The point of view of a narrator is an important aspect of a story that alters the reader’s perception of the events and characters within a story. At a basic level, there are three kinds of points of view used in literature: first-person narration, third-person omniscient, and third-person limited. Each comes with strengths and weaknesses for the author: first-person (I) draws the reader into the story, using personal pronouns to engage the audience and form a connection to the narrator and protagonist; third-person omniscient (he, she, and they) provides the author with a wider lens through which to capture events, following multiple characters and seeing how several characters think; and third-person limited (he or she) maintains a separation between narrator and main protagonist, while working within a narrower scope and providing an empathic link with the protagonist. Second-person narration (you) is largely missing from literature, relegated to epistles. Occasionally there are also frame stories which may cross into multiple points of view, such as when a character in a story is telling a story of their own.
All narratives have a point of view through which they are told. When the audience should visualize themselves in the narrative, the author typically will use first-person. If the story has a far-reaching scope, the author most likely will use third-person omniscient narration.
Even other mediums are bound to points of view, including graphic novels (which commonly used third-person narration, but are more recently utilizing first-person narration more often), films, songs, and video games. Films stay with third-person limited, but any use of “found footage” is considered first-person. Video games arguably maintain as even a balance between first- and third-person points of view as novels. The following are games that not only use the point of view, but use it with purpose or somehow address the point of view.
First-Person Shooter
There are many games that utilize the first-person point of view, though the most common would be those within the first-person shooter genre. Notably popularized by Wolfenstein 3D, one of the first games to task players with navigating a maze-like facility while shooting Nazis and the infamous Mecha-Hitler, the current top dogs in the genre are Call of Duty and Battlefield. All of these games and other games in the genre place you in the role of a gun-toting badass capable of taking on an entire army on your own. They provide power fantasies and, while the characters you control already have names, because you can’t see the character you are playing as, players feel more immersed in the action. Players talking about what actions are being done will typically use personal pronouns when describing these games.
There is one notable first-person shooter that defies the typical violent war games that dominate the genre: Portal. Portal is a puzzle game, in which you navigate a gauntlet of physics-based challenges and snarky insults. You play Chell, a woman with no backstory, held in a testing facility by the maniacal artificial intelligence GLaDOS. The only way you can see your character is when portals are used near enough to each other to see yourself. Chell’s lack of a back story and the infrequency in which you see her help to further place the player in her shoes. Additionally, the only speaking character in the first Portal game is GLaDOS, meaning that when she speaks to someone she always speaks to “you.” GLaDOS’ lines are filled with venom, insulting Chell’s (and the player’s) intelligence, looks, and personal history. All of these lines are said in such a way as to elicit a laugh from the player, as it is clear that to navigate the tests, you defy GLaDOS’ intelligence insults, and Chell is very clearly not fat, despite GLaDOS’ insistence that you are testing the weight-bearing limits of the floor. Portal’s writing is consistently on point, and the way in which it defies many tropes of first-person shooters (no violence, female-heavy cast, absurdist humor) makes it a game that should not be missed.
First-Person exploration
The reason I am separating this from the earlier entry is simply because the first-person shooter has become its own genre within the gaming lexicon. The same reasons that a developer decides to make a shooter in the first-person are often true for why an adventure game is chosen to be a first-person point of view: greater immersion. The video game medium is an inherently immersive medium, as the player is in control of some aspect of the narrative. First-person points of view in gaming solidifies that immersion, making the character’s eyes the field of vision. Some games take it a bit further, by making the camera movements mimic head movements more closely, or reflect the character’s face on their visor (assuming a visor or helmet is worn).
Recently, there has been an influx of exploration and adventure games in the first-person point of view. While the adventure games (Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Mirror’s Edge, Dishonored) aim at making you feel like a badass like with the shooter genre, exploration games are much more intimate and often reflective. Myst is one of the first games in this genre, and a clear inspiration for many other exploration games. Myst offers no real backstory as the game boots up, rather letting the player discover the story as they explore the mysteries of the island. Even though there is no danger in the game, no enemies to hide from or attack, there is a clear sense of discomfort from the island. I vividly remember the fear of going into a new section, not knowing what might lurk in the dark. Ether One is a game very clearly made in the same vein, but optimized for today’s technology, exploring in real time with more open environments. It is as safe and eerily empty as Myst, but offers a clearer story and understanding of what the character is doing in this world.
The horror genre is growing with first-person point of view as well. Slender: The Arrival, Amnesia, and P.T. are all very popular first-person horror games, in which you must explore the world and have no real weapons to defend yourself against the creatures and dangers you may find. P.T. is no longer available for download, as it was a playable trailer (what the name stood for) for Silent Hills, which has been cancelled. Slender and Amnesia are much more active in gameplay, making the player use strategy to survive. P.T. was a safe, though disturbing, game that caused fear based on the slight alterations of the hallway you walked through. Each of these used their point of view to immerse the player even more, heightening the experience.
Second-Person (Text-based Adventure)
This is considerably less common today than in the early days of games. Much like the use of second-person in literature, second-person point of view in games is a rare find. The only real example that comes to mind is the text-based adventure game genre, in which the player types in what they want to do. Often, your character is unnamed, simply using “you” when addressing the character/player.
Zork is the most famous text-based adventure and at the time was one of the most detailed video game experiences. Zork was released in 1980, three years before the Nintendo Entertainment System was released. The graphics at the time allowed for little more than stick figures to appear on screen. Zork used its computing power to focus on narrative and scripting rather than provide graphics.
By addressing the player directly, the games in this genre are able to immerse the player further still, though it limits the game’s character options, since defining a character controlled in such a game affects the immersion and arguably changes the point of view.
Third-Person Limited
Third-person limited is the most common point of view in games. Side scrolling platformers like Super Mario Brothers and Sonic, shooting games like Gears of War, and Massively-multiplayer online (MMO) games all are played through the third person limited point of view. This point of view allows for a more concise story, and often leads to gamers referring to characters by name, rather than using “I” when talking about the events of a game.
During the 8- and 16-bit generations, most action was limited by hardware to side scrolling. However, when the hardware made a significant leap to allow 64-bit graphics and 3D environments, gaming experienced a massive evolution. Two games that pioneered how games will control in this new generation were Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Both were exclusive to the Nintendo 64 game system and are revered today. Both of these games utilized Nintendo’s analog joystick to control these characters in 3D space, the ease of use leading the analog stick to become a staple in controller design. Mario had previously been a side scrolling platformer, tasking players to navigate from one side of the stage to the other. The Legend of Zelda was vastly different, traditionally being a top-down adventure game tasking players in collecting relics and important items through completing dungeons and defeating bosses. Both games were brought to an over-the-shoulder perspective within a 3D environment, a great change from either beginning.
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Nintendo helped players understand the new perspective in Mario by allowing players to control the camera, a new concept at the time. The developers gave a reason why the camera was movable: a lakitu (a creature in the mario universe that is known for riding in clouds, throwing spinies down below) cameraman follows Mario, recording his adventure. This lakitu, through this brief explanation, becomes the narrator of the game.
Third-Person Omniscient
Third-person omniscient is one of the less common points of view in the medium. As players generally only control one character, or occasionally are given the option to switch between a few select characters, most games are through that character’s perspective. Much like with second-person point of view and text-based adventures, I see this point of view as being relegated to a specific genre: real-time strategy. Real-time strategy games task the player with commanding an army and defeating an opposing army. These games include Age of Empires, Warcraft, and Total War.
Age of Empires allows players to build an army through various ages of technologies to build the most powerful army so that you may be able to crush the enemy armies. Each unit is under the player’s control and will not move without user input. Much like in literature, using the omniscient point of view distances the audience from the events and characters.
Switching POV
Several games offer the option to switch between points of view, almost always between first-and third-person limited points of view. Fallout, Elder Scrolls, and Grand Theft Auto all allow the player to see the world through the eyes of the character or from behind them. These games highlight the effect that each point of view offers. With Fallout, Elder Scrolls, and Grand Theft Auto, first-person view immerses the player while third-person view makes the character feel more fleshed out. Being able to see the same game in either mode really highlights the draw and power of either point of view.
What’s next?
Video games are by far the most immersive medium for entertainment, and even they manage to affect the players’ understanding and perception through the use of point of view. A first-person experience in a video game is different from a third-person experience and can make a game more immersive or deepen the player’s emotional connection to the protagonist. In the past few years, plenty of waves have been made by a new evolution in gaming: virtual reality. VR has been in the works for decades, and multiple attempts have been made by it,; however, the Oculus Rift and Project Morpheus seem to have the most potential so far. These VR headsets create a 3D depth to games, bringing players an even closer experience in games. The headsets also detect head movement and translate it into controlling a character’s field of vision. What possibilities may come from this new technology? Time will tell soon enough it seems.
Now is the Time for Games 