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SolVanderlyn · Dec 28, 2014

This is one of, if not my absolute, favorite narrative techniques in games. Resident Evil 2 and 6, Suikoden III, and more recently Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep come to mind as games that have pulled off this technique exceptionally well.

Warcraft 3 takes the first place crown, though, if not for this one reason alone: Each PoV tells a unique story, with unique locations, in a larger narrative. Most games with multiple PoVs tell the same story from a different point of view. In WC3, there is one linear narrative that changes PoVs depending on where you are in the story chronologically. You always play Human, then Undead, then Orc, then Night Elf. In any RTS game, you usually play as the victor outside of a select few scripted instances. By splitting up the story in this manner, it allows certain factions and main characters to lose without having the player suffer at their expense.

WC3 is kind of a strange example, as part of the appeal of a different PoV is seeing the same thing from a different perspective. In WC3, you never see the Undead story from the Human's perspective, for example, which leaves it lacking in this regard. It's still a unique take on the technique, though, and still my favorite use of it all these years later.

Arion · Dec 28, 2014

Broken Age is pretty amazing at this.

The way they tie both prospectives together is the biggest twist of the year.

jakomocha · Dec 28, 2014

I thought Indigo Prophecy did it pretty well.

In fact, the game as a whole (especially its atmosphere) was pretty freaking good until the bizarre and stupid plot twist was revealed. Also, Walking Dead 400 Days did multiple points of view well but I wouldn't like their base Walking Dead games to be like that, they are better off with one protagonist.

Trigonometrize. · Dec 28, 2014

I enjoyed Birth By Sleep's triple protagonist so much it is my favorite KH game.

MagnoSauce · Dec 28, 2014

Sonic Adventure 1 tried this and failed hard. Probably because the "plot" was paper thin and so poorly acted it was difficult watching it one time let alone several.

It also had this weird thing where there would be a scene with dialogue for one character's mode, then when you move on to another character you see the same scene, but with slightly different dialogue where the meaning is the same, but the way it's said is different. Like you're supposed to be witnessing the same thing from the other character's perspective, so why not have the same exact dialogue? Did they improvise the lines and then forget what they recorded or something? I will never understand this, so if anyone knows what I'm talking about, I'd like to hear about it.

Yoshichan · Dec 28, 2014

That specific dungeon in Final Fantasy IX.

With this music playing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiSmf9IeCe0

Can anyone help me out with what the dungeon was called?

Bl@de · Dec 28, 2014

Heavy Rain is the best imho

Wiktor · Dec 28, 2014

The Dark Eye. Nothing comes close. It's a set of tragedies and you play each twice..once from the perspective of the victim and then as a killer.

viewtiful_dru · Dec 28, 2014

GTA 5 imo, from a gameplay perspective at least.

Markitron · Dec 28, 2014

Heavy Rain, they really played with POV's in that game.

When you realise that you are playing as the killer and most of your time spent as that character was actually cleaning up after yourself

I really enjoyed how GTA5 did it as well. I'd be pissed if they go back to 1 character in GTA6

Cheeseman Battitude · Dec 28, 2014

Virtua Racing pulled off multiple points of view really well. I liked the way the camera zoomed from one view to the next.

kiuo · Dec 28, 2014

Seen my brother played this when i was young, Arc the Lad Twilight of the Spirits. Can't remember if it has any good but from what i remember, it told two sides of which was the humans and the demons who are at war.

Skyler · Dec 28, 2014

Yoshichan said:
That specific dungeon in Final Fantasy IX.

With this music playing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiSmf9IeCe0

Can anyone help me out with what the dungeon was called?

That'd be Earth Shrine.

hammertomb · Dec 28, 2014

Valiant hearts does it really well. You have four p.o.v characters and you know them well enough that you care wether they live or die.

theaface · Dec 28, 2014

The

Last of Us

Sarah, Joel, Ellie

DustyVonEric · Dec 28, 2014

Markitron said:
Heavy Rain, they really played with POV's in that game.

When you realise that you are playing as the killer and most of your time spent as that character was actually cleaning up after yourself

I really enjoyed how GTA5 did it as well. I'd be pissed if they go back to 1 character in GTA6

Yeah, Heavy Rain was great. And GTA V immediately jumped to mind (as I'm playing it for the first time now).

I don't know how the game ends, but I'm hoping for a prequel of Mike, Brad, Lester, and a mustached Trevor pulling off some great heists.

You know, I'd add The Witcher 2 to the list. Lots of different perspectives are seen depending who you journey with.

djtiesto · Dec 28, 2014

I like the Skies of Arcadia dungeon where you are playing as Vyse/Guilder on one end and Aika/Fina on the other... and you both help each other out unbeknownst to the other characters.

NYCmetsfan · Dec 28, 2014

Markitron said:
Heavy Rain, they really played with POV's in that game.

When you realise that you are playing as the killer and most of your time spent as that character was actually cleaning up after yourself

While I didn't think the story was that great overall I really did like this part. I didn't see it coming and it worked pretty darn well. I was waiting for something like it in beyond but the out of order narrative in that game didn't work as well imo

Fancy Clown · Dec 28, 2014

GTA V. Nothing like switching between characters on the fly to see what they've been up to in their kooky lives,

Hakkesshu · Dec 28, 2014

Suikoden 3 is all about this.

Markitron · Dec 28, 2014

APKmetsfan said:
While I didn't think the story was that great overall I really did like this part. I didn't see it coming and it worked pretty darn well. I was waiting for something like it in beyond but the out of order narrative in that game didn't work as well imo

Yea, it was the part of the game that stayed with me most. I have never really seen anything like it in a game before.

Floridian · Dec 28, 2014

GTA V Remaster. Three characters + option of 1st/3rd person view makes room for variety in how to handle situations.

5taquitos · Dec 28, 2014

I know you mentioned it in the OP, but I have to repeat that Suikoden 3 did this marvelously. It was completely unexpected (for me at least), and made

choosing the Flame Champion

a tough decision. The different sides to the story were great, and fit in perfectly with the series' political story motifs.

I picked Hugo, since it seemed the like the default choice for the story, though I'll probably choose Geddoe on my next playthrough.

Heroman · Dec 28, 2014

Mother 3 did a good job at it.

Dark_castle · Dec 28, 2014

Not sure if 2 counts as multiple, but I loved different perspective of Serge and

Lynx

in Chrono Cross. The transition, the after-math, the people you can meet and recruit, and how they respond to you in a different physical body was brilliantly done imo.

SatoAilDarko · Dec 28, 2014

MagnoSauce said:
Sonic Adventure 1 tried this and failed hard. Probably because the "plot" was paper thin and so poorly acted it was difficult watching it one time let alone several.

It also had this weird thing where there would be a scene with dialogue for one character's mode, then when you move on to another character you see the same scene, but with slightly different dialogue where the meaning is the same, but the way it's said is different. Like you're supposed to be witnessing the same thing from the other character's perspective, so why not have the same exact dialogue? Did they improvise the lines and then forget what they recorded or something? I will never understand this, so if anyone knows what I'm talking about, I'd like to hear about it.

Sonic Adventure 1 is my favorite Sonic game because of this type of plot. Very enjoyable and it was cool having Knuckles and Tails also getting a few go's at Chaos.

Dr. Buni · Dec 28, 2014

Trigonometrize. said:
I enjoyed Birth By Sleep's triple protagonist so much it is my favorite KH game.

Yup, easily the best game in the series (with the best protagonists, Aqua ftw).

Heroman said:
Mother 3 did a good job at it.

Earthbound too, kinda.

You play as solo Jeff and solo Poo for brief sections during the game. Too bad you can't play as solo Paula.

Lord of Castamere · Dec 28, 2014

No Neir yet, for shame.

Each replay you see a little more of what your and others actions caused, backstories on your allies, and

what the motivations of your enemies truly were.

Captain_Spanky · Dec 28, 2014

theaface said:
The

Last of Us

Sarah, Joel, Ellie

You are fucking awful at spoiler tagging.

Dark_castle · Dec 28, 2014

FFVI also pulled off multiple points of view very well. Splitting up party members to tackle different areas of a dungeon, working as a team never felt so good before.

haikira · Dec 28, 2014

Captain_Spanky said:
You are fucking awful at spoiler tagging.

Out of curiosity, how could it have been done better?

Otakumegane · Dec 28, 2014

I can think of one the exact opposite.

As much as I like Radiant Dawn, the multiple factions were handled not so spectacularly. Esp if one side is overpowering.

pokeystaples · Dec 28, 2014

haikira said:
Out of curiosity, how could it have been done better?

Title of the game doesn't really need spoiler tags.

haikira · Dec 28, 2014

pokeystaples said:
Title of the game doesn't really need spoiler tags.

Probably redundant, yeah, but I still think Spanky overreacted.

Terra_Ex · Dec 28, 2014

Suikoden 3 was probably my favourite example of it. Breath of Fire IV made good use of it too, particularly as one protagonist was silent and the other wasn't. It's something I'd like to see used more often in games, particularly when the characters are from opposing sides, GTAV being the most recent and successful example. The indie rpg Unrest seems to be focused round the switching of viewpoints as a core mechanic but I've only played a few minutes of it so can't really comment on it any further.

BeatResetsTheWorld · Dec 28, 2014

One that hasn't been mentioned, Bowser's Inside Story

The entire game and it's gameplay was centered around multiple points of view. Bowsers actions directly affected his internal conditions and the bros actions affected Bowser's health, and other conditions. It was a cool setup

Ishida · Dec 28, 2014

GTA V
Legacy of Kain: Defiance.
Resident Evil 2.
Heavy Rain.

Succinct Verbosity · Dec 28, 2014

GTA V and Resident Evil 2.

Canis lupus · Dec 28, 2014

Acquiescence · Dec 28, 2014

Heavy Rain
Fear Effect
L.A. Noire
GTA V
Yakuza 4
Broken Sword 2
The Last of Us

All games that I feel benefitted from allowing you to play as different characters in accordance with the narrative.

Gandalf · Dec 28, 2014

As said before, Heavy Rain and GTA V have both executed this very, very well.

Durante · Dec 28, 2014

Suikoden 3 is probably my favorite example of this.

And for one which most people are very unlikely to know about, Ar nosurge does this as well throughout the game!

Cert.in.Death · Dec 28, 2014

FFIX and the Active Time Event system. Great storytelling device largely not employed in gaming.

deddonpachi · Dec 28, 2014

i love how its done in Dragon Quest IV

Squishy3 · Dec 28, 2014

How the fuck has nobody mentioned Eternal Darkness yet? Every new character you play as picks up the story years later after the last character you played as, ultimately culminating in the end as Alex. It's a struggle that takes place over hundreds of years.

Not multiple PoVs happening simultaneously, perse, but since the antagonist is immortal that doesn't really matter.

Tawpgun · Dec 28, 2014

GTA V was amazing.

It was really well designed in some of the missions. I could lure enemies for other characters to snipe/rocket and so on.

And in free roam it was cool seeing what other characters were doing

syncyes · Dec 28, 2014

One of the earliest examples is also a great one--Dragon Quest IV.

Corpekata · Dec 28, 2014

Valiant Hearts and the Blackwell series. I like in the Blackwell series how Joey, when examining things, would often get the names of modern items (like a computer mouse) wrong or would treat them with utter disdain.

I'll take Indigo Prophecy over Heavy Rain. I didn't think Bad Actor Cop or Madison added much, and the twist I thought was handled poorly.

CanUKlehead · Dec 28, 2014

Shining Force III series for me, and I quite liked GTAV too.

Tawpgun · Dec 28, 2014

I'll give an honorable mention to Halo 2 also.

While gameplay was a little lacking, from a story standpoint it was really cool.

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