Bryan Intihar, the creative director for the popular video game Marvel's Spider-Man 2, recently shared some valuable insights on character selection. Notably, he revealed how a connection to everyday human experiences significantly contributes to a character's relatability and success with the audience.
Speaking to BBC, Intihar opened the realm of character creation within Insomniac Games, focusing particularly on the two main characters, Peter Parker and Miles Morales. Marvel's Spider-Man 2 has garnered rave reviews for the game’s story and especially for the presentation of the protagonists' backstories.
Players were immensely invested in the robust narratives that expertly embodied the characters' innermost feelings. Taking a unique approach to character development, Intihar believes that it was crucial to depict the characters' struggles with grief, the complexities of adolescence, and experiences of forming and breaking relationships. His idea was to let players intimately connect with Peter and Miles, as one should with any character they embody in a game.
It was in the sincerity of these narratives that the characters' appeal lied. Intihar asserts that the players' connection to Peter and Miles is founded on them being average men. They embody relatability in ways that few other Marvel characters do, performing everyday actions with a bit of superhuman flair.
However, the game's charm is not just in the superhero gimmicks, it stems from the human angle too. Intihar contrasts Peter and Miles with less relatable characters like the billionaire Tony Stark, underlining that it can be difficult for players to identify with the ultra-rich. The idea is that the majority of the audience might struggle to step into the grandeur of the top one percent.
Similarly, the godly Thor patronizes players by existing on a plane of being that veers too far from the human experience. While these characters are beloved heroes, their narratives risk alienating a major portion of the audience.
Intihar's revelations offer a remarkable perspective into the thought process that goes behind character creation. While they might just be based on his experiences at Insomniac Games, they have larger implications for the gaming industry. They call upon game developers to weave narratives that reflect the relatable aspects of characters' lives.
A crucial takeaway from this is that gamers cherish characters that reflect their experiences, resonating at a deeper human level. This connection is likely to help strike a balance between the alluring world of superheroes and the earthly realm of everyday human lives in future gaming narratives.
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