Pulling on Them Heart Strings

[WNxTyr4el]

In my new game, I'd like for there to be attachment to the characters.  I'd really like for the player to experience sadness and maybe even shed a tear or at least get the feeling that what is happening in the game is tugging on their heart strings a little.  The only thing is...I'm unsure how to do that without fully voiced cut scenes and facial expressions.  

How would one accomplish this without those cutscenes?  Have you all achieved it in your games?

 

[Chaos Avian]

Ever played games before voice acting like Dragon Quest 5 or other classics like that? Research those.

 

[Matseb2611]

You can do cutscenes with events, but those cutscenes won't be animated or anything. All you need really is to have a good plot and relatable characters. Give these characters realistic goals and a handful of flaws, and make them interact with each other and with everything else around them and imagine that you're on their position. Oftentimes it's the little things that give a tug on those heartstrings, like maybe a well-timed line of dialogue, or sometimes even how their sprite behaves (for example if a character is usually energetic and moves fast then suddenly starts to walk slowly, then the audience will know that something's up with them, and so on).

Also, with these kind of games where there's no voice acting, the music is what acts as the voice of the game. Make sure you pick a fitting tune to your emotional scenes.  

 

[hian]

There are many games that have managed to do this : notably Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6 for the super Nintendo system.

The most important thing is writing a story that has themes and situations that players can relate to, and writing characters that players can empathize with.

Experiences of loss are usually the easiest to use, such as loss of a loved one. Other examples can be characters who overcome great difficulties. The real issue though is writing a way that makes the problems relatable, believable and engaging. Secondly, the player has to be emotionally invested in the characters involved.

It's hard to say exactly what to do, but you could start with some of these:

- Don't put the supposed emotional event early in the game before the player has had a chance to connect.

If the event has to be early on for story reasons, consider having the scene related later in the game through flashbacks etc.

- Allow the player a chance to shape the character with dialogue choice, as this can help the player feel more invested in the characters.

- Don't write characters that are hard to empathize with if you plan to have the player feel sorry for them down the line.

A common rule is that "the bigger the douchebag, the more horrible things has to happen to him or her, before anyone cares".

- Use tragedy. Most people empathize with people who have bad **** happen to them which they are powerless to do anything about.

The more self-sufficient a character is seen to be, the less we're going to feel sorry for them, and the more likely we are to feel that they had it coming, or should have been able to prevent said **** from happening.

- Consequences. When bad stuff happens, it influences many people. Showing how the world changes, how many characters are bummed out by what happens, gives a sense scope to the tragedy and makes it seem even sadder.

These are just some off of the top of my head though.

 

[WNxTyr4el]

@hian - That is SO much information! I really want the player to connect with the characters and feel bad for them if something happens and feel a connection to the events that are happening. Those themes are perfect and I can definitely think of at least an anime that uses those themes - Naruto. I'm thinking of using a character that's sort of lacking in any sort of combat skills but later on, forced to awaken his/her hidden abilities due to a friend being in need and comes to the rescue. I'll also be using those themes you mentioned as well. Thanks for that long list

I'll also have to check out those other games too! Thanks for those as well!

 

[SLEEP]

Naruto.

You aren't going to tug any heartstrings with mediocre children's anime as your inspiration.

As far as actually released by a developer RPG's go, people say the Earthbound series tugs at their heart strings a lot. In RPG maker terms, lots of people get emotions over bizarre rm2k3 games, like OFF and Yumi Nikki, and a few RPG maker games made in more recent RPG Makers like The Mirror Lied. I think the key here is: emotion comes from human connections. You can't disconnect yourself from a story, and have it evoke feelings powerful. Even the most cliche of tragedies, like Aerith's death in FFVII, was influenced by somebody on the creative team losing their mother.

What's happened in your life? Is there something you've experienced, that you'd be comfortable conveying, exploring, and addressing in a fictionalized setting? You don't have to tell anybody what it is, or the exact hows and whys of how tragic events relate to reality, but you can't draw deeply personal feelings such as sadness out of topics you have no personal stake in.

 

[WNxTyr4el]

Lol well it gets me every now and then!  I can try to include some things from my life.  Nothing really has happened too much but I'll explore the idea

 

[Milennin]

You aren't going to tug any heartstrings with mediocre children's anime as your inspiration.

And yet there's some good emotional scenes in that series, but I guess you've never watched it and jump on the it's-popular-therefore-I'll-hate-it bandwagon.

Haku's and Zabuza's deaths in episodes early in the series were pretty strong scenes I think.

 

[WNxTyr4el]

Haku's and Zabuza's deaths in episodes early in the series were pretty strong scenes I think

Completely agree.  I'm really trying to make this story connect for everyone but I'm finding it difficult.  I'm thinking of scrapping my current idea, but I don't know.  No one has commented on it in the plot discussion thread lol.

 

[Milennin]

Completely agree.  I'm really trying to make this story connect for everyone but I'm finding it difficult.  I'm thinking of scrapping my current idea, but I don't know.  No one has commented on it in the plot discussion thread lol.

Whether people comment on your ideas or not shouldn't matter. If no one comments then go with whatever you want to to make.

 

[WNxTyr4el]

Yeah I'm going with what I have so far. I'm going to try to weave different themes into it to get the effect I want. I started making the first map this morning. Turned out good.

 

[SLEEP]

And yet there's some good emotional scenes in that series, but I guess you've never watched it and jump on the it's-popular-therefore-I'll-hate-it bandwagon.

Haku's and Zabuza's deaths in episodes early in the series were pretty strong scenes I think.

I never said Naruto was bad, I said it was mediocre children's anime. It's good at what it does, and it could make it's target market a bit blue, but it's frankly embarrassing an adult could find it worthy of an example as something sad. I've seen Naruto, of course I have, couldn't access it otherwise! But have you ever departed from watching children's anime, to watch something which appeals to adults on an emotional level?

 

[WNxTyr4el]

I mean I've seen a few that have really torn at me. I don't know if Bleach counts as a children's anime due to the amount of gore and language but that tore at me at some parts. It had some good central themes in it (Young nobody quickly turns into a spirit slayer and grows in power out of desperation, anger, sadness or loss). There have been some other animes that made me tear up a little but can't think of them right now for whatever reason lol.

 

[Milennin]

I never said Naruto was bad, I said it was mediocre children's anime. It's good at what it does, and it could make it's target market a bit blue, but it's frankly embarrassing an adult could find it worthy of an example as something sad. I've seen Naruto, of course I have, couldn't access it otherwise! But have you ever departed from watching children's anime, to watch something which appeals to adults on an emotional level?

I don't see Naruto being aimed specially at children only. It's a series that can be enjoyed regardless of age in my opinion. Yeah, it's not the greatest thing ever, but like I said, it does have some good moments.

Care to give an example of something that's supposed to appeal to adults on an emotional level?

 

[C-C-C-Cashmere]

A lot of good suggestions have been made. I will add that a time-proven way to provide an emotional attachment between a player and a character in your story, is to place them in a situation where an enemy force wishes to inflict pain upon the protagonist unfairly. Be it a system of government, a bully, or just a set of circumstances, people will naturally empathize with a character who is being hurt for bad reasons.

How I would suggest you proceed is to have the character continue to live the status quo, as the fear of change paralyzes the character. This is until the character becomes drawn to a character or ideal throughout the story that he must protect against the enemy. This kind of story resonates with most people, and if you can leverage it to produce emotional response when something is lost, i.e. one of your character's dear loved ones, then you can provide le tears.

Hope this helped.

 

[PixelLuchi]

Just make sure there's a decent timeframe for your players to get to know your characters better. Frankly, the MC mourning the death of a loved one five minutes into the game is not going to make me sympathise with him or her, since I've hardly gotten to know the character, or what drives them, or what they are like as a person.

Apart from tugging at player heartstrings, well-chosen dialogue and music works too ( though I've seen this done perfectly in the movie Up, where the first 5 mins of that is pure magic. Only difference was, no dialogue was being spoken, and I can't recall if there was music playing in the background. Still one of my favourite films of all time ). Granted, it is probably a little harder to do in an RPGMaker game, but custom sprites probably help too.

 

[WNxTyr4el]

Thank you all for your help.  I'm working hard on my new game and I hope that it can tug on them heart strings of yours in the end.  I'll be implementing a few themes and having some likable characters that the player will learn to like...or hate even.  Keep the responses coming though, this is an interesting discussion

 

[Cozzer]

It's actually pretty hard to give a useful reply. I'd say the most important thing is to make your characters feel like persons and not plot devices.

Also, having the right amount of drama can be pretty hard (too little drama and the characters feel like robots, too much overstated drama and everything starts to lose impact).

Personally, I find the most touching scenes are the ones where there's just a little more or less drama than you expect; when the situation forces the characters to start revealing their hidden side. Like, an usually rational character suddenly having an impulsive reaction, or an usually impulsive character controlling himself; if done well, characters acting not quite like themselves can really make the viewer feel like "so THIS is serious!".

The problem is, when not done well these are the scenes most prone to turning into eyeroll-inducing melodrama. Also, they can feel very random if they're not foreshadowed at least a bit.

 

[Oni]

I was noticing some comparisons with Naruto for emotional usage, and I wouldn't use that show as a good source for emotional effects(good show). If you use a show as comparison, look for something that plays strong in family. It may just be me but I have always been a big fan of the FMA show, and one reason is I have younger brothers and the consequences that could effect my siblings or possibly a parent is way more of an emotional baggage, and is for a lot of people. And it also hits home for more people since you can really relate with family and the loss, since that is a road we all have to go down at one point, regardless of a parent, sibling, grandparent, or even a close relative. FMA also plays very strong on a person wants and desires to either do the right thing or to do what you want regardless of the consequences that can affect others, which the show plays heavily on.