First person POV (18+)

Just interested to know, what would people think about an interactive fiction game written from a first person point of view? There’s a game idea I’ve been toying with for awhile that’s a kind of film noir style detective game with the main character narrating.

Here’s an example of what a paragraph might be like:

This city’s going to hell. Just three blocks I got to walk from my office to my apartment and on the way, I got one guy trying to peddle me the latest high on the market, three girls selling whatever diseases a lady picks up in that line of work, a group of kids trying to slip my wallet out my pocket and to top it off, I got to end my little midnight stroll by breaking the jaw of some asshole beating on his old lady right there in the middle of the street. Dumb broad didn’t even thank me. Went and patched up the guy that was smacking her around not five minutes before. She even threatened to call the cops on me and then the two of them went home together like nothing even happened. I need a goddamn smoke.

Then again, if the paragraph was written in the traditional second person POV, it would look more like this:

Your city’s going to hell. You only need to walk three blocks from your office to your apartment and on the way, one man tried to peddle you the latest high on the market, three girls approached you, selling whatever diseases a lady picks up in that line of work, a group of kids tried to slip your wallet out of your pocket and to top it off, you ended your little midnight stroll by breaking the jaw of some asshole that was beating his wife right there in the middle of the street. The woman didn’t even thank you. Instead, she went and patched up her husband that was smacking her around not five minutes before. She even threatened to call the cops on you and then the two of them went home together like nothing even happened. Now you really need a smoke.

What does everyone think? Would first person POV put you off reading a game or do you think it can work well in some cases?

  • I wouldn’t play a game written in first person.
  • I would play a game written in first person, but I think second person would be better.
  • I think this game would be better in first person.
  • I don’t think it matters either way.

0 voters

10 posts were merged into an existing topic: First Person vs. Second Person