3D video games are usually known for being played from a first person view or a third person view. Either you interact with the world from the eyes of your playable character or you watch your playable character from an outside camera, which can be still or locked to your character or even controllable.
The Zelda series even uses both methods, where you normally play in third person, but you can also switch into first person view to look around or aim with certain items, like the Hookshot or the Bow. In the Metroid Prime games it's actually the other way around, where you normally play in a first person perspective from Samus' eyes, but go into third person for certain actions, like the Morphball.
But what if I told you that there are instances where both Zelda and Metroid are offering a 2nd person view? And what's even a 2nd person view?
The different perspectives in video games stem from writing, where there can be three different point of views for the narrative:
In 1st person the story is directly told by the main character or one of the characters in the story, while a 3rd person narrative is talking about all the characters from an outside perspective. But in second person view, which is quite rare, you're basically told by someone else what you're doing...
If we translate this to video games, you would view your playable character from the eyes of someone else. So, a second person view still is like a first person view, just that you're not playing as that person. And after watching a video about the 2nd person view in Driver: San Francisco, I had this little epiphany about how Zelda was using this unique perspective in a very memorable moment:
It's the boss fight against Crayk in The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. In this fight the boss turns invisible, but the second screen lets you watch the action from the perspective of the boss — which is a 2nd person view. You still aim with your bow on the lower screen, but you have to do it in a way that you're pointing directly at Crayk's face on the top screen.
It was truly an out of body experience and is one of the examples where Phantom Hourglass tried some really unique things within the series. The game isn't exactly a fan favorite, but you have to give credit where credit is due.
Of course this use of a 2nd person view is more or less only suitable for gimmicks, like this particular boss fight, so it's probably not something where you would design an entire Zelda game around it. But it's still interesting to see that it can lead to some crazy interactions and maybe this can be used for something more extensive in a future Zelda title.
So, what about Metroid? This is actually a simple one, because basically all classic first person shooters on consoles with a split-screen multiplayer, like for example GoldenEye 007 or Turok 2: The Seeds of Evil on the Nintendo 64, offer multiple 2nd person perspectives. Everyone's screen is a second person view except for your own and you can even use this to spot yourself in the action.
The Metroid series had this with Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, which came with a very traditional multiplayer mode:
In the above screenshot you can see how the two players on the lower screens are watching each other, probably in the middle of a fight. And this is where the 2nd person view comes into play. Part of the fun of these old couch-multiplayer shooters was basically cheating by looking at what your enemy is doing and where he's going.
It's a shame that there wasn't anything like it afterwards, but maybe Metroid Prime 4 will offer an interesting multiplayer mode as well, maybe even something that uses split-screen.
The Zelda series even uses both methods, where you normally play in third person, but you can also switch into first person view to look around or aim with certain items, like the Hookshot or the Bow. In the Metroid Prime games it's actually the other way around, where you normally play in a first person perspective from Samus' eyes, but go into third person for certain actions, like the Morphball.
But what if I told you that there are instances where both Zelda and Metroid are offering a 2nd person view? And what's even a 2nd person view?
The different perspectives in video games stem from writing, where there can be three different point of views for the narrative:
- 1st person: "I'm a hero."
- 2nd person: "You are a hero."
- 3rd person: "Link is a hero."
In 1st person the story is directly told by the main character or one of the characters in the story, while a 3rd person narrative is talking about all the characters from an outside perspective. But in second person view, which is quite rare, you're basically told by someone else what you're doing...
If we translate this to video games, you would view your playable character from the eyes of someone else. So, a second person view still is like a first person view, just that you're not playing as that person. And after watching a video about the 2nd person view in Driver: San Francisco, I had this little epiphany about how Zelda was using this unique perspective in a very memorable moment:
It's the boss fight against Crayk in The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. In this fight the boss turns invisible, but the second screen lets you watch the action from the perspective of the boss — which is a 2nd person view. You still aim with your bow on the lower screen, but you have to do it in a way that you're pointing directly at Crayk's face on the top screen.
It was truly an out of body experience and is one of the examples where Phantom Hourglass tried some really unique things within the series. The game isn't exactly a fan favorite, but you have to give credit where credit is due.
Of course this use of a 2nd person view is more or less only suitable for gimmicks, like this particular boss fight, so it's probably not something where you would design an entire Zelda game around it. But it's still interesting to see that it can lead to some crazy interactions and maybe this can be used for something more extensive in a future Zelda title.
So, what about Metroid? This is actually a simple one, because basically all classic first person shooters on consoles with a split-screen multiplayer, like for example GoldenEye 007 or Turok 2: The Seeds of Evil on the Nintendo 64, offer multiple 2nd person perspectives. Everyone's screen is a second person view except for your own and you can even use this to spot yourself in the action.
The Metroid series had this with Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, which came with a very traditional multiplayer mode:
In the above screenshot you can see how the two players on the lower screens are watching each other, probably in the middle of a fight. And this is where the 2nd person view comes into play. Part of the fun of these old couch-multiplayer shooters was basically cheating by looking at what your enemy is doing and where he's going.
It's a shame that there wasn't anything like it afterwards, but maybe Metroid Prime 4 will offer an interesting multiplayer mode as well, maybe even something that uses split-screen.
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