Despite my love for Trace Memory and my fondness for whodunnits and adventure games, Cing's latest outing, Hotel Dusk: Room 215 just didn't hit my sweet spot. Part of it's simply that the game's not as conceptually cohesive as the vastly underrated Trace Memory but, part of it is that, while the characters are nicely developed, the tale itself isn't compelling or clever enough to merit the lengthy run-time. The languid pace of the first half doesn't help either, nor does the inappropriately synthetic and upbeat soundtrack do the game any favors. However, there was one moment buried in a latter portion that caught my eye, and has been nagging at me ever since.
As you may know, Hotel Dusk has a pretty striking visual style. While you roam through a pretty unremarkable three-dimensional rendition of a hotel, the characters in the game are anything but. They're mostly two-dimensional monochrome pencil scribbles, infused with a sense of energy by the drawing's ever-moving scrawls. As with other games from this genre, instead of fully animating each scene, every character has a collection of 'stock' expressions. However, unlike similar games, Hotel Dusk actually has a robust number of stances, expressions, motions and so on, which makes the character movements feel unique, more nuanced and more natural than just some jerkily transitioned frames. They're nicely drawn, in more ways than one.
So after staring at the lead character, ex-detective Kyle Hyde, for 15 hours or so and being exposed to practically every animated image of him, I end up in a frank discussion between Mr. Hyde and an ex-pickpocket named Louis. Louis is telling a story to Kyle, a tale that Kyle once told Louis back when he had caught Louis stealing, a tale that changed his life. Halfway through narrating the story, Louis says the following to Kyle:
"Then you got real quiet and you got that serious look in your eyes."
Upon reading that, I realized "I know that look." I could see it, even though the on-screen image of Kyle was less-pensive than what Louis was describing, because it had been flashed before me a hundred times prior to this scene. Kyle would hunch down a bit, his brow would furrow and his eyes would grow dark. It was a pleasant realization, recalling a character's mannerism in a game of my own accord instead of just having it thrown up on the screen. It displayed a real sense of confidence and restraint on Cing's behalf, that they knew they had worked the character's stances and reactions in well enough to not explicitly display the main character's disposition in a narrated flashback. Instead we're left to focus on what the story means to Louis, which is the point of the entire scene.
This got me wondering about mannerisms in other games, as it's not something I've intentionally dwelled on a whole lot. The more I thought about it, the more memorable character expressions I'd recall, like Alyx's sly smile in Half-Life 2, Sonic the Hedgehog's toe-tapping idle animation, 'tells' in sports and fighting games (such as King Hippo in Punch-Out), the adorable head-cocking from Nintendogs and the acerbic disposition of Seaman. Heck, one of the great details in Twilight Princess is the glare that Link gives Midna when she plunks down on his back after Link's changed into a wolf!
So my question to you is: What are some of your favorite and most memorable character expressions & mannerisms? Who has captured your attention simply through motion and stance, as opposed to visual design?
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#1 WholeFnShow Mar 6, 2007 12:48am
Idle animations are among my favorite little hidden gems in any game. While most games with visible characters have them, not everyone takes the time to put some of the character into the animaiton. The stuff done by Earthworm Jim in his second game still give me a chuckle. It still creeps me out a bit that he had a little Hula'ing person in his pocket...that he ate.
In Rez, while in the 4th (Yoga-ish) form, when you go from level to level, the little dude inside his flying bubble starts to vogue until the action starts up again. I always loved that.
There are far too many lovable animations in Monster Hunter: Freedom. Possibly the best one is most easily classified as the "Oh Shit!" run. The characters get a crawling, creeping, walking, jogging, and running animation, but if there's a big effin dragon on screen the characters run animation is affected. Instead of being a concentrated sprint, it turns into this Holy Fuck I'm Going To Get Eaten wild run. So good.
And it's funny you bring this topic up to, because I actually captured video from Psychonauts (which I still haven't finished. I know, I'm sorry) because it tickled me so much. And that'd be this:
About the only one I can think of off the top of my head that wasn't actually an idle animation is from Bust A Groove 2. This one is harder to describe. There's a zombie character named Bi-O. One of his dance moves in the game involved him spinning around a couple of times, but after he stops spinning, and his body goes into the next animation, his head spins around an extra time without the body....because he's a zombie and he can do that.
#2 hobbie Mar 6, 2007 05:22am
Who can forget the prisoners from all of the Metal Slug games? A salute and a flourish, that simple animation pops up when I see the most random thing.
#3 D. Riley Mar 6, 2007 07:37am
There's a couple that spring to mind:
Vanessa of P.N.03. Though I put the hate on this game something fierce, the game did have its own sense of style. And it's ass wiggling main character is pretty iconic to me, if not to the gaming public as a whole. I don't think I'll soon forget her nonchalant finger snapping as she dispenses laser death to her robotic foes.
And Rio of Lifeline, a game that was maligned by just about everyone BUT me. They really inserted a lot of extraneous material into the game, and did a lot of work on stuff like facial expressions and silly things that the average player might not see. A little futzing around with the menu would reveal dozens of questions you could ask Rio (how do you feel about the prime minister?) and get a heartfelt response that, by-golly, almost felt like you were getting it from a human being. The chick from "She Spies!" did a pretty decent job with the voice acting, which helped.
Playing a little fast and loose with your concept, I know, but that's what I think of...
#4 boxmyth Mar 7, 2007 05:29pm
Mario 64, his idle animation of him falling asleep. Not a huge deal, but it added some character realism to one of my favorite games.
And in honor of it launching on Live Arcade today, Worms. There's a few in the game, but my favorite is when you get set to use the uppercut or fireball, and the Worm puts on a little karate headband. Adorable.
#5 TrueTallus Mar 8, 2007 03:29pm
It almost feels to obvious or something, but Ico really captured it's protagonists scrabbly adolescence. He just seemed to really throw himself at whatever he was doing, even if he didn't quite know how to do it. Yorda's wondering, tentative, "I'm in shock" demeanor came through great as well.
I second the Lifeline callout, even if that isn't exactly kosher.
Also, I'd say the Mark of Kri. They somehow really pulled off a stealthy lumbering barbarian. From the killing blows to normal combat moves to simple stuff like vaulting over an obstacle or shimmying, all of Rau's moves were so sure and brutal. It always felt like he knew what he was doing, even if the player didn't.
#6 Glenn Turner Mar 9, 2007 06:39pm
That makes me want to play through Grim Fandango and scrutinize it for mannerisms! :inlove:
I can barely remember PN03 nowadays, but I recall thinking she just reminded me of a chrome version of Ulala.
Definitely - I think the visual charm of the game's is what keeps me coming back to each and every iteration of the series!
Ooh yeah, definitely. A lot of the mannerisms in it reminded me of the first Prince of Persia too, very loose, grand motions.
Nice pick - although I think that they had a bit of a leg up in that department, as most of the artists working on Kri were ex-Bluth animators ;) Kri's such a great game because of its animation and character quirks...
One of the bits I was going to mention in the article, but couldn't really confirm was mannerisms in Soul Calibur 3. Allegedly they changed depending on the kind of clothing you were wearing. Dark clothes meant a surlier disposition where as brighter clothes result in a bouncier one. I haven't found any official confirmation of that (although, to be fair, I haven't really searched all that deeply). Interesting if true though - possibly actually worth booting up the game again for.
#7 Soup Jun 26, 2007 11:17am
+ Kefka's laugh from Final Fantasy VI, although this is partly due to the unforgettable MIDI-replicated laugh that accompanies it.
+ In the new Sam & Max games, Max ambles around the area while you do your thing with Sam. THe lagomorph peers at background objects, makes faces at NPCs, and when the mood strikes him, pull some arm farts. These remind me of Hit the Road, where Max had similar self-propelled mannerisms.
+ In Zelda: Wind Waker, Link's animated expressions really pop out. Some are nice nods to current status, like the exhausted sigh he gives when at critical energy or the jarred expression when you strike something unquestionably solid. Some are cheats, like the elastic strech of his arms when he throws things. My favorite of the bunch has to be his shifty expression during the stealth portion of the game. pressing up to the wall, Link furrows his brow, giving the cutest sidelong glance when looking around corners.