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Why Games Don't Make Us Cry
By Audrey Wells
Games don't tend to affect gamers nearly as much as any other type of media when it comes to emotions. Specifically, I'm talking about evoking the most embarrassing of emotions: tears. I'll admit that I've had several books make me cry, and even more movies. Why don't games do the same? There are probably lots of reasons. First of all, the majority of games are not even designed for that purpose. Games in strategy, sports, simulation, and action genres normally aren't intended for evoking this kind of emotion.
The adventure genre is different. Many adventure games do strive to evoke emotion in their players. These are the types of games, generally referring to third-person graphic adventure games, that I like the best (probably because invoked emotion equates to a good story). But in all but the rarest cases, they fail to get even one tear to trickle from my eyes. Why? I'm a very emotional person so it shouldn't be that hard. I cry when I watch sad movies, I cry when I read sad books, I cry when I feel sad.
Movies designed for tear-wrenching, for example, do an excellent job because they are crammed into approximately two or three hours. There are no breaks during which the person can regain calmness or return to his/her life. Instead, people are bombarded with a steady stream of moving pictures while in a semi-hypnotized state, completely absorbed in the events of the movie. If the movie is designed to make people cry, chances are that most people will succumb to the emotion of it all. In contrast, games are typically played in spurts, to break up the 20 to 50 hours that an average game might last (depending on the skill and experience of the gamer). The breaks in between play sessions allow even the most emotional of gamers to return to an unexcited state.
That doesn't explain why books can evoke tears, however, since they are typically read in spurts as well. Perhaps the reason is that books utilize one of the most powerful aspects of the human brain--the imagination. Books let you imagine the characters, events, and settings, thereby involving the reader in the story and emotions that may come along with it.
Conversely, games are limited by their technology. If the illusion of realism is not created, some gamers may not be fully captivated by the game in order to feel emotionally involved. Poor graphics, imperfectly animated characters, or inferior acting may hinder adventures in this respect. Text adventures are probably the only exception to this because they have no graphics and resemble interactive books.
Theoretically, as technology improves for graphic adventures, so should the illusion of realism, but that is not always the case. For example, the surge of real-time-rendered 3D adventure games features somewhat blocky polygonal characters and textured environments. King's Quest: Mask of Eternity, Grim Fandango, Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned, and the upcoming Monkey Island 4: Escape from Monkey Island are all based on three-dimensional worlds. But with each subsequent 3D adventure, the graphics become more refined. It's as if we're taking a step backwards in order to improve more in the long run. Gabriel Knight 3 did an excellent job of overcoming many 3D graphical limitations--there was less pixelation and much more realistically rendered characters.
Though there is still a long way to go with 3D technology, I must say that I am welcoming any 3D adventure after my experience with GK3 and Grim Fandango. Both of these games nicely demonstrate how an adventure can be done in 3D without losing any of the vital qualities that make an adventure game (such as those lost in Mask of Eternity). GK3 was also one of those rare games that put me on the brink of tears with its phenomenal storyline. I even found myself preferring the 3D-rendered characters to the FMV and 2D characters seen in the previous GK games. Perhaps 3D graphics are the key to drawing gamers further into the emotion of games, since they provide a much greater level of detail, exploration, and character movement.
In any case, I have noticed that all of the games I have been emotionally affected by (even though I've never actually cried--yet) have several things in common. For example, there are many prevalent themes that are seen in emotion-invoking games. The theme of lost or unrequited love is a strong one. The end of The Last Express is utterly heart-rending (I won't be specific in case you haven't played these games). Similarly, the poignant end of Gabriel Knight 3 left gamers begging for a resolution between Gabriel and Grace. These types of love themes are my personal favorite, being the hopeless romantic that I am.
Another potent theme involves ghosts and other supernatural beings. In Sanitarium, the amnesic protagonist confronts his own personal demons though his interactions with ghosts and monsters. Amber: Journeys Beyond, Morpheus, and The Blackstone Chronicles also deal with quite a few sad ghost stories. The most emotional of games usually include somewhat controversial endings, such as GK3, Black Dahlia, and Tender Loving Care. In addition, games are much more effective at bringing out emotional responses if the player feels a special bond with one or more of the characters. Perhaps the player finds a similarity to a situation he or she is in or has been in or feels a resemblance to one of the characters. Thus, every game has a different effect on different people--it all depends on the perspective.
And now, to conclude, I present to you the top 10 list of emotional graphic adventures. If you're looking for some good, old-fashioned emotion, play these games.
Top 10 Emotional Graphic Adventures
1. Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the
Sacred, Blood of the Damned
2. The Last Express
3. Sanitarium
4. Grim Fandango
5. Amber: Journeys Beyond
6. Black
Dahlia
7. Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
8. Tender
Loving Care
9. The Blackstone Chronicles
10. Morpheus
Many thanks to the people of GameBoomers for their assistance.