Again, narrative design in video games is all about cleverly
blending the narrative ropes within the gameplay to shape a coherent and
meaningful experience for the player. Story and plot unfold following player's
progression; in other words, narration in video games is «a collaborative
act between game designers and players» (Picucci 2014). Hades
represents a perfect example to explore that dynamic. Its affiliation to
the roguelite genre induces the use of a specific storytelling process,
delivering a storyline imbedded in a «loop» where player's failure is
expected. In other terms, Supergiant Games' title emphasizes the procedural
rhetoric, a concept coined by Ian Bogost that describes how "rhetoric functions
uniquely" in video games and defines it as such:
I call this new form procedural rhetoric, the art of
persuasion through rule-based representations and interactions rather than the
spoken word, writing, images, or moving pictures. This type of persuasion is
tied to the core affordances of the computer: computers run processes, they
execute calculations and rule-based symbolic manipulations [...] More
specifically, procedural rhetoric is the practice of persuading through
processes in general and computational processes in particular. Just as verbal
rhetoric is useful for both the orator and the audience, and just as written
rhetoric is useful for both the writer and the reader, so procedural rhetoric
is useful for both the programmer and the user, the game designer and the
player. (Bogost 2007, preface IX, 3).
29
Procedural rhetoric designates video games' capacity to tell a
story through repeated processes and interactions, to create the tale from the
gameplay. As underlined by Fregonese , this specific rhetoric can be "applied
by emphasizing on success or failure, obedience or disobedience" (Fregonese
2017, 84, my translation).
Hades purposely relies on its gameplay loop to
create a narrative tension: success and failure both intertwine with the story.
The player must repeat a specific process which further unfold the story each
time. My intents here is to investigate this particular relation between
gameplay and the narratives, and the place of the player in it. Moreover, we
will determine the roguelite's code, and how they were transposed as narrative
tools in the game. Then we will analyze the main character of the game, his
reflection of the player's experience, before focusing on the methods used by
the studio to ensure the narrative continuity.
Death as a narrative feature: Hades, the
roguelite
Hades was created by Supergiant Games and launched
on September, 2020. As displays on the game's Steam page6, the game
is a roguelite, action-RPG, dungeon crawler, where you take control of Zagreus,
son of Hades, and attempt to escape the Underworld. To do so, you get help by
the gods of Olympus who grants you various power-ups.
Before going any further, we have to properly define
roguelite, since the game essentially revolves around that component. In the
first place, genres in video games are hardly normalized; they always change
over time, never to have conventions set in stone. That is not to say they
cannot be defined; however, their definition sustains some porosity over one's
subjective experience--which is why the displayed genres for a game tend to
change from one video game platform to another8. Genres serve to
create expectations over specific elements for the players. With this in mind,
I have no intention to impose my definition; the goal here consists in the
extraction of a roguelite's main characteristics and what the label entails.
6
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1145360/Hades/
8 For instance, while Hades is labeled as
an action roguelite on Steam, it is only referred as action RPG on the Epic
Games Store
https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/hades?lang=en-US
30
Roguelite derive from roguelike, an RPG subgenre named after
the 1980's game Rogue, and share most of its characteristics. In 2008,
roguelikes were attributed specific factors at the International Roguelike
Development Conference. The conference's attendants defined Roguelikes with
what is known as the Berlin Interpretation:
· Procedural generation of the game world: the stages,
items and placement of enemies are random.
· Crucial management of resources such as health point
and gold, in order to survive as long as possible.
· Game uniformly grid-based. Whether it is the player or
the enemy, each occupies a predictable space (a tile).
· The game is non-modal: every action (movement,
combats, etc.) takes place in the same mode
· Turn-based game: each command is attributed to a
single action or movement. There is no time limit to perform an action.
· A punishment system (usually permadeath) that forces
the player to start again at the beginning every time they die or fail the
objective.
· Layers of complexity that allow several solutions to a
single objective.
· The player is compelled to conduct careful exploration
and discover usage of unidentified items, which has to be done anew every
time.
· A Hack'n Slash game where it is the player vs the
game's world. The player has no other option but to kill every enemy they
encounter.
The agreed factors listed above were but «an attempt to
define the parameters of the genre» (Brewer 2020). Roguelikes at the time
did not necessarily check all the boxes and today's games labelled as such
certainly do not either. Dead Cells (Motion Twin, 2018), Risk of
Rain 2 (Hopoo Games, 2020) and Neon Abyss (Veewo Games, 2020) all
display the tag «Roguelike» on their Steam Page, while being neither
turn nor grid-based. The genre now largely exceeds the frame of the Berlin
Interpretation, which was already porous to begin with. Which is why
RogueBasin, a community website entirely dedicated to roguelikes, provides a
distinction between roguelikes and «traditional roguelikes». The
latter which refers to games «with a strong focus on Intricate gameplay
and replayability», an «indefinite amount of time» for the
player to «make
31
a move», and «provides new content and challenges on
every run» in an «abstract world representation using characters or
simple sprites» (RogueBasin).
Most of the recent roguelike games are easily distinguished
from traditional ones. Still, they undoubtably uses some of their core designs,
notably the gameplay «loop» generated by the «permadeath
system», the randomization of specific features and the management of
resources, and a challenging experience. The combination of these elements
creates a «die and retry» aspect; replayability is thus a high-value
factor, since players are entailed to replay the game in order to complete
it.
Back to roguelite, this appellation designates an evolution
that toned down some of the Roguelike designs, such as the
«permadeath» which is not a complete restart anymore. Roguelite game
are «colloquially known to feature certain elements of roguelikes, but
presented in a more user-friendly fashion» (Brewer, 2020). A roguelite
game displays a more forgiving game design, in the form of a meta-progression:
even though «permanent» death remains a core element, the reset it
ensues is not total and you still retain persistent abilities, items or
upgrades that make your next attempt at clearing the game easier. You never
truly restart form zero.
So, while Hades falls in the «commonly
accepted» roguelike genre - failure does mean restarting the game - it is
considered a roguelite game since the player undergoes a progression: weapons
can be upgraded, deepened relations with Olympus gods give access to more
powerful boons, some resources unlock permanent perks, etc. I chose here to
make the distinction, because the meta-progression is in fact the core of
Hades. A major part of the game's world is built up using this
feature; above all, the meta-progression is used as a storytelling tool.
During my research, I took an interest in finding what made
Hades a success. One of the reasons was because the game is referred
as a roguelike, a genre that, all in all tend to discourage numerous players
due to how challenging it can be. Hades is certainly not the first
roguelite (or roguelike) to meet with success: The Binding of Isaac
(McMillen & Himsl, 2011), Dead Cells and Into the Breach
(Subset Games, 2018) among others are occurrences of roguelike that
managed to do it too. Nevertheless, Hades seems to have had a stronger
attraction on players that usually dislike this kind of games: When I went over
the Steam review page dedicated to the game9, I noticed
numerous players stating that they enjoyed the game despite having trouble with
other roguelikes. In one player's review, we can read «Whilst I'm not a
fan of these roguelikes, permadeath games usually, I have to say I'm very
impressed with this game; others
9 Hades's steam review page:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1145360/reviews/?p=1&browsefilter=toprated
32
wrote that they were «not one to play games in this style
usually, but immediately took to Hades» or that it was their
«first roguelike that [they] actually enjoyed.»
While it is not unusual to observe such comment in players'
game review, it did occur a lot in this case. So, I also examined the reasons
Hades won over those players and what emerged the most was «how
good the story was» with the narratives skillfully interlocked with the
gameplay and the progression.» Most of the Press reviews also underlined
those design elements. Gamestop's review stated that «the way story and
gameplay intertwine makes Hades a standout roguelite» (Vazquez 2020). In
the Gamekult's review, Gauthier Andres «Gautoz» states that all in
all, the game is all about its story:
It is the narratives that makes the [game's] world go round.
We live and die for the new weapons, the gods' boons and the fresh cosmetics,
but we fight for the story. Every fiber of that reinvented mythology and every
intimate secret between two capricious gods is snatched by the arrow and the
sword. Then, they come to feed a thick fabric of theories, characters to fully
develop, relationships and surprises lovely prepared by the designers (Gautoz,
2018, my translation).
Not only the story is what Hades focused on, but it
makes sure that every detail about the plot, the characters and the world are
to be accessed through the gameplay - the story unfolds with each attempt at
clearing the game, whether the player fails or not.
It appears then Hades's storytelling is what made
the game particularly appreciated; not just for the story itself but for the
skillfull merging of clear narratives and the roguelite genre that
conventionally does not put story and plot in the spotlight. Hades
makes its world and story shine in a genre where it is not expected.
To hell and back again: playing the game, exploring
the tale
The main character, Zagreus, is determined to leave his
father's domain and go to the outside world, not only because he wishes to be
free of Hades but also because he intends to find Persephone, his birth mother
whom he never knew. Along the way, the gods of Olympus send him messages and
power-ups, for they are eager to see him escape and join them. Unfortunately,
Zagreus's endeavor always ends with him dragging himself out of the pool of
blood [Figure 1], only to try again. Because even when he manages to get out,
he cannot live
33
on the surface but for a short amount of time. Whether Zagreus
dies or manages to get out of the Underworld, he always returns to the starting
point.
Figure 1 - Hades, the
pool of blood that symbolizes both the beginning and the end of the game.
Strictly speaking, each player's run is doomed from the
start. They are stuck in a loop they cannot broken out: whether they clear the
game triggers a reset that entails the player to do it all over again. But for
a game to keep the player playing in those circumstances, it needs to stimulate
its replayability - the basis for a roguelike/lite game. I argue here that what
compels the player to continually engage in Hades is the multitude of
narratives ropes and all they involve.
Supergiant Games earned its renown for its strong focus on
narrative games; their modus operandi is to work «narrative and themes
from the start» and not just create «a story and backsolve the
gameplay onto it» (GDC 2021), for the sake of a good harmony between
design, themes and story. On the GDC podcast, Creg Kasavin explains how they
came up with Hades, their thought process behind its storytelling:
Our mindset was «can we use this genre format to tell a
story?» and a thing I would think about often is, even in the hardest core
roguelike game, where it resets you completely to nothing from one playthrough
to another, there is in fact something that you carry forward which is your
knowledge of the mechanics in the game. Using your knowledge, you can get
farther and farther. So, it was a fun thought exercise to think of a game
premise where the character had the same ability. So, it leads you to
«what sort of character would still remember what happened after they die?
What about a character who's just immortal?
34
Surely, when we stated earlier that the permadeath system in
roguelikes was a complete reset of the game, we could say that it is not
entirely true. In each attempt at beating the game, the player gather
knowledge, whether it is enemies' patterns, position of traps and secrets that
allow them to do better the next time. It follows the die and retry principle
(or «trial and error»), a gameplay mechanic for which the player is
expected to use their death to choose a better course of action afterwards. The
Soulsborne series of FromSoftware for instance is designed around it: the
player is expected to die many times, but also to learn from their failure and
overcome the obstacles. In essence, die and retry can be observed in the
majority of video games, and represent a deep-rooted feature the medium evolved
around. As Jesper Juul said, «we experience failure when playing
games» (Juul 2005, 2), and above all, «it is the threat of failure
that gives us something to do in the first place» (ibid, 45). Supergiant
Games applied this principle directly to Zagreus, whose condition (son of a
god) allows him to «defy» death: like the player, he experiences
failure and acquires knowledge from it, and becomes stronger little by
little.
Zagreus is a character that mirrors the player: both of them
are fully aware of the fate that awaits them upon reaching the surface/beating
the game, but still choose to pursue their doomed endeavor. One character in
particular embodies the meaning behind Zagreus and the player's action:
Sisyphus [Figure 2]. Like all the others in the game, Sisyphus is an existing
character in the Greek mythology. His myth portrays him as the most astute
among men, who cheated death not once but twice by deceiving both Thanatos, God
and personification of death, and Hades. For his defiance, Sisyphus was
punished and forced to push a giant boulder up a hill for eternity, as it would
bring him back down every time, he would reach the top.
In Hades, Zagreus can encounter Sisyphus,
accompanied by Bouldy (the famous boulder) [Figure 3] in the first part of the
underworld; their discussions, I believe, exposes the philosophical meaning
behind the game, should we talk about Zagreus's story or the player's
experience. Indeed, in the same manner Sisyphus falls all the way down the hill
after he reaches its top, Zagreus (and the player) always ends up in the pool
of blood at Hades's chamber. Even what can be considered as the game's
ending--the culmination of the main story at least-- Zagreus slowly goes back
to the underworld during the credits. Then again, he is asked to
35
continue his escapes, under the pretense of testing Hades'
realm security and upholding the gods' expectation towards him and distract
them.
Figure 2 - Hades, Sysyphus the
tortured soul, an NPC encounter in Tartarus.
Figure 3 - Hades, Bouldy, the boulder
that Sisyphus has to continuously push up a hill.
36
As bleak as it sounds, Zagreus and the player willfully accept
their task, because their quest is not fruitless. Like I have said above, the
story unfolds for each break out and the main plot reveals itself whenever the
player succeeds. The repetitive and supposedly futile endeavor is a central
part of the narrative. Through narrative the player finds commitment; they
embrace the inevitability of enacting the same venture again and again. And it
is not solely about the main plot: as the player wanders through the
underworld, they encounter various characters. For each time they cross their
path, talk to them or offer them gifts, they deepen the relationship between
them and Zagreus. Hence, the player learns more about the game's world while
Zagreus forms connections with those characters. The overall development
represents meaning: each escape attempt allows the player to strengthen those
connections and in a more utilitarian aspect, offers them acquisition such as
legendary weapons that bring new layers of gameplay.
In that sense, enjoyment of the game «comes less from
winning and more from just embracing each new attempt» (Alexander 2021).
Whilst the roguelite's death mechanic create a tension between the narratives
and the player's goal of clearing the game, narratives and gameplay blend
together for the player to enjoy the experience outside of their goal. Along
their many escapes, the player uses distinct weapons with several gameplay
variations - each of the 6 weapons possess 4 forms - discover gods' boons
combinations, secrets, and collect resources to further strengthen Zagreus or
unlock new features. A multitude of elements is consequently used as narrative
features, since they all make their contributions to the world and character
building - weapons for instance belongs to gods or mythological heroes who will
take notice of you wielding them.
The son of Hades himself displays his overall enjoyment of
the situation. With the tedious and madly repetitive task ahead of him, Zagreus
nonetheless shows merriment . Once again, we can draw a parallel between him
and Sisyphus. In Wisecrack's podcast «The philosophy of Hades», Dr.
Kristopher Alexander assimilate Hades's Sisyphus to the one described
in the philosophical essay «Le Mythe de Sisyphe», by French writer
Albert Camus. He points out the absurdity of Sisyphus' task, but despite that
eternal chore, Sisyphus fully accept his condition as shown in [] and in
«his acceptance, he finds contentment, happily going about his task
without ever expecting to achieve anything by it»(Alexander 2021). Indeed,
Albert Camus, largely known for his work on absurdism, describes the
pointlessness of Sisyphus goal to reach the hill - since he is bound to be
dragged down to the bottom - but also that he finds joy in it. Happiness can be
found in the meaningless:
37
Sisyphus silent joy is here. His fate belongs to him. His
boulder is his thing. Likewise, when he contemplates his torments, the absurd
man silences all of the idols [...] I let Sisyphus at the bottom of the
mountain! One can still find his burden. But Sisyphus teaches superior fidelity
that denies the gods and lift the boulders. He too judges that all is fine.
This universe, from now on without master, does not seem futile nor pointless.
All the pieces of this rock, all the mineral shards from the mountain full of
night, all forms a world. The struggle to reach the top is itself enough the
fill a man's heart. One needs to imagine Sisyphus happy (Camus 1942, 94, my
translation).
Even though this is a philosophical approach, it is
interesting to see that Sisyphus mirrors Zagreus's endeavor, and by extension,
that of the player. The latter goes through the same areas and fights the same
foes over and over; as they become accustomed to the task, they progress
further on, until they reach `the top.' The whole endeavor becomes a force of
habit that is executed better each attempt, thus stemming satisfaction. The
player can then continue to enjoy the struggle by making the task harder--a
self-imposed difficulty with the game's heat system--and reenacting the whole
process. Whilst the difference between Sisyphus and the player lies on the fact
that the consecration of the plot and the story development as a whole serve as
meaning, it is also true that those factors are here to induce the player to
engage in a repetitive task.
It surely demonstrates Supergiant Games's intention to
embrace the roguelite genre while giving the player a true narrative
experience; narratives and gameplay respond to each other in a game that is but
an unbreakable loop. A loop that nonetheless keep the player engaged through a
narrative continuity, as explained by Greg Kasavin:
We are always trying to align the player experience with the
narrative and it leads to having a character like Zagreus who can be serious
one moment, self-deprecating another. Even though he has a lot of personality
on his own, in some ways he is there to so to speak for the players' experience
and just try to find that connection between the player's experience and the
story. So, it all kinds of flowed from there, that idea «what if there was
a Rogue Like with narrative continuity where every time you run into a boss,
they remember you. You start keeping track who won this time, who won last
time; it was fun to think about that as a starting point (Kasavin 2021).
The more Zagreus tries to leave the Underworld, the more he
becomes acquainted with the ones guarding it. Each encounter with the bosses
offers pieces of interaction between them and Zagreus. Upon defeating the
second boss of the game (The Bone Hydra) a certain number of times, Zagreus
decides to nickname it «Lernie». Further on, the name is also for the
player to see, indicated above the boss's health bar and on the post-victory
screen [Figure 4]. It adds a sense of unity for the whole game: the player is
still in the loop, but the game's world
38
acknowledges it. Zagreus' relationship with NPCs is not
limited to «friends» but also concern some enemies, who remember
being defeated by him (or not). The first boss Megaera, for instance, can be
talked to afterwards, and the relation may evolve into a romance depending on
the player's choice.
Figure 4 - Hades, The Bone Hydra,
second boss of the game. It is named Lernie after a few confrontations against
Zagreus.
At every turn the game seems to have something to say, even
after the 100th run. Yet, it is very hard to witness a character
that would repeat the same dialogue. That is to say, past the 70 hours into the
game, they are still information and elements about the game world for the
player to look for. The narrative cohesion is a central preoccupation for the
game, it makes sure that the player stays on track with the world building
regardless of how long they play the game. The interactions with the numerous
characters are by no means unlimited, but the pace of the story almost entirely
hides away those limits. As underlined by Gene Park in his article for The
Washington Post, Supergiant Games «limited interaction to maintain
narrative cohesion and immersion» (Park 2020). They made sure that the
player would have a sense of progression, which is why they «can never
talk to another character more than once per return visit» (ibid). It
ascertains the replay value.
39
Again, Hades is the perfect specimen to observe the
narrative relation maintain between the game and the player. The act of play
generates a narrative tension which compels the player to progress through the
game, and thus enact the replayability. Roguelite games are certainly not known
for that kind of storytelling. Narratives in those games are usually more
cryptic, if not hidden away from the player or delivered piece by piece through
fragmented texts and environmental narrative, as in Dead Cells.
Emergent narratives are also common, in Spelunky (Derek Yu 2008) with
no NPC interactions nor dialogues, and an almost entirely generated world, most
of the narratives are to be built by the player. Hades here allowed us
to explore narratives through a "linear" and cyclical form, with the player
embedded in a pre-established story. Gameplay and narratives intertwine to form
the overall play experience: the game's rhetoric is based upon the player's
repeated interactions through the gameplay loop. It indicates a straightforward
storytelling for which the player only determines the pace through success and
fail.
40
