Point of View in Video Games

Point of View & Narrative Distance in Video Games

Point of View & Narrative Distance

How close or far away this lens is from the point of view character’s thoughts, feelings and sensory perceptions is called narrative distance.

Sometimes you’re right inside a character’s head, experiencing their thoughts in real time. Other times, you’re watching characters from a distance, like a camera pulling back to show the bigger picture.

​​When you read, watch, or listen to any narrative-driven work (story) —you’re seeing the world of the story through a specific lens.

​That lens is called point of view (POV).

You Probably Know More than you think!

Fans of FPS (first person shooter) and/or TPS (third person shooter) video games already have a sense of point of view. 

​Sometimes point of view (POV) is easier to spot “in action” than it is on the page. To learn how POV works in writing, this lesson will look at how POV affects narrative (story) in video games. ​

​In this slideshow, you’ll practice noticing how POV and narrative distance shape story. Then you’ll try these moves yourself in your own storytelling projects.

FIRST PERSON

In FIRST PERSON shooter games, we cannot see the character; we see through their eyes; we see what they see. This is why we can see the end of the character's gun in this clip, but not the character.

The next few slides will explore narrative distance within third-person shooter games. 

Check out this chart to get a sense of how it works. 

Rather see the chart as a video? Watch it on the next slide.

Multiple Choice

What are sensory perceptions?

• Sensory perceptions are the physical sensations we feel in our bodies.
• Sensory perceptions are the emotions we experience in response to things we see.

• Sensory perceptions are the distance between the narrator and the things described.

• Sensory perceptions are things we see, hear, feel, taste & smell.

Multiple Choice

What is the point of view character?

• The distance between the narrator and the things described.

• Always the narrator unless we cannot ever see their face and/or learn their name.

• Things we can feel, taste or see.

• The character whose thoughts, feelings, and sensory perceptions are known to the narrator and reader.

Multiple Choice

What is narrative distance?

• The distance between the narrator and the thoughts & sensory perceptions of the point of view character.

• Always the narrator unless we never see their face and/or learn their name.

• Things we can feel, taste or see.

• The distance between the narrator's house and the protagonist's house.

​Roblox: First Person, Close Third & Distant Third

Watch this video clip to see a Roblox example that moves in and out of close third, distant third, and first person.

In some video games, you can switch characters. This video shows how to switch from the Peter Parker Spider-Man to the Miles Morales Spider-Man in PlayStation’s Spider-Man 2.

If you described this switch in third-person, you’d narrate in  omniscient third. 

Third Person Omniscient

​Omniscient narrators can swoop in and out of different characters’ minds. They can zoom in and see things through the character’s eyes in close third and zoom out and look at a character from a distance in distant third.

Multiple Choice

Your character is the one with purple hair. He's not shooting, but if he was, would this be a FIRST PERSON shooter game or a THIRD PERSON shooter game?

• first person

• third person

Multiple Choice

Is this description in close third person or a more distant third?

Purple Hair cowers in fear, the empty corner yawning behind him as Orange Shirt makes his tedious rounds.

• close

• distant

Multiple Choice

Is this description in close third person or a more distant third?

Purple Hair clamped his wrist stumps over his ears. What the-? The shadow beneath him grabbed his gaze, and he stood there shaking. Was this guy with the boxes a forcefield or a prison guard? Why was it always so hard to tell those things apart in situations like this?

• close

• distant

Open Ended

What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of omniscient POV in video games? 

Third Person Shooter: Uncharted

Watch the video on the next slide to see another example of a THIRD PERSON shooter game.

Multiple Choice

You are the guy loading the gun. Is this a first or third-person shooter game?

• first person

• third person

Multiple Choice

Your character is looking at the monster kick the door open. What's the point of view here?

• first person shooter

• third person shooter

Multiple Choice

Your character is the monster kicking the door open. What's the point of view here?

• first person shooter

• third person shooter

Multiple Choice

You are the character holding the gun. What's the point of view here?

• first person shooter

• third person shooter

Multiple Choice

Is this description written in a close third or a distant third?

Jagged pieces of metal rained down around her. She dodged most of their sharp edges and wiped her forehead with her hand. The thing kicked the air above her head over and over. Is that a glitch? She studied the blood mapping her palm as if it might reveal a clue.

• close third person

• distant third third person

Multiple Choice

Is this description written in a close third or a distant third?

Jagged pieces of metal rained down on her, one of them slicing her forehead open. Her blood glistened in the light, and the smoke spilling through the doorway gave her an angelic glow.

• close third person

• distant third third person

One of the few video games that dip into second person POV is Watchdogs. Usually a TPS game, in this sequence there is a shift into second person. Can you spot it? (This game is rated M, but this clip is PG.)

​

Watchdogs: Second Person POV

Multiple Choice

In this clip, you could consider Watch Dogs a second-person shooter game. Why?

• Because this game is normally a third person shooter game

• Because we can see both the player and his gun.

• Because another character is talking directly to the player.

• Because there are moments when we cannot see the player at all.

Multiple Choice

If you wanted to switch the Watch Dogs clip into a third-person shooter game, what would you need to change?

• Remove the map.

• Remove the character giving the player instructions.

• Give the player a friend.

• Give the player a better gun.

Open Ended

If you like to play video games, which do you prefer, FPS or TPS? Why? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each one?

Open Ended

How might your video game preferences figure into your decision about which point of view you use as you write? When might first person make the most sense? When would it be better to use third person? Explain your thinking.

Open Ended

Find a clip of a video game you like on YouTube and paste the link into the answer box.

Analyze the point of view. Is it in first, second, or third? Are there any POV shifts? If so, what kind and where? Shifts from first to third? Shifts from one POV character to another? Shifts in narrative distance? Why do you think the game creators included the shifts you spotted? Pick a short section to describe in writing. Did you narrate in first person, close third, or a more distant third person?