Metaphor: ReFantaziodirector Katsura Hashino recently said that he has no interest in games that don’t offer a “glimpse of the humanity behind [them]”, even if they’re very polished experiences. To Hashino, something with heart and a creative vision, even if it’s a very rough draft, is far more valuable than a game that feels like it wascreated by executives in a boardroom.
Before Metaphor, Hashino directed Persona 3, Persona 4, and Persona 5. He departed the series he’d become most closely associated with to pursue a new creative challenge, even though the easier option would have just been to make another Persona. I have a lot of respect for Hashino’s words, and they resonated with me as someone who values vision over almost everything else in a game.
In Trying To Please Everyone, You Please No-One
I’d wager that a lot of people feel the same way, whether they realise it or not. We’re beginning to see the consequences of a lack of innovation with the faltering fortunes of Ubisoft, which hasn’t really changed up its third-person open-world RPG formula in years.Star Wars Outlawsfeels like a game crafted around mechanics, rather than something that began as an idea and grew into something bigger. Is Kay Vess is a smuggler because it enables the exploration of multiple worlds and justifies the game’s stealth mechanics? There’s no way of knowing what Ubisoft’s creative process is - the studio may very well have been creatively excited by the idea of switching up from the standard Jedi formula. However, playing Outlaws, you get the sense that the game has been designed from the top down, rather than growing out of something organic. You just can’t shake the feeling that Outlaws was created to try and appeal to everyone. The best stories often begin with a single sentence or idea, not market research.
Obviously, repeating something that’s already succeeded once is often just good business. If you follow a formula for success, the project is inherently less risky. Even Hashino’s Metaphor has Persona’s DNA all over it. It’s completely fine for a developer to explore ideas within a genre they have significant experience in. However, everything that might be considered derivative about Metaphor is secondary to the story the game tells and the themes it explores. From the first minute, you can feel what Metaphor is trying to do and that cohesion is what draws you in and makes you want to keep playing.
Reach For The Stars
In contrast, think aboutStarfield. Supposedly, Bethesda had a dream of making a spacefaring RPG, and the studio is always prattling on about how it’s such a technical marvel. But what was the dream? To generate planets with realistic lighting, or to evoke the feeling of curiosity and exploration present in every human?
From the outside, Starfield appears to be a game moulded around Bethesda’s technical prowess, rather than an experience that tries to draw out specific emotions in the player. The main draw of a game like this should be exploration, and yet exploration in Starfield is one of the most banal things you can do in a video game. Starfield’s universe shouldn’t feel less interesting to explore than that ofMass Effect, a game released in 2007 that was made within far more limiting technical restraints.
Why is Mass Effect so interesting in comparison? Because Casey Hudson and BioWare constructed the game from a core idea: what would happen if humanity was suddenly thrust into a universe-spanning society where they were no longer the dominant political species? It’s playing on the social dynamics and politics of every human society, and blowing it up into a science fiction series with associated lore, characters and plots. It’s a love letter to the sci-fi settings the writers enjoyed growing up, rather than a vague attempt to ‘wow’ gamers with cutting-edge tech.
A common theme among independent games that have gone on to become huge successes is that the creators never expected the success they ended up getting, and were often creating the games for themselves and niche audiences. Gareth Damian Martin ofCitizen Sleeperhas spoken about how the game was created to represent their complicated feelings of identity and the precarious nature of the gig economy. Billy Basso saysAnimal Wellwas inspired by how you feel about your home when you’re a child; even when you think you know everything about it, there are always more secrets to discover. LocalThunk has saidBalatrowas a throwaway project, not something that was ever meant to be a big bid for success.
The point is - you can’t always reverse engineer your way to a win. Just because something worked once, doesn’t mean it’s going to continue to work. Executives should always foster the creativity of people, and leverage their experience to balance their ideas with the realities of game development. This is how these relationships become symbiotic, rather than parasitic and creativity-sapping. We’re seeing a plethora of remakes and sequels and while they often do work, players are eventually going to get tired of the constant re-hashing of the same stories. Publishers need to be willing to bet on new ideas if they want long-term success, and that begins with backing creatives.
Metaphor: ReFantazio
WHERE TO PLAY
From the creative minds behind Persona 3, 4, and 5 comes Metaphor: ReFantazio, a unique fantasy world, where your protagonist will journey alongside his fairy companion, Gallica, to lift the curse from the kingdom’s lost prince.Control your destiny, face your fears, and awaken magical Archetype powers that lie dormant in your heart. By awakening to an Archetype, you will unlock the power to channel and combine the abilities of unique job classes. Strengthen your bonds and build your party to take down powerful foes and discover the kingdom’s true nature.
