Avatar Bending
The following post is mostly spoiler-free, but the YouTube links aren't. You've been warned…
First, a list of examples:
- One of the standout aspects of Mirror's Edge is the way that the limbs of the main character, Faith, appear and disappear from the first-person view as Faith runs. At the end of the game, the player releases control of Faith for an exciting sequence that culminates in something I've never seen in a video game: a first-person hug.
- The title character of The Maw grows with everything it eats. As the game proceeds, The Maw grows from this funny little character to large (but still harmless) force. By the end of the game, The Maw has reached a size that significantly alters the relationship between it and Frank, the other protagonist. This moment plays out in a touching fashion.
- Late in Dead Space, the protagonist Isaac learns a devastating truth that causes him to lower his head and nod in disbelief. This is a moving moment not only because the story has revealed a piece of critical information, but because the player has never seen Isaac in this state. Emotion has never caused the avatar to launch into an animation.
What do these emotional experiences have in common? The avatar that the player controls performs an action that is new to the player. A character surprising the audience by acting in a new fashion is an old technique. What makes this "avatar bending" unique is the circumstances surrounding it. The player has been conditioned to believe that manipulating inputs in a certain way always leads to a certain result. I find that disrupting this conditioning can make a moment much more emotionally jarring than by pure narrative alone. There's a reason people still remember the best ending to the original Metroid.
Tags: Avatars, Dead Space, Metroid, Mirror's Edge, The Maw
