape Lee's ( and the player's) opinions of these characters, which in turn shapes how we react to them and affects how we advance the story.

At times, the immersion was so real, I felt angry, sad, or scared along with Lee. I hated some characters, loved others, and had to make difficult decisions determining their fates. This is also thanks to the amazing animation and voice acting. As stated by Katherine Isbister in "Nonplayer Characters- 'Living, Breathing' Others in the Game World," consistency in body language and dialogue is very important in determining the trustworthiness of another person, both in real life and in the game world. She states,

"As would be the case with real human beings, those who interacted with the mixed-signals NPCs were less influenced […] In real life, consistency in nonverbal cues is associated with honesty and trustworthiness. It is amazing that these sorts of responses hold true for engaging with virtual humans as well. To the extent that NPCs display humanlike actions and reactions, we engage them using social norms and intuitive social responses. This means that game designers can create powerful feelings in players when they make use of relationships that players can form with NPCs."

Telltale uses these same tactics in its game to evoke real feelings of mistrust in the player when interacting with certain NPCs, such as on the St. John's farm. Similarly, the game developers evoke in the player feelings of affection and protectiveness of Clementine, through her sweet, innocent, and childlike behavior. Other characters are more ambiguous, and the developers present them in a way in which it is up to the player to decide whether or not to side with that NPC. These characters are perhaps the most important, because by paying attention to these characters' behaviors and dialogues, the player is enticed to create an opinion about that character (as we would in real life) and therefore make decisions that wildly affect the story later on.

I didn't expect to enjoy Telltale's The Walking Dead as much as I am, since it isn't a game I would normally play, but I am pleasantly surprised. This experienced has not only presented me with a beautiful example of how game play can be fully integrated with literature and still be captivating and enjoyable to play. It has also opened me up to the idea of playing games I wouldn't normally pick up, and I am excited to see what other games will surprise me too.

Until next time~

ricecakerabbit <3