Video Game Characters and Transmedia Storytelling: The Dynamic Game Character

This book explores the dynamic game character, which challenges top-down control strategies through close readings of popular media culture. It is for scholars interested in transmedia storytelling, video games, characters, and Japanese narratology.

Format: Hardback
Length: 208 pages
Publication date: 30 October 2023
Publisher: Amsterdam University Press

Characters play a crucial role in contemporary transmedia practices, drawing inspiration from theories of fictional characters from Japanese and Euro-American traditions. This book delves into the dynamic game character, a unique type of game character with a development structure that leads to multiple outcomes within a game. Through their actions and choices, players have the ability to shape the identities and destinies of these game characters. Games challenge the notion that fictional characters must maintain a consistent identity, as dynamic game characters subvert top-down control strategies. By conducting close readings of popular games such as Mass Effect, Persona 5, Hades, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, this book explores the ways in which dynamic game characters disrupt traditional storytelling paradigms. It is intended for scholars interested in transmedia storytelling, video games, characters, and Japanese narratology.

Weight: 460g
Dimension: 161 x 241 x 19 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9789463722957