The Role-playing Game Genre
Within this overview, I am going to analysis and evaluate the RPG genre, looking behind the meaning of the text. In order for this to begin, I am going to look at two RPG games.
The first game I've choosen is Dragon Age Inquisition. In order to take this a part, I shall be evaluating the trailer of the hit RPG.
The meaning behind the text:
The trailer starts by giving the viewers a spooky enviroment with a character centered in the frame, the enviroment gives of a drenched and tarnessed felling, it looks like a place that you wouldn't want to stay in for a while. This is due to Pathetic Fallacy as it is raining cats and dogs.
.After this shot the music comes more distinctive, the song is a cover of Louis' Armstrongs "What A Wonderful World" except with an eary and darker mood; with a somewhat ironic twist. The music is being played whilst we're shown the world that the game has been set in. The music is giving context to the situation that the world is set it, when the music dips something more chilled and serene is shown, when the music is louder and bold is when something big and distinctive is happening like a war scene or a explosion, all exposed by the music, thier is even a dip when a heartwarming scene is shown within the trailer. Overall, the music is conveying the emotions invoked within the game and throughout the journey.
Within the first 35 Secounds of the trailer we are shown some vast and awestruck enviroments with different feels and weathers repressenting a different emotion, one being a town with woodland areas making us feel safe, the colour green is repressented throughout the shot, giving off a fresh feeling of harmony and life. then suddenly we are back to the first enviroment with its drenched mood giving off the feeling of unpredictability within the game and the mood.
50 Secounds in, suddenly the music kicks in and outbreak everywhere, war, terror and blight is poisning the screen with bursts of diffrent colours, the green repressenting the player or the good force with its repressentation of life and harmony against the harsh and darker tones that would be the evil forces in the game. Henceforth, we are shown conflict after conflict with castles being seiged and great beasts being unleashed. The main context here is war with the supernatural.
Through all the violence we are shown the "good force" fighting off the bad force, showing hope and retaliation. The "bad forces" consist of scary beasts and horrible monsters looking evil and sinsiter granting the player that motive to kill.
The music dips and we are seen distinctive characters looking back and taking a break. either looking in retrospect or taking a breather from the fight, granting the player a feeling of calmness and reflectiveness, this seems to be the serene moment within the game, the calm part were everyone takes a deep breath. Within this scene we are shown a man and woman hugging by a fire, granting the viewer that heartfelt emotion that gives you a few goosebumps showing that even in war, love can conquer all.
After the calmness, the music kicks back up and we are thrown deep into the action, these can also reference the structure of the narrative, with the game starting straight into the action, then a break and suddenly back into the fire.
Finally the trailer ends with a battle scene which delves into colour repressentation of green vs red, and suddenly the title screen appears with a slogan of "Lead Them Or Fall" giving of the aspect of the viewer/player leading a army of amount of countrymen.
Overall, the main theme of the game follows a supernatural war over a vast and beautiful world.
Characterisation:
For the purposes of the next catergory, I am analysising a newer trailer that repressents more than just war. I shall be looking at characterisation within the gameplay trailer. Starting off with the protagonist. For the sake of this trailer the protagonist is a female but can be a male too, so gender shall not dictiate characterisation as the dialogue reamins the same for each gender.
The first time we see the return of the protagonist is in full gear with two swords wearing full steal armour, this is the sterotypical good guy, we can tell this is our protaganist as of the fact that they are refrenced by the contaganist and we are surronded by familiar faces. The next scene emerges and the protaganist is monologing over the trailer, we are shown a political meeting/gathering for our protagonist, the scene is surronded by your typical towns folk and higher class members. Then another character is scene giving context to the trailer, he is angry and seems to follow the sterotype of the elderly gentlemen who is angry at the next generation of the world, the character follows the eight character theroy of the giver. The trailer goes on and we are seen characters surronding the protagonist, we have other sterotypes and counter types, like the secondary characters.
Suddenly the trailer bursts into a full on action montage with your sterotypical eniemies who have horns, are buff and are seen wearing red, navigating the player to kill the souless beasts. A dragon is sighted as one of your stereotypical boss battles within fantasy games.
The protagonist continues monologing the trailer giving more context to the plot of the DLC, as we hear the character get frustrated and swear, we are shown our protagonist in pain showing the struggle within the character and thier development from the start of the game.
Within the swearing scene, we are shown a few of our henchmen, I count all these characters as counter types because they are all female and have a strength. We have Cassandra, who is a warrior. Leliana who is a spymaster and bard and then a dwarven warrior called Harding who is a scout. Each character doesn't follow a simple sterotype of woman is prize, or woman is in danger. Each lady is on equal levels with the protagonist and has much to give to the plot than just rescue me from this tower.
We are then shown the rest of our team, which each character follows a counter type.
We have Varric who is a dwarf who loves to write books
Vivienne who is an elderly woman mage.
Blackwall who hides behind a fake identity.
These are just a few, each secondary character feels orignal and not just a stereotype, each character has a sexuality and not one character is just labelled as being that sexuality.
Finally we have the antagonist at the end, wearing full armour and looking somewhat mysterious the character follows the sterotype of wanting to destroy the world for thier own personal reasons and experiences. The character is wearing a mix of greens and browns, this is because the player can identify and relate to the antagonist, their morals are on the same level and the two could potential seek a similar goal, the protagonist in this scene is wearing red showing authority and power, giving off the illison that the protagonist has a choice to make either bloody or peaceful.
The next game I shall be evaulating is Fallout 4, it is a post-apocalyptic RPG with a lot of representation I can analysis.
The meaning behind the text:
This is Fallout 4's launch trailer, straight away the trailer starts of with the drop of an atomic bomb, the context is given within 2 seconds. We hear a female talking over a shot of a family, we can assume that this is the female that is talking in the trailer. Then we hear a male and are seen the same guy from before, so we can assume that the story has something to do with this family which also includes a baby.
Then we hear the male talking about a new world, we see a destroyed area of a man coming out of an underground vault, this is repressenting the blast of an atomic bomb and the destruction of his home, somehow one of the members of the family survived the nuclear blast, we do not see the two together after this scene, so we can assume that you choose which gender the protaganist is and this defines which parent surrives the blast.
The trailer goes to show the somewhat beautiful yet desolated world with the line "War , War Never Changes", this simple line is reffering to the enactment of war and is setting the tone/mood of the game's narrative. From the phrase we can infer that war has caused the annihilation of the world/country.
We are shown more locations and then suddenly we here another voice of a female, asking the player/viewer If they'd save a man even if he were a synth. We can gather from this phrase that the game is going to delve into a new war, something further than man vs man, something more like man vs machine. Then another man enters the scene determenind to destroy a group, this is more talk of war and conflict between characters shown within this trailer. We are then shown the townsfolk and thier opinion of the current occupations in the new world. We are then shown a town with a few residents shown arguing over being a synth, showing the threat that is the synthetic.
This has shown the current groups in the world that have been effected by the cause, it seems to be foreshadowing the players direction and choice in the game.
The trailer delves into gameplay with the over expression of the nuke as of the weapons displayed within the small combat scenes, we hear more of this group/organisation called the Institute, which from this trailer we can gather that they are somesort of secret government that seems to pull the strings of the townfolk within the world. We are also shown a robot we can presume is a synth walking past showing the threat of the synthetic is real.
The final shot is an explosion, the destruction of a large mass within the world at the press of a button, showcasing more war and destruction for the eyes of the player, throughout this trailer we have been shown the themes of the atomb bomb and nuclear war, topics which are also occuring right now within our lives and have already occured withn the follow up to the Cold War, within this trailer we are shown the effects of a family and what happens when the bombs actaully go off on an entire country. The commentary of war and the atom bomb helps the audience and the public understand these tumultous matters and options.
Characterisation:
The first stereotype we are shown within this trailer is the happy go lucky american family that have lived up to the american dream and are living in a happy suburban estate, the two parents also have a child that has recently been born. This follows the whole american dream sterotype, the "live of the fatta the land", own a house start a family get a job. The stereotype is often shown in idylic tv shows and even some old reality shows, these days it ia often satired and a parody.
We are then showed a few other stereotypes ranging from your typical zombies that have been given some context to why they are "zombies". We are also shown the souless raiders that just want to cause the player halm so atleast you have some reason to have to kill them. Then we are shown some what seem to be important characters as they have been given a voice within the trailer, the first being a counter type. The woman shown as some leader organising some team in a somewhat dark base, potentially planning something secret. I believe its aounter type as a woman is being shown as strong. Then we are shown a bulky man with a smooth hair cut and a scar across his face, he seems to follow the strong male stereotype and seeks destruction of a cause, pointing him out as reckless and something of a leader.
Next up is the townsfolk, they are each shown wearing varied colours representing thier characteristics and views on things. From my observation, we are shown a reporter. I say that as she is wearing a nwesboy cap and refers to wanting to seek the truth, something that a journalist is found of doing. She follows the qwerky reporter, like Louis Lane Archetype and seems to have something to do with the story as she has been given a small scene within the two minutes that is the trailer.
As far as the antagonist goes, none is shown in this trailer other than what seems to be the synthetics or the small groups wanting to kill what seems to be an Institute, the synthetics are shown as your typical termanator aesthetic and seem to follow the idea of being killing machines as they are somehow feared and accused as being living people. This Institute seems like a secret organisation that is labelled as a myth, due to the line in the trailer, You don't find them they find you. It sounds awfully secret to me and what most people would consider as non exsistent.