Leveling up. Getting that new piece of powerful gear. Unlocking a new section of the map. Video games are a medium uniquely suited to a particular sort of satisfaction which, while seemingly very boring, is very adept at creating a time vacuum. Let’s look at some examples, my dudes…
As the title suggests, Destiny 2 and games of a similar ilk (Diablo, Borderlands, The Division, not Anthem etc.) are prime examples of this systemic absorption of your attention. And yet, it creates this gloriously addictive feedback loop in the simplest possible manner, with a number. The light level of the first game and the power level of the second essentially act as a summary of your dedication to acquiring dat juicy loot, be it weapons or armour pieces.
This not only facilitates build diversity but also the most important aspect of the series. Fashion. Let’s be real my gamer brethren, no one actually plays Destiny for the various stat bonuses and unique abilities that come with each piece of exotic armour, apart from fuckin’ nerds that is. But us Chad gamers spend hours tuning our look to be as cool and as ostentatious as is humanly possible. And for this, power level serves as a means of making your freshest garments feel even more exceptional.
Furthermore, legendary designer Koji Igarashi’s latest romp, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, offers this same kind of power fantasy, but it’s complemented by an exploration system that makes it feel both daunting and wholesomely rewarding to uncover every hidden passage and mark every key location you come across. The game is very good at prodding your squishy brain and making you want to continue your adventure by showing you its spider’s web of blue tiles, representing the gloriously interwoven map.
Further compounding this encouragement to push on is the subtle but effective inclusion of a percentage which tells you how much of the sprawling map you’ve charted. Well done Igarashi-san, you are a masterful game designer and you have earned a biscuit from me should we ever meet.
And finally, we come to a game which I have somehow never mentioned on this blog, Persona 5 (AKA objectively the greatest game ever made and you can fight me to the death if you think otherwise). The Persona series has always boasted some stylish ass UI, but P5 takes the cake in respect of showing you just how far you’ve come over your 100-hour journey. The little musical notes that drift and dance above characters with whom you’ve just shared a meaningful reaction, as well as the utterly ingenious star diagram that effectively conveys all of your social stats solidify P5 as a masterclass in how to deliver information to the player with style.
Moreover, in terms of statistics-based mechanics that incite an emotional reaction, there’s nothing quite like studying your little anime arse off in the run-up to exams, only to tip over into the next level of knowledge the day before it all kicks off and you’re met with questions covering the most obscure topics possible. Similarly, in the other half of the game, which sees the player scouring intricate dungeons looking for a scrap, the post-battle graphics pop and weave across the screen in perfect harmony with the God-tier soundtrack, making you feel as though you’ve become stronger, even if it’s just by an increment.
So yeah, numbers are nerdy for the most part, but they’re a vital component of video games, and it should be applauded when developers use them in just the right way, to get your dopamine flowing and your fingers itching for another hit of XP. That’s pretty much the only conclusion I can draw from this semi-coherent ramble, so thank you for reading if you’ve gotten this far. Hopefully next week, I will actually manage to get my post out on time.
The Wandering NPCs 