![]() One in particular applies to games: the idea that the artist need not draw backgrounds in every panel. But typically, it’s something we only experience when the game breaks.Īs a comic artist, I’ve internalized countless pieces of advice about the medium. We know that beyond what we can see there is nothing, a space of potentiality. Our experience of the world within the game takes place in a void, a digital vacuum. We don’t often associate video games with the concept of negative space, at least not in an intentional way. In visual art, we would say that it draws the viewer’s eye to the subject. ![]() The “negative space” of the long walk up supports the fear or anxiety of reaching the boss or the big moment in a story. If it succeeds, or just succeeds at testing the player’s patience is another matter - but it’s an attempt to intensify emotion and bring the player’s attention to a focal point. In both cases, the intention was probably to build tension. This too is a strange moment in the game, but so much of that game feels uncanny. And this use of empty game space fails to build suspense.Ĭompare this to the long and dangerous path to Nashandra at the end of Dark Souls 2. Even when there are moments of travel without fighting, there will be loot to pick up or landscape to take in. A level will respawn skeletons or Stygian Crawlers after you clear it. A second pass through will refill an area with enemies. There aren’t other long, empty places like this in Diablo 3 that I can recall. It’s a peculiarly empty moment in an otherwise dense gameplay experience. ![]() But the staircase is really long! It’s twisting and falling apart like most things in the Cells and it takes several seconds for your character to traverse. ![]() Here, there aren’t any difficult enemies and the rescue isn’t especially compelling storytelling. After a pitched battle across a fire-ridden arena, your character defeats the Butcher and continues into the Cells of the Condemned to find the Stranger. At the end of Act 1 in Diablo 3, you’ve descended through the Highlands and the Halls of Agony, battling Khazra, Dark Cultists and the fearsome Warden to meet the Butcher. ![]()
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