Support NeoGAF

[Wikzo]

I really enjoy stories that are told through multiple points of view. Each character has their own individual/personal story, but then there's the overall narrative that converges into an even greater story; where a set of seemingly unrelated characters end up at the same place. The juxtaposition can be used as a clever story device that challenges the viewer/reader (used poorly, however, it can be really confusing and annoying).

Examples that come to mind are Babel (film), Cloud Atlas (film) and many of the books written by Dan Brown and Haruki Murakami.

When it comes to game examples, I can only think of a few, such as Heavy Rain, Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy, Mother 3, The Walking Dead: 400 Days and Kentucky Route Zero.

Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy is an interesting example, since it let's you play as the murderer committing a crime in a bar toilet. Not long after you play as the police looking for clues in the exact same location. A few moments later you play as an eyewitness and have to create a phantom drawing of the murderer --- but it is up to you, the player, whether you want it to be realistic or not. This is a great usage of not only the multiple POVs as a story device, but also the interactivity of videogames.

Do you know about other games that use multiple POVs?

 

[Heretic Kazuma]

You might wanna check out Odin Sphere Leithrasir if you haven't already. The overall story is told through the points of view from the five protagonists.

 

[Eylos]

that comes to my mind
2 povs:
Star ocean 2
The witcher 3 (very little)
threads of fate
new fire emblem 3ds

 

[xir]

opening to Indigo Prophecy/Farhenheit is the best.

You

Spoiler

hide evidence and then have to find it. you play vs yourself

 

[Ydelnae]

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Birth by Sleep
Final Fantasy XIII
Dragon Quest IV

Also, Tales of Xillia, even though the multiple point of views didn't really add anything.

 

[btags]

Halo 2. And damn am I still angry that people said it was too confusing a story to follow and that they didn't like playing as someone other than master chief. The story in Halo 2 was so cool.

 

[Shin-chan]

I believe Yakuza 4 does this but I haven't played long enough to see for myself (the games are too dense )

FFIX does it a bit too. Zidane is always the main PoV but you'll get some big chunks where you see things from Garnets, Vivis or Steiners perspective.

 

[Maxey]

Most Call of Duty games have multiple player characters.

 

[Nicky Ali]

I don't know if this is what most people would think of, but I really liked Sonic 3&Knuckles' alternate story for Knuckles (even though the whole story is told without any dialogue, which I personally feel a lot of Sonic games today could learn from).

Like, you usually play the game as Sonic & Tails first and I assume most people would hate Knuckles on their first playthrough but then you actually play his story and find out that he's actually just a really naive character who's really protective about his island and shit.

It was incredibly simplistic and not at all elaborate, but there was something really charming about it.

 

[Strangelove77]

Off the top of my head-

Metal Gear Solid 2
The Last Of Us
Devil May Cry 4

 

[Slamtastic]

Sonic Adventure 1

 

[Napalm_Frank]

Warcraft 3. Greatest game of all time too!

I love how it has so many vastly different POVs and every single one of them ranges from good to great. You got heroes, villains and everything in between.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Does Killer7 count?

 

[Justinh]

Probably a little thin, but Eternal Darkness came to mind. They don't "meet up at the end," but they all play a part in a larger story.

Quantum Break.

FFIX does it a bit too. Zidane is always the main PoV but you'll get some big chunks where you see things from Garnets, Vivis or Steiners perspective.

Oh yeah! They were called something... what? Active Events I think?

 

[UberLevi]

I was going to make this exact thread earlier. Been wanting more games like Heavy Rain with various protagonists.

 

[SatoAilDarko]

Sonic Adventure 1

A surprisingly excellent example of this.

 

[Menitta]

Sonic Adventure 1

And 2, but 1 does it better with the rival fights.

 

[Widge]

Legacy Of Kain: Defiance

 

[A.Romero]

I believe Yakuza 4 does this but I haven't played long enough to see for myself (the games are too dense )

FFIX does it a bit too. Zidane is always the main PoV but you'll get some big chunks where you see things from Garnets, Vivis or Steiners perspective.

Yakuza 4 does this well, in my opinion.

Other options:

Until Dawn
Resident Evil 6
GTAV

 

[5taquitos]

Not to get too off-topic, but you should know OP that Cloud Atlas was a book first (David Mitchell), and was much better than the film.

 

[Rob2K19]

Azure Striker Gunvolt 2

 

[Mr Waluigi]

Sonic Adventure 1 is a surprisingly great example

Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes and Sonic 2006 all tried to do the same thing but Sonic Adventure 1 was ridiculously great at it - 6 stories that are interwining to some degree, each with their own gameplay and themes, all coming together for one grand storyline that finds its climax in the 7th final story

Paper Mario 2 is also a sweet example - you play as Mario for most of the game, but after each chapter you get an intermission in which you play as Peach then as Bowser, showing their sides of the story (with Peach being focused on developing the main story and Bowser being focused on humor and developer commentary). And Luigi has his own story too, although it is completely optional and only seen through his own retelling of it.

 

[LiQuid!]

Dreamfall and Dreamfall Chapters (combined with their successor, The Longest Journey, which is about only one very important character), my single favorite setting and narrative in all of video games.

 

[NoKisum]

Technically, Grand Theft Auto V.
Senran Kagura: Shinovi Versus
The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile

 

[Codeblue]

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn switches perspectives pretty regularly, and often to the point where you'll fight against the characters you were just playing as. It does a really great job at bringing out the political and personal grey areas of the conflict.

 

[Bronetta]

Tales from the Borderlands is a recent game to do this and set up a lot of great scenarios especially when the main characters are talking about or with each other.

 

[Puck Beaverton]

Suikoden 3

Does the Trails of series count?

 

[tmtyf]

eternal darkness?

*edit*

whoop just read through op again, doesnt really fit the bill. gotta think a bit about this one.

 

[Fandangox]

A surprisingly excellent example of this.

Yeah this is the one that came to mind lol. All 6 playable characters meet each other through the story mode, and you pretty much go and learn how character ended up getting there by playing their story.

I guess in a way, Dynasty and Samurai warriors do this too.

 

[Syril]

Suikoden III did it really well by using it to show the main conflict from different perspectives and to have multiple plotlines happening simultaneously.

 

[Aters]

You might wanna check out Odin Sphere Leithrasir if you haven't already. The overall story is told through the points of view from the five protagonists.

First lost nailed it.

 

[mdzapeer]

Like everything else with with the series...

Suikoden 3 did it the best. It really put you into the shoes of the different characters and their motivations. Not only that it added a secret POV at the end as well.

None of the examples mentioned even come close.

Come to think of it Resident Evil does it quite well too, granted the story is not good.

 

[Wikzo]

Thanks for the good examples. Keep them coming!

I totally forgot about Yakuza 4. It was quite nice (but a bit too long in my opinion).

Not to get too off-topic, but you should know OP that Cloud Atlas was a book first (David Mitchell), and was much better than the film.

Yeah, you're right. I watched the film first and then tried to read the book afterwards. For some reason, I stopped halfway (maybe because I was reading other books at the same time ...).

 

[ComputerBlue]

Game of Thrones RPG You play as two characters from separate parts of Westeros who's stories eventually cross.

Lego games have multiple POV's

Few chapters/missions in Assassin's Creed Revelations, AC3 and Red Dead Redemption, work ya damn nag.

 

[MetalSlug]

Sonic Adventure 1 is a good example of this.

 

[terach]

Live-A-Live had you playing as 7 characters from different time periods.

 

[Sciz]

It's split across multiple products, but I'm surprised no one's mentioned Half-Life yet. The base game gives you Gordon Freeman's adventure, but then Opposing Force covers the same events from the perspective of the military guys that Freeman was slaughtering, and Blue Shift gives you another POV as a simple security guard.

 

[Sethista]

dont know if spoilers, but...

Spoiler

Her Story

 

[ScherzoPrime]

Actually, Call of Duty did this up until Advanced Warfare.

 

[Shizza]

It's not a really deep story, but F-Zero GP Legends does this as well. You can complete the story mode as each of the 8 characters, and experience it from their point of view.

 

[Bakkus]

Wild Arms 2 or 3 on PS2 had this.

 

[JayEH]

RE1,2,4(kinda),6.

 

[Mediking]

TALES OF THE ABYSS

 

[LurkerPrime]

Wadjet Eye adventure games:

• The Blackwell pentalogy
• Resonance
• Gemini Rue
• Technobabylon

all feature multiple playable protagonists and some great stories. Highly recommended.

 

[Portalbox]

Resident Evil 4 when playing as Ada kinda counts.

 

[Kalentan]

Most Call of Duty games have multiple player characters.

This is true but it's interesting because they've really been stepping away from that in recent games.

AW, BO3, and IW all have 1 playable character.

 

[Mashing]

You don't see that a lot in gaming, you're right. I guess they want you more invested in the main protagonist or something?

 

[ant_]

Call of Juarez games.

 

[Corpekata]

Tales from the Borderlands is great about it, especially when you get to see what one character thinks of another's actions and behavior.

 

[random25]

Breath of Fire 4. Story is told from 2 different persons' perspectives.