Angels and Demigods (Virtual Novel Game)

Angels and Demigods is a visual novel game that allows the player to interact with the in-game characters by selecting dialogue choices which alter the paths of the game’s storyline. The player views the setting in first person, enabling players to play as the protagonist who prompts interaction with the characters and environment to progress further in the game.

The game’s plot begins with an opening to a scene of the solar system with a female narrator giving an introduction of the setting of the game to the player. The female narrator goes on to explain that humanity in the distant future has fallen into a great war with each other. This induced humanity to create genetically modified soldiers called “angels” to fight for them. The narrator reveals that she is one of the angels, and then the scene cuts to an image of a blue, circular surface.

This time a male narrator can be heard, explaining that he had been put into deep sleep and that he was about to be “born” the second time. The voiceover details the experience of him being put into sleep, and how he could feel that his mind is

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telling him to break free through the light. As this was being told to the player, the scene shows two arms reach out towards the circular surface and rips an opening while another female voice can be heard saying “Angel, are you awake?” (See figure 3).

Figure 3. The protagonist breaking through his cell

The scene then changes to an enclosed room where people can be seen facing the player. As the player, you can now navigate using the red pointer to position towards the characters and a dialogue would forgo between the character and the player. The protagonist would be prompted to comment on the particular component which gives the player information and clues to understand the game better. It is then revealed that the player is playing as the male narrator, the protagonist of this game, and that he is an angel created in a facility called the Chapel. One of the characters, who is a doctor, explains to the player that he has been intentionally awakened to

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assist the facility with a mission (See figure 4). One of the angels, Ashley, has woken up abruptly and fled the facility, and the player has been bequeathed the mission to bring her back.

Figure 4. Protagonist at the facility talking with the NPC

During this segment, the player would be given two choice responses during the conversation, where the selected response would trigger a reply from the doctor.

The information given by the doctor would be dependent on the response the player selects. Regardless of which response is chosen, the game would still progress into the next scene where the player meets the fugitive, Ashley (See figure 6).

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Figure 5. Background scene of the angel’s cell outside

This section is the core mission of the game, where the player holds a conversation with Ashley in a research lab to persuade her to go back to the facility.

The player would have multiple opportunities to select what they believe is the best response in the dialogue with Ashley. This exchange would also reveal much information and background to each of the character’s intention and stance towards the facility. This portion of the game would lead the player to mainly two different scenarios depending on the chosen responses during the conversation. The first scenario would contribute to the player failing the game and dying, as Ashely refuses to return to the facility with the protagonist.

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Figure 6. Meeting Ashley and choosing a response in interacting with her

The multiple scenarios of the player dying would range from being killed by Ashley due to a disagreement or Ashley destroying the laboratory. If the player reaches this scenario, the game would automatically bring the player back to original save point of the game where the player receives another chance to select a different response to continue the game.

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Figure 7. Ashley attacking the protagonist

The second scenario would be the desired outcome of completion of the game, where Ashley breaks out of the laboratory while the protagonist follows suit. The conversation would be held then in the sky, where the player and Ashley discuss how they would both run away from the facility and be free to live their lives. The screen would appear with the words “to be continued” which signals the end of the game.

The total runtime of the game is determined by the success rate of selecting the correct responses by the player, as well as accounting the time a player might hold off a conversation due to “exploring” their surroundings. For example, if one dies multiple times in the game, or if the player is thorough in observing the details and objects of the environment, the total time of completion would be longer than average.

Since the first half of the game is fixed in delivering the necessary information to the player, one’s choices in the selected responses do not lead to the undesired outcome of

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a player dying. Therefore, if we assume that the player is successful in choosing 100%

percent of the correct responses in the second half of the game, it would take roughly half an hour to complete the entire game.

Figure 8. Screen showing player that they failed

3.2.2.1 VR-supported Gaming Condition

Angels and Demigods is a Scifi VR visual novel game that is available on Steam and developed by 7 Keys Studios. Angels and Demigods can be downloaded on Steam

(https://store.steampowered.com/app/503160/Angels__Demigods__SciFi_VR_Visual _Novel) and the Oculus store website

(https://www.oculus.com/experiences/go/929409983853577/). The game supports most VR headsets in the market such as HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Gear VR and Oculus Go.

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Different from traditional visual novel games, Angels and Demigods uniquely creates an immersive environment where the player interacts with the in-game

characters by selecting dialogue choices which alter the paths of the game’s storyline.

During the gameplay, a red pointer can be seen in the middle of the screen and moves in any direction according to the position in which the player’s head motions to.

Captions can be seen along with the audio of the female voiceover. The player is also free to explore the room 360°, and upon viewing a certain object or non-player character (NPC)

Angels and Demigods combines visual novel gaming with the immersive VR components which gives the players an authentic perspective from playing as the protagonist. The ability to navigate through head motion in virtually any direction gives the user a feeling of presence which captivates their senses to the environment they are interacting with. The game also includes authentic dialogues recorded by native speakers of English, allowing users the ability to engage in the target language interaction.

In addition, the spatial audio in the game provides players the genuine experience of sensing the direction of a sound being played within the game. An example would be if an NPC was talking and the player’s head shifts away from the virtual character, the audio would decrease slightly in volume and the sound would only be heard in the ear of the player closest to the NPC. This simulates a realistic proximity effect which makes players feel like being in the same space as the virtual characters. This kind of simulated 3D environment has the potential to create an enhanced sense of realism, a greater sense of presence and greater level of

interactivity (Dalgarno and Lee, 2010). A stronger sense of presence in turn motivates and causes users to cognitively process information and induce learning. The

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aforementioned reasons are why the game Angels and Demigods is selected as it provides an interactive and immersive language learning platform, which offers comprehensible input and meaningful interaction.

3.2.2.2 PC-supported Gaming Condition

The PC version of Angels and Demigods is also freely available on Steam for download, while the content and storyline of this game remains identical to that of the VR-supported condition, features that were inherently created for the VR version cannot be experienced in the PC-supported condition. As the PC version would played on a computer/laptop screen, players would not be able to perceive the immersion and embodiment components that comes equipped in the VR version.

The players are still able to explore their surroundings, although the images on screen would not provide the same sense of realism found in the VR version. Much like the VR-supported condition, a red pointer can be seen in the middle of the screen along with captions when characters speak. However, the game operates using the mouse of the computer, where the left-click button enables players to select responses when interacting with the NPC while the right-click button grants the player to drag and navigate the environment.