Social Link Go!

Hello all! Blue Ranger Kisa here to talk about a particular game mechanic that I, personally, thoroughly enjoy and can see much possibility in. Being someone who plays a lot of RPG video games and visual novel type games, I’m a huge geek for character depth, design, and development (try saying that ten times fast), so any opportunity to learn about the characters in the game is a good opportunity. The Shin Megami Tensei: Persona series, particularly 3 and 4, introduces the concept of Social Links, allowing the player to choose how much they can learn about certain characters and gauging the strength of those bonds.


Being behind the times as I am (it makes the games cheaper ;o), I’ve been playing a lot of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable, and the Social Links part of the game is absolutely amazing to me. Being able to hang out with these characters that would otherwise just be random NPCs or party members is amazing. You actually start to care about some of these people who you’d otherwise overlook or avoid, judging based solely on their character art. It compels you to seek out these characters and interact with them. It makes the RPG more immersive, not to mention leveling up these relationships gives you bonuses when creating monsters for battle. So why not include such an interesting mechanic in other types of games?

From what I’ve seen, and this is just a personal observation/hypothesis/opinion, those who play RPGs tend to not be fond of FPS games because of a lack of depth of story, and those who are avid FPS players tend to not like RPGs because it’s a lot of reading or not enough killing or something. Again, TOTALLY A PERSONAL OPINION. So, why not include social links in an FPS to add some story depth in the way of characters? By interacting with certain team members or completing certain objectives in missions, you could unlock extra cut scenes and additional interaction moments with corresponding team mates. It seems like a simple way that could not only make a game more interesting, but could also help broaden a game’s audience and bridge the gap between genres. There could also be bonuses for such interactions, like characters you know really well will look out for you more on the battlefield or getting some insight on some story elements, maybe even convincing some characters not to betray you at some point they might have had they not known you as well. By making the characters real, it makes it more interesting for those who love the story based games. These things could also be completely optional for those who just want to kill things.

I’m sure all of this sounds rather biased, and it kinda is because I don’t play shooters. I jump constantly while playing Bioshock on the easiest setting. However, I believe that compromise can be made in games to make everyone get along and enjoy the same game, even if it’s not for the same game qualities. I also believe good game mechanics should be recognized, embraced and allowed to flourish. So maybe someday, we’ll be playing a shooter where everybody knows your name. This has been Blue Ranger Kisa, let me know your opinions on Social Links, or if I’ve totally screwed up somewhere.