ANALYSIS OF A GAME GENRE

RPG

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Shadow Of Mordor The Elder Scrolls : Skyrim

Dragon Age Origins

Originates from the Dungeons & Dragons pencil-and-paper fantasy role-playing game where the players controlled one or a small group of characters, players often form a close attachment to their characters, Characters improve as they progress through the game, and after a few quests the characters gain experience from battles and challenges, experience causes characters to advance in skills and abilitiesRPGs usually have strong story lines – often involving a “save the world” like Dragon Age Origins for example, the theme setting may also be fantasy, sci-fi , or real world.

RPG GENRE

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2. Play and observe the games (take notes, use screen capture/grabs, voiceover or embedded video where possible).

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DRAGON AGE SCREENSHOTS

SKYRIM SCREENSHOTS

SHADOW OF MORDOR SCREENSHOTS

3. Describe structure/interaction/gameplay/themes

STRUCTURE/THEMES

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As you can see in the fi rst example in “Dragon Age Origins” is where the player is interacting with the NPC “Alistair” and throughout most of the game you will interact with these people through a selection of choices to pick if you want to be aggressive to them or polite to them which eff ects the relationship between these characters that you’ll meet.In the second example the interaction with the you as the player is completely diff erent where you will encounter in combat many enemies which will develop opinions about you based on how the fi ght goes, so for example you cause a orc captain to set on fi re and he escapes when you re-encounter this particular orc he will remember that you burned and virtually involve you to be the part of the game which allows a involving role playing game.

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4. Analyse genre characteristics (production technology, distribution method, generic codes and conventions)

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5. Analyse narrative structures (closed, open, single strand, multi-strand, linear, non-linear, enigma, climax, equilibrium).

NARRATIVE STRUCTURES

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Dragon Age Origins Map

Shadow Of Mordor Map

Skyrim Map

As you can see between these two varieties of exploration and how they are used diff erently, also how they show the story diff erently.The fi rst example is not linear is it allows to freely explore a vast area without any boundaries giving you the sense of freedom and exploration as you don’t need to go at any pace the game has as there is none, and that can benefi cial for a game when it comes to replayability.My second example is linear but off ers a diff erent type of exploration and freedom in the forms of involving conversations with NPC’s and allows you to preset location on the fairly small map, but you will often forget the size by the quality of the interaction between you and the companions you travel with throughout the game. So in a diff erent way it allows a great deal of replayability.

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6. Analyse representation of characters (negative and positive (stereotyping) representation of social groups, social issues and places/organisations).

CHARACTER STEREOTYPING

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A descendant of the Northmen in Rhovanion, and raised in Minas Tirith, he is a loyal Ranger of Gondor, and has spent his entire adult life as a Ranger in the garrison stationed at the Black Gate. Everything changed, however, when the Black Gate is attacked by Sauron's captains. At the moment of his death, Talion is possessed by an immensely powerful Wraith, saving his life, but also putting upon him a great burden.

TALION

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Morrigan is a Witch of the Wilds, one of innumerable sorceresses whose legends originate in the Korcari Wilds. She is called upon to leave her home to become a companion to the Warden."Men are always willing to believe two things about a woman: one, that she is weak, and two, that she finds him attractive.“This is a good quote that Morrigan says which basically sums up female characters as in most games the female NPCs are weak and cannot defend themselves and Morrigan goes out of her way to show that she is an exception to that theory, saving you countless times in battle.

MORRIGAN

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Last Dragonborn has the ability to consume a slain Dragon's soul and absorb its knowledge, allowing them to learn words of power quickly. At the beginning of Skyrim, the Dragonborn is a prisoner, captured while attempting to illegally cross the border into Skyrim. While being transported to the settlement of Helgen, the Dragonborn discovers that Ulfric Stormcloak, the leader of the Stormcloak rebellion, is a fellow prisoner.

DRAGONBORN

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