Protagonist – Interactive Digital Narratives

The Growth of Female Sci-Fi Characters, as Seen in Broken Age

In, “No Business in Space? The Female Presence in Series Science Fiction for Children,” Karen Sands details the history of female characters in the science fiction genre from the 1940s to the mid-1990s. Though a bit dated now, the article serves as a great comparison for how far female characters have come in children’s science fiction stories in recent years. While the article focuses on literary female characters in the science fiction, I chose to use the article for insight on the female protagonist in the videogame Broken Age, which was released in 2014.

At its heart, Broken Age is a science fiction game. Broken Age tells the story of two teenage protagonists, a male named Shay and a female named Vella. While Vella’s narrative begins in a traditional fantasy world, Shay’s narrative is firmly rooted in science fiction, taking place in a spaceship as Shay is on a mission to help his home planet of Loruna. The two narratives seem to have no relation, as the player progresses through the game, Vella and Shay’s paths cross and Vella take up residence in the science fiction world. As such, Vella can be used to illustrate how improved the female character is in the science fiction genre.

Vella, seen here, is the female protagonist of Broken Age

Though Sanders mentions that females were beginning to receive better roles at the time of her publication (1997), she outlines two major problems associated with female science fiction characters. First, female characters in science fiction stories are always characterized by their communication skills (Sanders 22). Regardless of their intellect (as female super geniuses and ordinary girls were common tropes at this time), female characters were always highlighted for their ability to communicate than their male counterparts who had more central roles and solved problems with their intellect, ingenuity, or physical skills (Sanders 17). Sanders explains this trope by saying that females, “solve mysteries (without using scientific knowledge),” by helping “to bring people together through their power to communicate” (19). Secondly, Sanders discusses the problem of female character rarely having, “the opportunity to work alone to show off their capabilities; girls and women are still under the direction of men and boys” (22).

Fortunately for Broken Age, Vella’s storyline actively works against these tropes. Vella’s communication skills are not highlighted as her strongest asset. In fact, Vella is a poor communicator, as seen by the way Vella is unable to effectively convince anyone of the problems with the Maiden’s Feasts and the mogs. Vella never solves a problem through communication; Vella actively chooses which object in the environment and in her ability to solve any predicament she is faced with. Similarly, Vella always solves problems on her own. There is no male character to claim Vella’s success, or to give her orders. Thus, Vella does have the opportunity to work alone and proves the worth of female characters, even in a science fiction setting. A stark contrast to the characterizations Sands describes, Broken Age shows just how far female science fiction characters have come.

Even when she enters an unusual science fiction world, Vella is the one who solves her own problems

Works Cited

Sands, Karen. “No Business in Space? the Female Presence in Series Science Fiction for Children.” Foundation 0 (1997): 15-24. ProQuest. Web. 14 Dec. 2016.

Image Sources

https://www.cosplay-it.com/en/cosplay/10332/vella-broken-age
http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/iPad/Broken+Age/feature.asp?c=65109

Perception Is Not Reality in Broken Age

In Broken Age, an indie point-and-click videogame developed and published by Double Fine Productions, the player plays as two teenage characters, a girl named Vella and a boy named Shay. While both stories eventually intertwine, each has a different starting … Continue reading →

In Broken Age, an indie point-and-click videogame developed and published by Double Fine Productions, the player plays as two teenage characters, a girl named Vella and a boy named Shay. While both stories eventually intertwine, each has a different starting point and follows a different narrative path. Both stories, however, have a similar theme unifying them before the stories intersect: perception is not always reality.

This screenshot shows the opening of Broken Age, where the player can choose to play as either Vella (left) or Shay (right), though the player must play as both to complete the game

Vella’s story begins in her hometown of Sugar Bunting. Sugar Bunting is a town in a large area of land terrorized by creatures known as mogs. Every 14 years a mog visits these lands during an event known as the Maiden’s Feast. Each town selects various young girls for the privilege of being maidens in the feast—sacrificial lambs who satiate the mog’s hunger in exchange for the mogs not destroying their village.

Sugar Bunting’s Maiden’s Feast is shown here, with each of the 5 girls awaiting the mog’s arrival

While everyone believes the mogs’ visits are great blessings and being selected as a maiden is a great privilege, when Vella is selected, she sees it as the opposite. Vella sees the mogs as dangerous enemies who should be fought against rather than creatures to be appeased. Through the player (and Vella’s) actions, Vella eventually escapes the Maiden’s Feast and begins her quest to kill the mogs.

In this quest, Vella eventually learns that the mogs aren’t creatures but “spaceships” piloted by citizens of a planet known as Loruna, like Shay. Shay was under the assumption that he was the sole human inhabitant of his ship the Bossa Nostra. Shay believes his only companions are two computers programmed to believe they are his mother and father. Though, his parents keep him occupied with repetitive fake missions involving robotic friends, Shay eventually meets a stowaway named Merrick, who offers to let him take control of the ship and undertake “real,” threatening missions to rescue innocent creatures from dangerous forces.

Once his path crosses with Vella’s, Shay eventually learns that the helpless creatures he has been saving are the maidens from the various Maiden’s Feasts. He also realizes that his computerized parents are humans who have been so occupied keeping him and the ship safe that they could only appear to him through computer projections. Finally, Shay realizes that he has not been in space at all, but on the planet containing Vella’s town of Sugar Bunting.

As Shay and Vella continue to solve the mysteries and search for answers regarding their strange predicaments, they encounter even more situations containing falsehoods. Throughout the game it is apparent that not everything is as it seems, reinforcing the player’s take-away that perception is not always reality.

Image Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_Age
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.doublefine.dfa

The Shackles of Pokémon X

The Pokémon game series is one of the most popular and successful handheld game franchises in modern history. The formula of each game is similar—players take control of a young adventurer who seeks to raise a strong team of Pokémon … Continue reading →

The Pokémon game series is one of the most popular and successful handheld game franchises in modern history. The formula of each game is similar—players take control of a young adventurer who seeks to raise a strong team of Pokémon to defeat opponents in battle. It has been many years since my last Pokémon experience, so it was extremely nostalgic for me to play Pokémon X. While playing the game, I was immediately struck by how limited I was as a player, especially for a game that appears to give players so much choice.

Within the narrative framework of the game, the protagonist lives a life of relative freedom. For example, even though the character is only 10 years old, they can explore the country unaccompanied by an adult and can make decisions about which towns to visit, and which Pokémon to battle and which to raise. Unfortunately, this freedom is not mirrored in the player’s opportunities. During my experience playing Pokémon X, I found the game to be extremely oppressive in what actions I could undertake.

This image shows the map of the Kalos region, with each town and route labeled

As seen from the map above, the Kalos region—the name of the country where Pokémon X is set—is quite expansive. However, the player is not able to explore all these paths at any moment. In some instances, non-player characters will block some of the routes and tell the player, “you do not want to go that way,” if the player attempts to pass. In other instances, some type of object will be blocking the path and the player is unable to pass unless they undertake a side quest to give them the ability to move the object.

At this point in the game, a snorlax blocks the character’s way, so they must travel down Route 7 to retrieve a flute to wake the Pokémon up

The other aspect of the game that I found limiting had to do with the actual Pokémon raising. Though there are hundreds of Pokémon that inhabit the Kalos region, the player is only able to hold 6 in their party at a time. As Pokémon get stronger by battling other Pokémon, the game almost advocates for the player to choose a core 6 Pokémon and stick with them to compete against the stronger trainers encountered later in the game. The game even forces the player to catch the games legendary Pokémon, Xerneas, at one point in the game, eliminating the player’s choice altogether.

The left side of this image shows the maximum 6 Pokémon in the players party while the right side shows the Pokémons maximum number of four moves

Also limiting is each Pokémon’s ability to only know 4 moves at a time. Whenever a Pokémon levels up and attempts to learn a new move, the player must choose one of the original moves to forget. Much of the time, once the Pokémon forgets a move, it is gone for good. These limitations imposed on the player combine to create an experience that I found extremely frustrating, especially when I compared my experience as a player to the experience of the protagonist within the game’s narrative.

Image Sources

http://www.serebiiforums.com/showthread.php?594375-The-Kalos-Region-Thread
http://www.gamerguides.com/pokemon-xy/main-walkthough/to-gym-2-part-1/route-7-riviere-walk-1st-visit
http://kotaku.com/tips-for-playing-pokemon-x-y-1444982237

Lara Croft- the Novice Adventurer?

Lara Croft, the titular tomb raider in the infamous Tomb Raider series, is perhaps one of the most famous women in video game history. However, in the 2013 revamp of the series, Lara is not the gritty action hero that … Continue reading →

Lara Croft, the titular tomb raider in the infamous Tomb Raider series, is perhaps one of the most famous women in video game history. However, in the 2013 revamp of the series, Lara is not the gritty action hero that fans know and love. Tomb Raider focuses on Lara’s origins, namely Lara’s first expedition as an archaeologist, when she searches for the lost island of Yamatai. In her search for the island, Lara and her crew encounter a storm that shipwrecks them on a mysterious island. This shipwreck is what truly sets the game in motion. Stranded on an island inhabited by dangerous men, Lara has to develop the skills to survive.

The character quickly switches from a brainy archaeology student planning an expedition to a survivor. This desire for survival coincides with Lara developing skills and abilities to help her survive on the island, including combat skills to battle the dangerous locals. At this point in the game, Tomb Raider relies on a common trope used in action video games from The Legend of Zelda to Kingdom Hearts: as the protagonist advances through the story, they gain more experience which unlocks more skills and abilities that help them battle their way through the game.

Throughout Tomb Raider, Lara gains abilities, such as shooting a bow-and arrow, that advance her story.

Typically, this narrative decision increases the immersive nature of the game in which it is used. The protagonist gains more abilities as the player becomes more familiar with the game mechanics. New skills are acquired in a way that makes sense within the game world. This could be done by having the protagonist go through a tutorial where a character teaches the protagonist the skill, or could rely on pre-existing facts learned about the character. For example, in The Legend of Zelda series, it makes sense the Link gains more combat abilities as he advances through his quest—he’s the heroic knight of the tale.

In Tomb Raider, however, this decision really made me question the game’s logic, and actually pulled me out of my immersive playing experience. Lara is introduced as an archaeology student, yet in one of the game’s first missions, Lara salvages a bow-and-arrow from a corpse and uses it with ease. Lara also picks up a gun and is able to take out the island’s threatening inhabitants with the ease of an expert marksman. In reality, I have my doubts that an archaeology student would be so well-versed in combat techniques. Especially since there is no mention of Lara ever learning these skills. In the game, Lara simply picks up the weapons and is immediately an expert at them.

Lara (too) quickly transitions from an archaeology graduate into a seasoned killing machine

Image Sources:

http://www.gameinformer.com/games/tomb_raider/b/xbox360/archive/2013/02/25/tomb-raider-review.aspx

http://www.gamesradar.com/tomb-raider-review/