Because it may not be clear, the point of these "art of" blog posts is to go past what the videogames in question do well at face value (things like graphics, music, gameplay, etc.), and investigate their unique qualities and styles of satisfaction.
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Racing is a satisfying sport; it pushes a person to reach their limit and go past it. One's skill at racing comes down to how well they can maintain their momentum after the racing has begun. I find that Vanquish has a similar execution and satisfaction to that of an intense race made through the "art of momentum".
The beginning of a race can be the most intense part of the whole thing, and like a race, right from the beginning, Vanquish throws the player into the fray with some intense combat. There's very little breathing room and no hand-holding, the player is simply let loose into the fray. This type of execution is a superb way of showing the player that momentum will be a hard thing to keep up in this game, but with skill it can be done.
There's nothing unfair about Vanquish, the player is given all of the abilities they could possibly need right at the beginning; its simply up to the player to properly utilize the tool-set given to them and progress forward.
The "art of momentum" comes into play specifically because of the gameplay design of Vanquish. Hiding behind cover is discouraged, because not much can be accomplished behind cover; furthermore, enemies are vicious and attack the player without restraint. The result is that the best option for the player is to attack the enemies just as viciously as they attack him/her. But it isn't that easy; the player has to move alot using the dash and dodge mechanics. The end result is gameplay where the player is constantly moving and attacking, thus keeping up momentum throughout the combat. These are the tools for crafting the "art of momentum".
The satisfaction that arises from the "art of momentum" is the rush of combat that never lets up. It keeps pushing the player to move forward; and because of Vanquish's superb and varied level design, the "race" never becomes boring and the momentum is something the player wants to retain in order to move forward and see what lies ahead.
The "art of momentum" is something that's been in videogames since the days of arcade shooters/beat-em-ups. Before Vanquish, the best portrayer of this art was the Metal Slug series, specifically Metal Slug 3. But Vanquish really took the art style to a new level with its complex mechanics, multiple weapons, and varied level design that went past just moving to the right.
It takes true skill to craft a game that keeps the player moving constantly without becoming monotonous in any way, but PlatinumGames pulled it off in spades. By taking the intense experience of arcade shooters and adding the complexity of 3D action games, Vanquish brings the "art of momentum" into a genre that one would not think could even handle it, and the result is truly satisfying.
Showing posts with label Art of. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Art of. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Viewtiful Joe and the Art of the Moment
The time has come. Everything comes down to what you do know. Every action you make will have crucial consequences. One mistake and it could be over. This intensity, this excitement, this thrill ..... this is the "art of the moment".
Viewtiful Joe is a game with many, many unique elements, one of which is its level structure. Each level of VJ is separated by many "moments": areas of the stage where the player goes into battle with many enemies, a puzzle, an over-the-top platforming section, or a boss. It is these moments that make up the heart and soul of Viewtiful Joe. These moments aren't simply sections of gameplay, they are all superbly executed to create the essence of the moment. The best examples being how each moment begins and ends with style. Each "moment" begins with Silvia, your ultimate goal in the game, saying "Just go for it!", thus creating a situation where it feels like someone is really rooting you on, and it fills the player with confidence to enter the moment with fire in his/her heart. Then, each "moment" ends with a crowd applauding your performance, and the intensity of their applause depends upon how well you performed in the moment. Furthermore, during each "moment", the crowd responds to your actions with applause if you rack up a combo high enough; really get that combo up there and you'll not only get a rousing and thundering applause from the audience, but you'll also hear Sivia say "My Hero!". All of these factors are, in essence, simply stylish presentation elements to go along with the movie theme of the game that is Viewtiful Joe, but these presentation elements go a long way in crafting the "art of the moment".
It is the passion and superb execution behind the presentation elements of Viewtiful Joe coinciding with its unique level structure that create this new art style that goes beyond the simple aspect "levels" and "stages" that past 2D action games were composed of, to a unique type of execution that focuses on creating unique moments of action, platforming, and puzzle solving that all feel so satisfying to finish because of the tension and excitement created by these "moments". VJ has an incredible presentation, a great soundtrack, and fantastic gameplay, but instead of spreading out the the quality of these separate aspects of gameplay through long stages, Clover Studios opted to give us quality gaming in small and condensed "moments". This unique execution allows the player to savor the essence that is Viewtiful Joe many, many times throughout a stage. Instead getting applause at the end of the stage, you get applause for every "moment" of action that is thrown at you. The result is a rare satisfaction, where the satisfaction of the gameplay and presentation isn't something to appreciate at the end of a level or the end of the game, but rather many, many times throughout a single stage; all thanks to these little "moments" of varied gameplay. Why eat a meal in one bite when you can savor it over the course of many smaller bites? Viewtiful Joe is a game to be savored.
The "art of the moment" is not something found in many games; in fact, Viewtiful Joe's sequels and Bayonetta are the only other games I can think of that executed this particular art style. In Bayonetta, the style was well executed for the purpose of the scoring system, but I feel it pales in comparison to VJ's execution of the "art of the moment". The reason is due to presentation. VJ is presented as a movie, therefore its aesthetics work very well for it in its execution of "moments", but in Bayonetta, there is no applause and no 4th wall to be broken, only Bayonetta's comment on the player's grade. It just felt empty in comparison to VJ's execution. I can't help but think some other type of execution would have been better for Bayonetta.
Viewtiful Joe is a game with many, many unique elements, one of which is its level structure. Each level of VJ is separated by many "moments": areas of the stage where the player goes into battle with many enemies, a puzzle, an over-the-top platforming section, or a boss. It is these moments that make up the heart and soul of Viewtiful Joe. These moments aren't simply sections of gameplay, they are all superbly executed to create the essence of the moment. The best examples being how each moment begins and ends with style. Each "moment" begins with Silvia, your ultimate goal in the game, saying "Just go for it!", thus creating a situation where it feels like someone is really rooting you on, and it fills the player with confidence to enter the moment with fire in his/her heart. Then, each "moment" ends with a crowd applauding your performance, and the intensity of their applause depends upon how well you performed in the moment. Furthermore, during each "moment", the crowd responds to your actions with applause if you rack up a combo high enough; really get that combo up there and you'll not only get a rousing and thundering applause from the audience, but you'll also hear Sivia say "My Hero!". All of these factors are, in essence, simply stylish presentation elements to go along with the movie theme of the game that is Viewtiful Joe, but these presentation elements go a long way in crafting the "art of the moment".
It is the passion and superb execution behind the presentation elements of Viewtiful Joe coinciding with its unique level structure that create this new art style that goes beyond the simple aspect "levels" and "stages" that past 2D action games were composed of, to a unique type of execution that focuses on creating unique moments of action, platforming, and puzzle solving that all feel so satisfying to finish because of the tension and excitement created by these "moments". VJ has an incredible presentation, a great soundtrack, and fantastic gameplay, but instead of spreading out the the quality of these separate aspects of gameplay through long stages, Clover Studios opted to give us quality gaming in small and condensed "moments". This unique execution allows the player to savor the essence that is Viewtiful Joe many, many times throughout a stage. Instead getting applause at the end of the stage, you get applause for every "moment" of action that is thrown at you. The result is a rare satisfaction, where the satisfaction of the gameplay and presentation isn't something to appreciate at the end of a level or the end of the game, but rather many, many times throughout a single stage; all thanks to these little "moments" of varied gameplay. Why eat a meal in one bite when you can savor it over the course of many smaller bites? Viewtiful Joe is a game to be savored.
The "art of the moment" is not something found in many games; in fact, Viewtiful Joe's sequels and Bayonetta are the only other games I can think of that executed this particular art style. In Bayonetta, the style was well executed for the purpose of the scoring system, but I feel it pales in comparison to VJ's execution of the "art of the moment". The reason is due to presentation. VJ is presented as a movie, therefore its aesthetics work very well for it in its execution of "moments", but in Bayonetta, there is no applause and no 4th wall to be broken, only Bayonetta's comment on the player's grade. It just felt empty in comparison to VJ's execution. I can't help but think some other type of execution would have been better for Bayonetta.
Devil May Cry and the Art of Combat
I believe games are art. The game is your canvas, the controller is your paintbrush, and your actions within the game's world (whether it be running, jumping, fighting, etc.) act as the paint upon the canvas. When the game is over, your painting is complete, and while its beauty is in the eye of the beholder (the player), art has been crafted regardless, because you, as the player, were challenged to paint upon the canvas, and, overcoming that challenge, you crafted your art.
Of course, videogames aren't an artform that gives you too much freedom outside of some open-world RPGs and MMOs; rather, most games only provide the player with limited "color palletes" and force the player to paint in a particular style or "genre". In this sense, the art that a player can create is limited to what the developer's desires. However, this does not mean the finished painting will be any less beautiful; after all, not all of us are artists. In fact, many of us know very little of what it means to craft a beautiful piece of art; therefore, we require the guiding hand of the developer to help create our masterpiece. It is up for debate, but I argue that these paintings that require the guiding hand of a developer end up being the most beautiful of masterpieces, for within the unique styles of the developers, we can end up with a much more unique piece of art than what we would end up with if every developer provided us a blank canvas and allowed us absolute freedom in creating our painting. This is why our paintings formed from playing a Grasshopper Manufacturer game will end up looking very different from one playing a Bioware game; their beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but there is no mistaking that they are very different paintings in the end.
As stated above, the art of a game comes in many different shapes and forms. I'm going to try something, and write blog entries detailing some of the particular "art styles" shown by specific games. To note, however, just because I detail a particular art style to one game does not mean that it is the only game that displays the particular style, it is simply that I find the particular game I write about to be one of, if not the, best practitioner of the particular art style.
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With Resident Evil, Shinji Mikami and his team forged a gameplay experience where combat was something to be feared. Prior to the survival-horror genre, combat was often something the player looked forward to, or was basically all a game was about, but in RE, it was something to be feared, .... and conquered. RE's approach to conquering the challenge of combat was item management and precise thinking. It was a different type of "action" game, a different type of "art style" than what was previously used in crafting the painting that is a videogame, an "art of survival". This art style would serve as a precursor to a new art style in Team Little Devil's "Devil May Cry", the "art of combat".
In Devil May Cry, the atmosphere was scary and intense. It was a foreboding atmosphere similar to that seen in the RE series; however, the execution of the gameplay, the execution of the way the player painted his/her painting was very different. Combat in DMC was challenging, for enemies were often a force to be feared; they attacked in groups, made powerful strikes that matched the players own, and were relentless in their assaults. This situation, combined with the fact that the control scheme of DMC was an entirely new button set-up for players (thus forcing the player to use new tools to paint with than used in previous games), created the challenge the player was given. The execution of the combat probably matched that of the RE series at first; after all, combat was hard, and restorative items were few and far between. However, as the player grew more knowledgable of the combat system and realized just how different DMC's style was, they realized that the painting of DMC was meant to be forged in a different art style; this is where the "art of combat" arises.
Combat is hard, but Dante doesn't just face it head-on, he flies above it, slashes it into the air and shoots it up, and walks out of the room completely unscathed. This is the "art of combat" created by Team Little Devils. Where the player is put into a situation where they are challenged to the hilt, but given the abilities to make it through the challenge without a scratch if they have enough skill. In action games of the past, challenges were something to simply get through in order to reach the goal, and that was enough; these were situations that couldn't truly be called combat. Combat needs a form, it needs finesse, and DMC provided that; thanks in no small part to it's sword/gun combo system and use of the 3rd dimension. DMC rose above the simple concepts of the past to create this new style, a new execution; one that would become known as "stylish combat" due to how the player looked when playing at the best of their abilities. Before, combat was a task, a process to simply make it to the end, and while it may have been satisfying, it was never executed in a way like DMC: an act of taking on a challenge with strategy and finesse. A process that created a different type of painting as a result of using a different art style: the art of combat.
After DMC, the art of combat would be a valuable style tool in many videogames, currently culminating in Bayonetta being, arguably, the most beautiful execution yet of the art style. I chose the original DMC to explain the art of combat because as the series would go on it would lose a lot of the essence that made gameplay exemplify the process of combat; later DMCs and action games either grew more "campy" and fun in their execution, or went back to the old-school styles of back-and-forth fighting. I find DMC executed the "art of combat" in its purest form, thanks in part to its survival-horror foundation.
I'm a big fan of the art of combat, and look forward to seeing where it goes in the future, perhaps leading to an entirely new art style.
Of course, videogames aren't an artform that gives you too much freedom outside of some open-world RPGs and MMOs; rather, most games only provide the player with limited "color palletes" and force the player to paint in a particular style or "genre". In this sense, the art that a player can create is limited to what the developer's desires. However, this does not mean the finished painting will be any less beautiful; after all, not all of us are artists. In fact, many of us know very little of what it means to craft a beautiful piece of art; therefore, we require the guiding hand of the developer to help create our masterpiece. It is up for debate, but I argue that these paintings that require the guiding hand of a developer end up being the most beautiful of masterpieces, for within the unique styles of the developers, we can end up with a much more unique piece of art than what we would end up with if every developer provided us a blank canvas and allowed us absolute freedom in creating our painting. This is why our paintings formed from playing a Grasshopper Manufacturer game will end up looking very different from one playing a Bioware game; their beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but there is no mistaking that they are very different paintings in the end.
As stated above, the art of a game comes in many different shapes and forms. I'm going to try something, and write blog entries detailing some of the particular "art styles" shown by specific games. To note, however, just because I detail a particular art style to one game does not mean that it is the only game that displays the particular style, it is simply that I find the particular game I write about to be one of, if not the, best practitioner of the particular art style.
------------------------------------------------
With Resident Evil, Shinji Mikami and his team forged a gameplay experience where combat was something to be feared. Prior to the survival-horror genre, combat was often something the player looked forward to, or was basically all a game was about, but in RE, it was something to be feared, .... and conquered. RE's approach to conquering the challenge of combat was item management and precise thinking. It was a different type of "action" game, a different type of "art style" than what was previously used in crafting the painting that is a videogame, an "art of survival". This art style would serve as a precursor to a new art style in Team Little Devil's "Devil May Cry", the "art of combat".
In Devil May Cry, the atmosphere was scary and intense. It was a foreboding atmosphere similar to that seen in the RE series; however, the execution of the gameplay, the execution of the way the player painted his/her painting was very different. Combat in DMC was challenging, for enemies were often a force to be feared; they attacked in groups, made powerful strikes that matched the players own, and were relentless in their assaults. This situation, combined with the fact that the control scheme of DMC was an entirely new button set-up for players (thus forcing the player to use new tools to paint with than used in previous games), created the challenge the player was given. The execution of the combat probably matched that of the RE series at first; after all, combat was hard, and restorative items were few and far between. However, as the player grew more knowledgable of the combat system and realized just how different DMC's style was, they realized that the painting of DMC was meant to be forged in a different art style; this is where the "art of combat" arises.
Combat is hard, but Dante doesn't just face it head-on, he flies above it, slashes it into the air and shoots it up, and walks out of the room completely unscathed. This is the "art of combat" created by Team Little Devils. Where the player is put into a situation where they are challenged to the hilt, but given the abilities to make it through the challenge without a scratch if they have enough skill. In action games of the past, challenges were something to simply get through in order to reach the goal, and that was enough; these were situations that couldn't truly be called combat. Combat needs a form, it needs finesse, and DMC provided that; thanks in no small part to it's sword/gun combo system and use of the 3rd dimension. DMC rose above the simple concepts of the past to create this new style, a new execution; one that would become known as "stylish combat" due to how the player looked when playing at the best of their abilities. Before, combat was a task, a process to simply make it to the end, and while it may have been satisfying, it was never executed in a way like DMC: an act of taking on a challenge with strategy and finesse. A process that created a different type of painting as a result of using a different art style: the art of combat.
After DMC, the art of combat would be a valuable style tool in many videogames, currently culminating in Bayonetta being, arguably, the most beautiful execution yet of the art style. I chose the original DMC to explain the art of combat because as the series would go on it would lose a lot of the essence that made gameplay exemplify the process of combat; later DMCs and action games either grew more "campy" and fun in their execution, or went back to the old-school styles of back-and-forth fighting. I find DMC executed the "art of combat" in its purest form, thanks in part to its survival-horror foundation.
I'm a big fan of the art of combat, and look forward to seeing where it goes in the future, perhaps leading to an entirely new art style.
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