EDU 6319: How People Learn | Case Study
Interviews with Rob
Since I live with Rob and he is my partner, I hear a lot about this game all of the time. Generally speaking, whenever he is playing the game, I am usually in the room so I see how he plays and hear a lot of his thought process. I've included notes from conversations with him throughout this game below.
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Note: both of these interviews occurred before the recorded observation portion of this case study.
Pre-Game Interview
Ahead of the game's release, Rob was so excited about this game (as was I) that it was a frequent topic of conversation. I took that opportunity to ask Rob a few targeted questions ahed of trying to learn how to play the new game.
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Since he holds this series near and dear to his heart and he has prior experience with other games, I asked about how prepared he feels to begin playing this game and if he feels that playing other Zelda games will give him an advantage. He immediately answered with a resounding "Oh, absolutely!" He explained how most Zelda games follow similar structures and patterns: things are typically done in threes, the various temple or dungeon levels of the game are usually tied to the elements (earth, wind, fire, water, etc.), various weapons and mechanics are consistent throughout the series, and the game builds upon itself as the player continues the story. The last item was of the most interest to me, so I encouraged him to delve further. He described how after completing each dungeon or temple–a level that is self contained in the game and usually tied to an elemental theme–and getting a new ability in Zelda games, new areas or quests encourage the player to combine their abilities and knowledge together. Boss battles, the toughest enemies that usually guard the best rewards, often reference each other. The final boss battle of the game usually has callbacks to each of the earlier fights. Puzzle design was also something he noted as being similar across the game series. There are visual markers that carry over from game to game that might indicate the easiest way to best an enemy or how to unlock the treasure chest.
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Apart from mechanics, I was also interested in how the story might affect how he learns or reacts to this game. Unlike many Zelda games, this is a direct sequel. This means that the character the player controls, Link, is the same as in the game prior (Breath of the Wild); in other games, you typically play as one of the many reincarnations of Link. Presumably, at the end of the previous game, the player had earned many abilities and increased Link's stamina and health in order to win. This meant that Nintendo needed a way to explain why the player starts from the ground up all over again. Rob had some concerns about the execution of this. "If we start from zero just for the sake of a new game, that's not very interesting and will feel really forced." In other game series where this has happened, Rob described feeling a bit annoyed and less motivated to play.
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The story is also what pushes the game forward and drives interest to complete the game. Something that both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom share is its open world design. Other Zelda games are incredibly linear and rely on the single story to create interest for the player. Information is given to the player in a specified order, and the only variation can be found in how a player chooses to solve the puzzle. Breath of the Wild was a complete game changer–players were now learning information related to the game's story in many different orders. A large part of the appeal to both games is that something new was always around the corner. He enjoyed the way he learned information in Breath of the Wild; learning things in no particular order meant that he could choose what he wanted to focus on and when and allowed him the freedom to simply explore the game. He expected things to be similar in Tears of the Kingdom; furthermore, part of the intrigue that Rob expects in the sequel is trying to piece together these out of order snippets of information to find out what it all means. "The story itself seems to be like a puzzle, and once I start one, I am sure all I will want to do is finish it."
Mid-Game Interview
After Rob had established around 25-30 hours of gameplay, I asked him a few follow up questions regarding how he feels the game is going so far.
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Referencing the question I had asked previously: did previous games help prepare him for this new game? His response was a bit lukewarm. He acknowledged that yes, he had an idea of what to look out for–where treasure might be hidden or direct callbacks to quests from the previous game–but the tools and abilities in this game were so different from the previous that it was a bit overwhelming. He did acknowledge that there was a tie between some of the new powers and abilities with the older ones–specifically "Magnesis" from Breath of the Wild and "Ultra-Hand" from Tears of the Kingdom, both of which allow the player to manipulate and move objects in the world around them. But "Ultra-Hand" has an additional aspect that he is having difficulty with: it allows the player to not only move things, but to stick things together to build vehicles and structures. He said he doesn't feel "that creative yet" and is struggling to see how he can build some of the things he has seen other friends put together. There aren't any blueprints for him to reference so he is completely left on his own.**
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Rob was prepared for the "tutorial" section of this game. Much like Breath of the Wild, the "tutorial" portion of the game is restricted to one area and introduces most of the new abilities one by one with guided instructions on how to start experimenting with each new ability. When I asked if the tutorial was sufficient, he took a deep breath and there was a long pause. A very long pause. His answer, when he finally gave it, was a clear and concise "no." Much of the parts that can be acquired to construct machines with "Ultra-Hand" are scattered around Hyrule outside of the tutorial area. He is still doing learning that he would have preferred from the tutorial with the introduction of the ability rather than spread out around the game. Because the map is so massive, to not have access to all of the parts that he is looking for to build structures and materials is frustrating to him.**
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Besides his frustrations, I asked if there was anything that stands out as an improvement from one game to another. His previous concern about Nintendo finding a shortcut to explain why such a powerful character starts all the way from zero at the beginning of Tears of the Kingdom was successfully averted. In this game, Ganondorf returns and immediately strips linkof his powers and damages his arm. A spirit from a world long past repairs Link's arm by giving him his old one–which unlocks all of these magical powers. He had an additional concern that he had not shared with my previously about this game feeling like "Breath of the Wild 2.0" or "the same game plus extra stuff." To his relief, with the new abilities, expansion of the map, and the explanation of some of the previous game's mysteries, "It still feels different. It feels fresh."
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Rob has also particularly enjoyed the expansion of the map into "The Depths" and "The Sky Islands." The introduction of a new ability, "Ascend," gives him peace of mind to freely explore. "Ascend" allows players to find a flat ceiling and use ancient magic to go straight through that surface to its top. In an area like "The Depths" where there are never ending cave systems, using "Ascend" to get out of a tight spot means there is always an exit strategy. "I feel like I can explore without worrying about getting stuck–which is something that would have prevented me from exploring and really enjoying it in the first place." In the case of "The Sky Islands," they present a great way to explore the map: by gliding through the sky from one place to another. "Also, it's really fun to just jump right off them."
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He did explain two other improvements that he noticed from Breath of the Wild to Tears of the Kingdom. In both games, as Link is falling from the sky, drawing the bow causes time to slow, giving the player the opportunity to line up some nicely timed and aimed shots at enemies; however, there is a catch. Doing so consumes Link's stamina. If you are falling from a great height and run out of stamina, you can't hold your paraglider which would save Link from plummeting to the ground. In the first game, simply holding your bow would consume stamina. In this game, stamina is only consumed when a shot is actually fired. This makes it easier for players to get a better understanding of their surroundings while in this "stopped time." Rob was also pleased with the "Fuse" ability which allows you to enhance weapons by attaching different materials. In the example he gave specifically, he enjoys attaching different things to arrows to get different effects: attaching monster eyes to the arrow means it will always hit its mark, attaching frozen objects means arrows will freeze their targets temporarily, etc.
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Lastly, regarding the story, he doesn't seem all that interested in it. "I dunno. Zelda doesn't really seem like she needs saving right now, and if that's what my goal is, why would I do it?" In Breath of the Wild, there were four major dungeons that had clear goals and implications to help Link fight the BBEG. Right now, he doesn't feel like the quests he has address the bigger issue of Ganondorf returning or of Zelda being missing.
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Even still, I asked him if he was enjoying the game. There was no hesitation: "Yes."
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**Regarding the ability to use "Ultra-Hand" to build things, not having blueprints, and not having all the materials: about two hours of gameplay after this interview, Rob unlocked a new ability called "Auto-Build" which has blueprints for creations he has made previously, allows players to find blueprints around Hyrule, and gives the player the option to purchase materials they don't have to complete these machines. "It's like they heard me complaining, or something!"
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