Heavy Hero or Digital Dummy: multimodal player-avatar relations in FINAL FANTASY 7

However, the sense that the exploration of the game-world is characterised by a
weaker demand modality - enticement rather than command - depends on player
perception as much as on semiotic design. Janet Murray proposes two kinds of game-
labyrinth: the puzzle maze, a series of solvable obstacles which inexorably lead
towards a defined outcome; and the rhizome (modelled on Deleuze and Guattari’s
metaphor), a network of nodes and links, in which the player’s traversals are open,
unpredictable, and not constrained by linear sequences. Final Fantasy 7 seems to
offer the potential for both, to some degree. Ben, in interview 1, points out that “One
of the problems with Final Fantasy is, is, it seems - it is really linear, but they make it
seem like it’s not.” In fact, he says, there is “only one place you can go to” - so the
appearance of a world where all experiences are causally related to the narrative is an
illusion. This echoes a similar perception in a review of FF7: “As is typical of the
Japanese RPG form, the game is extremely linear. You may not see the train tracks,
but the feeling that you’ve been railroaded is unmistakable” (van Cleef, 1997).

Rachel’s experience of the game, by contrast, emphasises the rhizomic qualities: “...
it’s fantastic cos you can just explore everywhere, and you just never get bored cos
there’s just so much stuff to look around and find out, basically.”

The modality of the game seems here to be quite ambiguous. In fact, the requirement
to explore the game, insofar as it opens an interactive dialogue, is a form of demand -
in effect, “Explore!”. However, as noted above, it is a weakened demand, more of an
enticement or plea, and clearly experienced by the player as a modality in which the
agency of the player is accentuated rather than diminished.

<<   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   >>

More intriguing information