Escapism in RPGs: A Matter of Perspective

I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for role-playing games (that’s what she said?), dating way back to the original Final Fantasy on the NES. There’s just something about embarking on epic quests to far-away lands that really embodies gaming to me. Regardless of the game, RPGs represent escapism in perhaps its purest form, especially those RPGs that have a robust character creation system where you can literally be anyone you want to be. However, like any other genre, there are variations between games that can affect just how “escapist” an RPG can be, perhaps the strongest of which is perspective. The perspective a developer chooses for their game has a huge impact on how the story is presented to the player, whether it’s meant to suck you in and tell “your” story, or whether they already have an engaging story to tell and want you along for the ride.

First-person RPGs, like the recent critical smash Fallout 3, represent, to me, the highest level of escapism in RPGs. I mean, you’re viewing everything from your point of view! It’s sort of like the old “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, except with less page flipping after you die. Fallout takes this notion to new extremes for the genre, taking the player through their own birth, letting them learn as they quite literally grow up. And with today’s powerful graphical engines and consoles, the suspension of disbelief is more powerful than ever. When you first emerge from Vault 101, the glare of the sun subsides, and you see the harsh reality of the Wasteland for the first time. It’s a powerful moment, one that wouldn’t be nearly as effective if the game had been presented differently. Sure, there’s always the third-person option, but is anyone out there actually using it? (Comment if you are!)

Third-person RPGs, at least the good ones that I’ve played over the years, offer incredible narratives in place of true escapism. (I don’t want to get hung up on semantics here and deal with overhead and isometric and whatever, so for the sake of argument, “third-person” means “anything other than first-person.”) These games become much more like epic movies you’re watching than lives you’re living. The one that stands out in my mind is Final Fantasy X, an engaging tale brought to life by wonderfully vibrant graphics and cut scenes. In games like these, when you’re picking from several pre-created characters, there’s never really a chance to “become” one of them, so to speak. Instead, you get emotionally attached the same way you do to movie characters, liking some and disliking others because of the personalities they possess. FFX is one of the few gaming experiences I’ve had where I really and truly felt emotions for the characters: emotions directed outwardly, not inwardly like a first-person, player-oriented experience.

The one exception to this in my gaming life is the MMORPG genre, specifically World of Warcraft. All of the MMOs I’ve played have been from the third-person perspective. Yet, because of the idea behind them, because you’re given free reign to create any character you want and forge your own place in a massive, lore-rich world, it really brings the “escapist” notion to a third-person experience. For me personally, it even goes so far that I’ve never created a female character in any MMORPG I’ve ever played, because I need to connect with my characters on some base level. What I’m creating when I make a new character in WoW is an extension of me and I treat all of them as such. Of course, the hours upon hours spent with said characters certainly don’t hurt.

Well there you have it, my own take on RPG perspectives and how they’ve affected me as a gamer. Have similar or markedly dissimilar opinions? Post ‘em up!