14 DAY TRIAL // The sound and graphic engines of computer games have reached unexpected heights. Things that were once improbable are today's standards. However, not only what we see and hear has improved. The game concepts and styles have changed dramatically: our senses, reflexes and intelligence have never known such a burden. However, we have never been so eager to play a game, as there has never been a better offer. Gaming has improved our tastes and, consequently, our expectations. Developers struggle to satiate our hunger, thus gaming experience has never been so deep and genuine. However, this only made ravenous (concerning game offers) and fiery critics turn towards game developers.
Almost everyone believes that today's games may simulate almost every aspect of our daily lives and almost every little thing our imagination may bring to life. Acknowledging this fact, a new crave has arisen into our hearts: one for style. A game without a compelling story, exquisite concept art and breath-taking landscapes has a great chance to fall into oblivion even if it shows unseen gameplay and game mechanics materialized in a state of the art graphics and physics engine. The modern gamer wants to fall off his chair when playing a game as he did when he saw his favorite movie or read his favorite book for the first time. A gamer seeks thrilling atmosphere for entertainment, something as intense as watching your favorite team beating the snot out of their challengers.
Although quests probably offer the best game experience of all game types, they didn't suffer major changes. Shooters, racing simulations, strategies, tactical games, all have changed quite a bit throughout their history. Quests continue to suffer from the same ill stereotypy: gather objects, talk to as many NPCs as possible, and bear in mind that all these serve your duty to save something. Your main objective may have varied from saving the world to saving a state of things or someone/something you loved, and this was never clear until the end of the game. It is very strange indeed to find yourself doing a whole lot of things and not knowing why and what for - a perpetual grope in the dark that ends in stupefaction as you discover that you fought for nothing. This error is present in almost all - supposedly valuable - quests.
It is not right to find myself master over the main character's destiny without knowing anything about his role in the game's plot. Although the main character is endowed with the knowledge of many things, for some odd reason, he/she is not usually eager to share much with the player. Without having any clue about his main task, the player resumes to a set of actions (move around a bit, look for someone to chitchat, and gather useless things) that keep him distracted from the plot of the game. It is no wonder the player feels neglected, left out of the game. This selfish approach and its grave consequences (lack of dynamism, dead times, monotony) are one reason too many why quests aren't so popular.
By contrast, Sanitarium managed to involve its players emotionally. The struggle of the main character to set what was real from what was just a nightmare, its inspired grim landscapes, the Freudian approach and a flowing story that kept your levels of empathy sky-high. Moreover, the game didn't swarm the player with zounds of weird objects and ridiculous puzzles. They usually corresponded to the personality of the character and symbolized his internal conflicts and issues. These aspects and the main objective of the game (escape, save your life, find inner peace) should have been the leitmotif of any good quest.
I feel it is high time for this to happen. A short story like "Death and the Compass" (written by Jorge Luis Borges) has all the chances to steal many hours of your life. Just imagine a detective with a weakness towards symbolism, mysticism (the doctrines of the Kabbalah in particular) and literature that investigates a series of murders discovering that they actually reveal a map that shows the location of the murderer. His zeal will bring him face to face with the infamous criminal only to find out that the those murders were of pure randomness and the ritualistic value that he has given to them is a fabrication of his mind. His erudition combined with his lack of lucidity eventually kills him. The final words of the assassin have an incredible weight over the entire story: "I knew your inclination to find secret meanings where there aren't any will eventually bring you to me. And now, let's resume to our business? I want you dead!"
Just imagine a game with such a story endowed with the latest in graphic and video development. For instance, you enter a room, and see an object on a table. Instantly, the camera focuses on that object from behind without leaving your character outside the scene. The game freezes, and you are asked what to do with that object: decide whether to take it, play with it, move it around, observe its particularities, or just stand still and analyze it from the distance (this also providing you with some information about your character's personality). After you decide what to do, an event is triggered. You hear a faint noise coming from behind the door. The camera focus changes from that object to your character and than looses you in a blur while it takes a close up with the door that hides - at this point - a threatening presence. After this little cut scene the camera position should be just under the ceiling. The game freezes again and a number of indicators reveal some important details of the room: the places where you can hide (dark corners, large curtains) and the things that may divulge your presence (the creaking wooden floor, the light bulb and the light switch which can be broken silently, your perfume, and so on). You should be able to stack a number of actions in a specific order and wait to see what happens. This approach - decide what action pattern should be followed by your character rather than moving him around - should kill the monotony that usually defines a quest-game. Furthermore, it should give him something other game genres do not have: an artistic value.
I believe that the survival of quests resides in this cinematic, character centered approach. Stories about heroes are reserved to shooters and role-playing-games. A quest/adventure game cannot compete in dynamism and intensity with these game genres. Thus, centering the story on the personality, conscience, emotional universe and feelings of the main character is certainly one of the keys that might change not only quests but probably how games will be perceived in the future.