Gameplay to convey character personality?

[SenEDDtor Missile]

Okay, before I begin, let me get one thing out of the way (or several things):

 

This is not a hypothetical "alternate gameplay style" topic or anything like that. This isn't an actual suggestion as to how a character should play in a Sonic game. Rather, it is focused on how gameplay would be used to convey character personalities.

 

How do I put this...

 

A pretty basic example would be Sonic, whose gameplay would convey these things to me about his personality, and assuming I knew absolutely nothing about him with no written bio for him:

 

1) He's fairly reckless.

2) The high speed that he moves at means that he doesn't appear to pay attention to detail unless he stops.

 

And his level design around him (the more recent ones, not sure about the past design) would suggest he's very single-minded when he has a goal in mind (The Goal Ring) and thus the world looks like a narrow corridor/looks linear at times.

 

Now of course, trying to convey his more passive traits like his sense of justice or selflessness would probably be more difficult to convey considering the above, but I think you get the idea behind this.

 

So now, how do you think the (other) characters would be conveyed via gameplay alone? 

[Soniman]

I kind of like how Sonic struck cool tricks/poses in Generations, more of that please. Otherwise I cant really think of anything else.

[SenEDDtor Missile]

I kind of like how Sonic struck cool tricks/poses in Generations, more of that please. Otherwise I cant really think of anything else.

The point of this topic was for US to think of how gameplay could be used to convey a characters personality (not as an alternate gameplay style mind you), but that is a good point.

[SoniqUpdater]

hmmm well shadow flies when boosting and uses chaos spear which shows off he has a lot of power and is the ultimate life form.

[Splash the Otter]

This is an interesting concept. It's kind of got me wondering what it would be like to see the world through a character's eyes. Do you think water would look more threatening to Sonic than it would to others?

Edited March 24, 2013 by ElectroKyurem

[SenEDDtor Missile]

This is an interesting concept. It's kind of got me wondering what it would be like to see the world through a character's eyes. Do you think water look more threatening to Sonic than it would to, say, Tails?

Assuming we can ever figure out if he's supposed to be afraid of water in general, or just can't swim in it, I can't really say. But if you want my input, I'd say that from a gameplay perspective, that could either be determined by something like these:

 

1) Sonic's breath counter is shorter than everyone else's because his urge to panic while underwater is greater than everyone else.

2) Sonic plummets to the bottom much faster than anyone else. Oh wait, scratch that; that's a physical trait, not a personality trait.

 

EDIT: Oh and before I forget, be sure to talk about the other characters and how their personalities would be portrayed, just to shake things up.

Edited March 24, 2013 by 743-E.D. Missile

[Splash the Otter]

Well, Tails likes machines. Maybe if he was fighting one of Eggman's robots, he could hit its weak points more easily?

[Kuzu]

I was reminded of Black Knight and Lancelot reading this; both Sonic & Lancelot play extremely similar to each other, Lancelot being Shadow and all, except Lancelot's style is a lot more aggressive and deadly with powerful blows and strikes. I think that conveys the difference between Sonic & Shadow perfectly; similar styles of play but one focus on technicality and showing off while the other focuses on getting to the point and going for the kill.

[Splash the Otter]

I had another idea regarding Tails. He's astraphobic, so maybe electrical hazards would make him lose more rings?

[SenEDDtor Missile]

Okay, just a note: this isn't limited to just noting the stuff in the actual games that convey character personality. Rather, we can also try to think of what kinds of gameplay styles that can be used to convey traits that are normally seen either in cutscenes or are mostly just informed traits.

 

A quick example using a fan trait I added on for my version of Silver: Silver in my headcanon is the type of person who tries to take on more responsibilities than he can actually handle, due to his belief that heroes don't need help. Translating that to gameplay, his psychic powers would be able to catch a large number of objects, but can either:

 

1) Have a limit to how many he can catch before he drains his energy and drops them all.

2) Have the power to expand the size of his catching range, but decrease the grip of his catch to show how strained he is under the pressure.

 

Something along this line.

[Phos]

I always had this style of controlling knuckles in mind that's, well, kind of hard to explain.  Hold A (let's just go with 360 layout for the moment) at any time to have a gliding effect, no impact on horizontal velocity, hit the X button for a steerable lunging punch.  float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.  

 

Dunno if this really fits the topic, though Sega hasn't given me a lot to work with recently.  

[Pulse Titan]

This is a good topic.

I have always thought that Sonic could always use some work to convey a unique attitude. Not in that corny "That's no good" way, but in the way he executes his actions.

Say for example, he's running along and he comes across an enemy. In the games up till now, it's your standard jump up and do a homing attack. What if we expanded on that, like hooking attacks or slingshot attacks. Adding that would add a variety of ways to eliminate your foes and, at the same time, give Sonic a bit more of a combat personality.

That's what I would love to see: A combat personality.

Edited March 24, 2013 by Pulse Titan

[Sparky]

I had another idea regarding Tails. He's astraphobic, so maybe electrical hazards would make him lose more rings?

Considering he uses Technology and electronics, and has that Thunder Shoot thing and his Dummy Rings in heroes had an electrical effect, I don't think that would make sense. EDIT: And he also had that electric plug in Riders.

Edited March 24, 2013 by tsz11

[JezMM]

This isn't really GAMEPLAY related but I'd really like to see Sonic have more flexible game animations.  Have him look at points of interest in the scenery while running instead of always facing forward.  Have him cockily run backwards when running away from a chasing enemy, maybe be more concentrated/twitchy when you're playing with 0 rings, etc.

 

I liked his flailing air animation in Unleashed Wii/PS2 for example, but didn't like that he did it on every single jump.  He should only do it when there's a BIG fall where the spot he's going to land isn't clear at first.

[Spin Attaxx]

I was thinking about characters reacting to a level's music if left idle, like Sonic clicks his fingers if the music of a level is funky ect.

[-blank-]

Oooh, I am liking this topic.

 

 

I actually never thought of it that way until now, but the linear build of the stages in the recent games could suggest single-mindedness in regards to a goal, as the OP suggested. But, i think they could convey another aspect of Sonic's personality - how he just goes where life takes him. Think about it; most of the time, Sonic seems to live right in the present, hardly ever reflecting on the past or the future. He's a drifter in this sense. So, the linear stages could be a metaphor of sorts for this aspect of his personality.

[SenEDDtor Missile]

I was thinking about characters reacting to a level's music if left idle, like Sonic clicks his fingers if the music of a level is funky ect.

Or express annoyance at certain quirks of certain games. I always imagined that if Knuckles was playable in Colors, and he had to do the trick system, he would be yelling "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" at the announcer after a certain number of times listening to the announcer because he finds it annoying XD.

Edited March 24, 2013 by 743-E.D. Missile