Tuesday, 9 October 2012

Analysing Games (2/10/2012)

Analysing Games

Robin Foale        2/10/2012

For this task I shall analyse my chosen poster based both on its appearance and the contents of the game it is based on in order to demonstrate my analysis skills. 

Main Details:
  • Name of Developers: Atlus.
  • Name of Publisher: Square Enix in Europe.
  • Title of the Work: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4.
  • Date it was published: March 13th 2009 in Europe.
  • Genre: JRPG and Social Simulator.
  • Target Audience: Rated 16+ in Europe and targeted at teenagers and young adults.

Formal Elements:

Composition:
  • Main organisational features: The characters displayed on this poster are all positioned at different angles, making them and the poster interesting. If they had all been positioned in a straight line for example and in similar poses then the image would be very boring. Also the TV screens in the background take up enough space so that they become just as eye catching as the characters whilst they are also far enough away to avoid making the scene look too cramped. In addition the screens are unusually angled and contain vague images that arouse interest.
  • Focal Point: Personally I would say that the main focal point of the poster is the middle as not only is there a blue screen where the rest are yellow but you also find yourself focusing your attention on the abstract figure with his arm curved around in the background. His presence in the scene is underlined when you recognise that the girl in red is looking up at him, thus he is the only figure in the scene to be given a response from another character.
  • Geometrical shapes: A number of rectangles are used in the background of the poster so as to clearly show audiences that what they are looking at are in fact TV screens which play a vital role in the actual game Persona 4.  
  • Symmetry? / Asymmetry? : The poster is asymmetrical as all the main characters appear to be randomly placed within the bottom left diagonal and are positioned to look as if they are either further away or closer to the viewer. Whereas, the TV screens and their visuals appear in the top right diagonal. However, the artist has clearly used asymmetry for a good reason and although it does appear random on closer examination is not. One symmetrical aspect of the poster is the fact that the main characters are represented by two males and two females. 
  • Methods used to lead the eye around the scene: Many methods and placements of characters have been used in this poster in order to grab and pull the viewer’s attention towards it. For example, the girl in red stands out as she is wearing the brightest clothes and also shows a sense of vulnerability as she is looking up at the tall figure who dwarfs her and takes up most of the middle of the poster. Also this figure’s right arm looks as if he is holding the girl in red even though he is on a screen behind her. His left arm is curved upwards in such a way that it leads the eye to the name of the game in the top left hand corner. From there the viewer’s eye would naturally wander over the character standing with his back towards the viewer. Looking down this same characters right leg the viewer’s attention would then be caught by the flesh of the bottom left female character’s leg which is perhaps there deliberately for sex appeal. Following along this focus the viewer’s eye would then lead them to look at the owner of the leg whose head is right beside the bright blue centre of the poster, thus leading the viewer’s eye towards the main protagonist in the middle.

Space Depth:
  • Effects created: Some of the TV screens in the poster deliberately have static on them so as to make it clear that they are TV’s and not just windows. The characters are also close to the front of the poster and therefore make the viewer think that they are literally looking through a window and into the same space that the characters inhabitant.  The fact the characters are drawn in different sizes also helps to establish depth and perspective, thus creating a 3D perspective in a 2D image.

Colour:
  • Main colours used: Unusually bright yellow is the game’s primary colour and is not often used or seen in games. Thus it made sense to use the game’s primary colour on the poster as it also helps to advertise the game appropriately. It also makes both the game and the poster stand out more from the usual browns and greys seen in other games and their posters.
  • Range of the Palette: Persona 4 uses all the colours of the rainbow as not only are these colours bright and appealing but they also make the game stand out.      
  • Effect colour creates: The game’s primary colour yellow not only helps to make the game stand out from other games but it also makes the game feel a lot warmer and encouraging to play as opposed to much darker and / or moodier games such as its prequel which used cold blues as its primary colour. These brighter colours can also be seen as a deliberate attempt to make the rural country side it is based in more cheerful and fresh as opposed to a plain and dirty urban city. However not all gamers want to play games that use this colour palette as they may be looking for something more dark and gritty. 

Light:
  • Chiaroscuro (contrasts of light and shadow) or even Lighting: In the poster they are a lot of good contrasts of light and shadow as the TV’s glow a bright yellow and thus cover the main characters in shadow as most noticeably seen on the seated girl as a shadow runs down her face and shoulders. I see this as a hidden message for the game as each one of the main characters has to at some point in the game face their true self, a copy of themselves that represents their hidden desires and secrets and are otherwise known as the character’s ‘Shadow’. 
  • Atmospheric Light: Having played the game I would say that the artist has chosen the perfect atmospheric lighting for this poster as not only does it show off the game’s primary colour yellow which is meant to make the game feel warm and inviting, but it also manages to suggest a daunting, almost menacing feel over the characters by the inclusion of the giant stack of TV’s which hide blurry silhouettes in some of their screens. These features thus fit in perfectly as there is always a sense of mystery and uncertainty in the game as the main characters are trying to solve a series of murders.  

Style:
  • Manga: The main characters in the game are designed to look and sound like normal modern high school students so as to keep a sense of realism in a game that otherwise has an art style known as Manga (Japanese graphic novels). Many people would say that Manga art is exactly the same as Anime (Japanese cartoons) art but this is a common mistake. For example, Anime tends to use a technique known as cel shading in which both characters and objects have natural shadows for realism and shading that is used to make otherwise two dimensional images three dimensional as the shades go round objects. Shades are used to make objects and characters appear more three dimensional which is better suited for an Anime in which the characters move on screen. Whereas in Manga the drawings do not include shades as artists want them to be two dimensional. The art director Shigenori Soejima deliberately wanted to avoid an Anime style as he found that some players didn’t like anything to do with Anime and yet enjoyed reading Manga. Therefore he made sure to only include shadows and not shades in both the game’s graphics and his art work featured in the game. However, a compromise had to be made for the game’s Anime cut scenes as shades were needed so that they would not look odd.  

Influences:
  • Other designers / periods / genres / mediums and Historical Influences: As Persona 4 is based in a rural town the team for the game visited many rural towns in Japan in order to find out what they both looked like and what it was like to live in them. They found out that even though the towns had beautiful landmarks, traditional buildings and clear skies that they was a certain sadness to them as many of the community stores had been shut down as result of the opening of more grander convenience stores. This is a theme that the designers decided to add into the game as a result of their research.
The game also takes influences from ancient Japanese gods and myths that the main characters’ ‘Personas’ (summons) are based on. These are then modernised in certain aspects as the game is based in modern times and thus the summons look ‘trendy’ or ‘retro’ which adds to the game’s style. For example, as a joke the Persona Kintoki-Douji carries around a tomahawk missile as the mythological character the Persona is based on (Kintarō or later known as Sakata no Kintoki) originally carried a tomahawk (axe) with them.

Subject, Theme & meanings:
  • Describe the subject: Admittedly unless you know the Persona series this poster may not be as meaningful as the artist intended it to be and therefore may be taking on face value. I say this based on the response I got when I asked some of my family members to comment on it. Looking at the poster without any context they had the impression that the game was about at least four very stylish teenagers, giant screens or monitors and weird monsters or aliens who might be the villains. Although these perceptions are mostly true they also miss the deeper meanings that the artist probably wanted to convey. Another family member thought that the poster was advertising an animated movie and not a game due to the Manga art style and the fact that they did not know the Persona series which is a lesser known series of games.
  • Characters: In a similar way to real human beings, the main characters in the game have a side to their personality that they hide, a persona as it were that they do not wish others to know about or see. Understanding this makes what the poster is trying to show more obvious as not only do the characters get across their personalities (see Mise en scene), but you also see their Personas in the TV screens, some of which appear in static. Thus this poster demonstrates the double meanings as seen in the game.       
  • Setting: The scene shown in the poster is one that never appears in the game, however, I imagine it is meant to be the world inside televisions known as the Midnight Channel that connects to dungeons created and based on the inner feelings of those trapped in them.
  • Mise en scene: The poster manages to give its viewer hints about the characters’ personalities in the game thanks to the emotions shown by them on the poster. The obvious examples are as follows: the girl in red worries the most, the seated girl is cheerful, the boy standing in the middle is calm and collected and the giant figure in the TV screens is big and powerful. It is only the boy who has his back to the viewer who doesn’t display any of his personality in the poster. Actually he provides the comic relief in the game but the artist for some reason or other has not displayed this.
  • Describe the content: Four of the main characters are standing in front of a stack of brightly lit TV’s, some screens are even displaying supernatural figures on them.  
  • Explain any ideas that the work is expressing: Not only does the scene contain a reimagining of a Japanese god but it also contains four high school students who all wear a mix of modern and retro clothes and uniforms that would be more likely to be seen in an urban environment such as a city rather than a rural setting which is where the game takes place.
  • What symbolism is there in the image / scene? In relation to what I explained in the ‘characters’ section above, I would say that there is symbolism in the poster’s visual representation of the barrier put up by every human being who wants to hide a part of themselves from others. For example, the characters in front of the TV’s are displaying their everyday life personas that they put on in front of others, whereas the blurred figures in the TV screens could be symbolic of their true personalities which want to break free. Thus it is partially clear why the characters only seem to be able to overcome and reveal their true selves whilst in the TV world as they are literally passing through a physical barrier. In this instance, a TV screen.    
  • Identify any issues that are raised: No obvious issues are portrayed in this poster, however, you can clearly see that there is something unnatural about the amount of TV’s in the background and the mysterious figures in them. Therefore it may make the audience wonder why a bunch of high school students are in such an unrecognisable environment and why odd looking figures are seen in the screens of the TV’s. 
  • Is there anything controversial about it? Depending on the audience and their beliefs and values, some individuals may find offence in the use of a lady’s bare legs in advertising as seen at the bottom of the screen. Some viewers may also take offence to the radical change in the appearance of a mythological god. For example, the Persona named Izanagi (after the deity of the same name) in the centre of the screen who has been made to look radically different to his original representation as he is drawn wearing a school uniform and mask. And finally, some people looking at the poster may claim it is sexist due to the bare legs and the girl in red who seems to look the most vulnerable in the presence of Izanagi who is considered to be a ‘manly god’.
In addition, the actual game itself contains many controversial themes that the designers decided to approach with respect. This included the issue of homosexuality and how different genders are treated in society.

Context:
  • Social / Historical: When designing the characters Persona’s the art director did research on the gods that he wanted each Persona to be based on as not only did the redesigns of them have to share similarities with their original counterparts but they also had to be modernised in a ‘trendy’ / ‘retro’ way in order to add to the game’s style.
  • Geographical / Cultural: As explained before the team behind the game visited many rural towns in Japan in order to find out as much as they could about existing ones before trying to create a fictional one both in terms of landscape and atmospherics. From doing so their found out that students living in such an urban environment where similar to their city counterparts and were not just stereotype country kids as the designers first imagined them to be. The environment was also more desolate and abandoned than the team imagined it would be thanks to out of town businesses taking away customers. Thus the game was able to get a good balance between the harsh realities of a real rural town as seen above, and the positives that included the peaceful surroundings, clean air and the fact that some old traditions that are usually lost in the hustle and buzzle of city life stayed strong. 
  • Ideological: The constant theme explored throughout the game is how people have multiple personalities that they suppress or hide due to the pressures or constraints of their everyday lives. However, the game also explores why individuals should not feel pressurised into being someone they are not and that they do not have to deal with their problems alone. These themes work especially well with teenagers who are often confused about their identity and also those who were that age can sympathise with them.
Sadly the poster like so many others doesn’t manage to convey its theme and only those who have played or know about the game could recognise the poster’s symbolism.   

Personal Response:
  • What is your reaction to it? Looking at anything to do with Persona 4 always puts a big almost childlike smile on my face. Therefore just looking at the poster evokes a lot of positive feelings for me.
  • What feelings does it provoke? Nostalgia, happiness, excitement...  just too many things to list!
  • Can you pinpoint any qualities that make you feel this way: For me Persona 4 is THE perfect video game. The characters, story, art style, sound track, voice acting, game play, pacing, encounters and environments are all memorable and truly stand out from any other experience I have ever had from playing a game. There were moments of great delight, sadness, surprise, loss and victory throughout this game and many of the events seen throughout the game’s journey are still embedded in my memory as I can still recount even years after my first play through what they were like for me the first time round. The game just simply grabbed me from the start and didn’t let go, thus making it my favourite game of all time!    
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