Summary
Inan interview with GamesRadar, director Hideaki Itsuno said that players won’t need to have playedDragon’s Dogmato understand itsupcoming sequelbecause the protagonist will have amnesia and won’t remember anything about the events of the first game. It’s the oldest trick in the book, starting with a character that doesn’t know a thing about who they are, where they are, when it is, and what on earth is going on, and how they got there. As people around them explain what’s up and what’s happened so far to your hero, you get the lowdown as well.
Amnesia is a very common trope in video games, because it’s convenient. You can exposition-dump at the start and get all the major world-building out of the way instead of working to fit it in organically. It also makes the protagonist a no-brainer player-insert, and minimises the distance between player and character. It’s also an instant reason to be curious – the player immediately begins to search for information, instead of slowly assimilating into the shoes of a protagonist that has an established footing in the game’s world.
It’s worth adding that Dragon’s Dogma is the kind of game where, tonally, an amnesiac protagonist isn’t that far-fetched.
What Do You Mean, You Don’t Know Your Name?
Not everything that is easy is lazy, but this particular trope has been used so often that it’s become somewhat of a red flag for me. When I see an amnesiac protagonist, I tend to assume that it’s because of convenience first and story second. Some excellent games have used this mechanic – Disco Elysium’s amnesiac protagonist bumbles around the world like an idiot, asking people questions so bizarre and obvious that they ask him if something’s wrong with him. Amnesia: The Dark Descent kicked off one of the most iconic survival horror series of all time with its amnesiac protagonist. I mean, it’s also in the name. Even Breath of the Wild had an amnesiac Link. These games could have existed without using amnesia as an introduction, but the mechanic was still used effectively and not just as easy way outs.
I would be remiss not to mention that Knights of the Old Republic has an amnesiac protagonist, and this is used to build up to one of gaming’s greatest plot twists. It’s one of those rare times when an amnesiac protagonist is truly earned.
There are plenty of other ways to start games, especially sequels, than with an amnesiac character, without needing continuity between games. I’d go so far as to say that as long as you’re not entering a long-established, lore-heavy series like Yakuza, you rarely need to have played previous games in a series. BioShock 2 was set in the same place as the first BioShock, and had two different characters – the sequel had the player step into the shoes of an existing type of character in the setting, and the games were in parallel universes. Dishonored 2 has you controlling the same character, 15 years later. Red Dead Redemption 2 is actually a prequel to Red Dead Redemption.
The most confusing thing about all this is that Dragon’s Dogma 2’s protagonist does not have to be an amnesiac –according to producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi, the sequel mirrors the first game’s setting but takes place in a parallel world. The events of that world probably won’t even be written into this one, so why does the protagonist have to be an amnesiac at all? Is it just because it’s… dare I say… easier? A cop-out, even?
All of this is in an effort to make the game look more appealing to new players, which I find very bleak. Of course games need to draw in new players to become all-timer franchises, but a good, well-written game will pull in new players on top of existing hardcore fans. The Like A Dragon series, formerly known as Yakuza, has a continuing throughline of the events of one man’s life through most of its game, and it’sstillastonishingly popular, with an ever-growing Western fanbase. I find it concerning that its creators are insisting that its character’s insomnia is what makes the game newbie-friendly. Whatever happened to just writing your way out?
