Influencing Emotions Task: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

•

By Siti Nur Musyirah Jini and Nurkhalish Faizah Mansor

Task Description:

In a group of 2, we were to select a PS4 game which both of us have never played before and take turns playing it. Then, researching further the two models; Yerkes-Dodson Law & Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow Model and explain through their use on how the game we have selected has successfully helped to increase our performance and whether it was able to create a state of flow and to what extent did it damage our performance.

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

The game we selected:

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

Genre: Survival Horror

Mode: Single Player

Developer: Capcom

Released: January 24, 2017 (Worldwide) & January 26, 2017 (Japan)

Synopsis:

The game that we decided on was Resident Evil 7: Biohazard for the PlayStation. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is a survival horror game that was developed and published by Capcom back in early 2017.

Here is the progression of the storyline as we played: The character (Ethan Winters) arrived at a wooded area somewhere in Louisiana as per request of the Ethan’s wife, Mia, to save her. Upon arrival, he noticed an abandoned farmhouse and decides to explore it. As he explores, he finds clues that lead to the basement where his wife has been kept. Both tried to leave the house before of a series of events that lead him to be captured. Ethan must find a way to escape the house but along the way he must find key items, solve puzzles as well as defend himself from his captors and monsters. Tapes are littered in the game to progress the story.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gameplay:

For the game play, most objectives are players needing to find objects to progress the story. The journey into finding those objects are the challenging part. Some objects are obtained through puzzles and some objects are obtained while someone is coming after the player which the player needs to change their playing style to a stealthier style or a fighting style. Other than that, the Attacks and Defenses in the game are very similar to that of a normal first-person shooter game. The following are the gameplay and game mechanics that we encountered during the short duration of our play through.

Controls:

Walk: To walk, use the left stick in the PS4. To Run, press down on the left stick.

Look: To look around, use the right stick. To crouch and stand back up, press down on the right stick.

Aim: To aim, the player needs to hit the L2 Button in the PS4.

Interact: To interact with items, the items will have a floating arrow that is anchored to the interactable item. The player just needs to go up to it and press X.

Attack: To attack, the player needs to hit the R2 button. If the player has a melee equipped, the attack will be a melee attack. However, if there is a gun in hand, the attack will be a gun attack, which can consume ammo.

Quick Turn: It is when the player turns around very quickly but flicking down the left stick while pressing the circle button.

Quick slots: To change weapons, the player can quickly change with the directional buttons.

Guard: To guard, the player needs to hit the L1 button in the PS4. It will make the character move slower, but it will reduce the damage taken by 1/4th of it.

Healing: To heal, the player needs to press down on the R1 button.

Map: To look at the map, press down on the touch pad.

Inventory: To check the inventory, press the triangle button. This shows every item that the player has picked up within their journey.

Reload: To reload, press the square button. This needs extra ammo in the inventory.

Cancel: To cancel an action, press the circle button.

Game Mechanics:

Opening doors: To open doors, the player doesn’t need to press down a button, the player can just straight to the door.

Examining items: There are certain objects within the game where the player can pick it up and examine it. Sometimes, there is another item within it that could be taken, or it is just an item that the player examines, yet could not take, which is placed purely for the advancement of the story.

Crafting: In the game, the player can craft items that can aid the players. During first few hours, the player was giving the ability to craft First Aid Med (consumable) and ammo.

Loading Screens: There are loading screens that pops up after the players dies and must restart. In these loading screens are helpful hints to defeat the challenge the player faced. Other than that, it also displays a continuation to the story where the player had left off.

VHS Tapes: VHS Tapes are littered throughout the game so that the player can pick up and play it in a tape player. When the tape is playing the footage fills up the screen and the player is now controlling the camera person of that tape. The game play is like the overall gam eplay, its just now with a different character in a different time. The tape may show clues or hints to how to progress in the game once the tape ends. For example: The first tape that the player finds shows that there was a hidden pulley in the fireplace which opens to a secret underground area.

Damage Effects: Red stains will be on screen as an indicator that the player is damaged. It increases in stains as more damage is taken. Once you are healed, the stains will fade away.

Genome Codex: In the game, there is a watch which is Genome Codex which displays the changing of the player’s health.

Saving: There are cassette tape players littered around the game which the player can use to save their game.

Shadow Puzzle: Within the game there are multiple shadow puzzles which involves turning the object around with the right and left stick so that the shadows will align or reveal a shadow that can unlock or give a clue for the progression of the story.

The following pictures are some of the game play's samples.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Characters:

The main characters were designed resembling the looks of real humans such as having normal arms and legs, head, face and clothes. It even applies to their movements like walking by their feet. Resident Evil is popular for their monstrous creatures such as zombies and nemesis, but here although there are no zombies, the monstrous features were still adapted.

The following are the characters we encountered as far as we played the game.

Ethan Winters

He is the protagonist of the game. An ordinary man who travels to Dulvey, Louisiana taking him to the "Dulvey Haunted House" formerly owned by the Baker family in search of his wife Mia, who has been missing for three years and was thought dead.

Mia Winters

Mia is Ethan's wife who has been missing for three years. Her hair is black and long.

Pictured left (Ethan Winters) and pictured right (Mia Winters)

These three following characters are from a team of amateur paranormal investigators who create online videos of themselves exploring haunted houses. They are the Sewer Gators and were the Bakers' most recent victims before Ethan arrived. Their story was told on the first video tap we found whilst exploring the game.

Peter Walken

The host and the boss of Sewer Gators.

Andre Stickland

The Sewer Gators' producer and Peter's best friend.

Clancy Jarvis

He is the new cameraman for the Sewer Gators.

Pictured below from the left (Peter Walken, Andre Stickland and Clancy Jarvis)

The Baker Family

They are the main antagonists in the game. This family is of recluses. The father, Jack Baker. The mother, Marguerite. The son, Lucas. The grandmother. The daughter, Zoe. They are very aggressive and dangerous to approach which totally explains the antagonist nature.

Pictured below (The Baker Family - incomplete)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Theme:

The theme of the game is horror despite being different from the other Resident Evil's games. Suggested by the title of the game; Biohazard, it hints the incorporation of biological fears of infection and contamination.

Environment: The environment is dark creating a frightening atmosphere. The environment is also designed in a way where threats of intimate violence can be felt and navigation throughout the movable space is causing anxiety. Also, the environment is somewhat a dilapidated mansion which actually have residents whom are evil. The graphics of the environment is considered detail and portrays the realism.

Colour Grading: In term of the colour grading, the game is not colourful which makes sense, since horror games are rarely colourful. The game is as if it is coated with orange filter and it is also dark and eerie looking. Then, the blacks in the game are vast to emphasize the darkness and create shadows for dramatic feel. Also, it is less saturated making it appear best for black and white sort of old films.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Audio:

The audio of the game is very similar to that of a lot of other games within the same horror genre. In fact, Resident Evil 7 was praised for the sound engineering of the audio. There is no pure silence in the game. The game adds ambient sounds according to the location of the scene.

In the beginning of the game, the character is in the forest and the ambient sounds such as the sound of cicadas echoing throughout the forest or the wind. The steps of the character are also considered where it produces different sounds when stepping in dry land, wet land and a puddle. The sound also changed when the player was inside the house which has its own set of ambient noises. The game also adds sounds when the player picks up a paper, a page flip sound played.

What makes it more engaging as a horror game is that it also plays sounds that the player doesn’t know the source. Plenty of times where we played the game, we hear sounds, almost nearby, but when we looked around nothing was moving. This kept us on edge. Other than that, there is a lack of background music. The only other sound that is not part of the setting is the suspenseful sounds which are usually played in tense moments before playing eerie sound especially when face to face with the monsters.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Yerkes-Dodson Law

The Yerkes-Dodson Law was first introduced by psychologists; Robert Yerkes and John Dillingham Dodson. They proved that there is a relationship between performance and arousal based on an experiment they conducted. In an experiment they conducted, they found that mild electrical shocks could be used to motivate rats to complete a maze. However, when the electrical shocks became too strong, the rats would scurry around in random directions to escape. Due to that, they described that increased arousal and increasing stress can help improve performance, but only up to a particular point. The performance start to diminish when arousal becomes excessive.

An example is before an exam, when we become nervous and gets stressed, we tend to focus on the exam paper better and could remember the information we studied. However, this only lasts until an optimal level of stress is reached. Moreover, getting too nervous can impair our ability to focus and hard to remember the information we studied.

The Yerkes-Dodson Law can be described using the graph illustrated below considering that each individual has their own optimal point.

Increasing arousal = Increased performance

Too high arousal = Decreased performance

Also note that the curve may vary according to the complexity and familiarity of the task since different tasks require different levels of arousal for optimal performance.

The Yerkes-Dodson Law

Our Game Experience According to the Yerkes-Dodson Law

How did the game affect our performance?

***We played the game for around 2 hours and 30 minutes, where we started from the very starting point of the game and stopped after the end of “Mia” Videotape. Hence, we are explaining our experience based on where we started until the part we stopped at.

Playing the game in the very beginning, the level of our arousal was low. This is due to it was only the start of the game and still introducing everything. As it is still an introduction, there was a tutorial purposely made for us to understand the game mechanics and to explore the environment. With the mode being selected was Easy, there was no or only little nervousness.

As the game went further, it got tougher. The game also had us few jump scares. This increased our arousal level because we got anxious and caused fear, making us eager to find the solution. Honestly, we were clueless that time during the part of finding the items for things to works such as finding the cutter to open the wardrobe. But as we learned and thought carefully, our arousal was getting stimulated to increase, we then reached that optimal point where we could easily find the items to make things work. This was when our performance soared.

But then, we were dead twice when facing Mia (the scene after getting the fuse). It had us shocked. Mia appeared so sudden. So, it was surprising and unexpected. Failure to defeat Mia twice might be due to the high level of intensity and high stress it caused passing the optimum point of our arousal level.

As per told, we took turns in playing the game. Thus, we were able to take rest in between the interval of us taking the turn. For example, when Musyi played the game, Khalish assisted but still considered as taking a break from playing the game. This allowed us to calm down which also made our arousal and stress level to drop to normal state. Thus, resetting our performance back to the start. We could think and find the solutions to the 'missions' easier as our arousal level started to rise back. Then, fighting Jack Baker in the locked garage was easier as we knew we reached the optimal level of arousal again. However, this could also be related with other factors such as how we leveled up in term of familiarising the game mechanics, the flow of the game and so on. Doing things repetitively can increase our confidence. It could maybe drag the optimal point somewhere down a bit and hence faster to achieve when our arousal level went back to normal.

Then again, when came the hide and seek 'mission' where Mia needed to hide Marguerite, we failed for three times as we felt the tension. Surely, it was also due to us passing the optimal level where our performance dropped. But then, we tried for each time we failed and gained experience to that mission. Thus, our tension got less, so we started to feel relax and optimistic we could get over the mission. At last, yes we managed to complete the 'mission'. Our arousal level must have reached the optimal point which led to the completion.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow Model

Csikszentmihalyi’s flow model is a model that depicts the relation between the emotions people get when facing different levels of challenges with different levels of skills. Flow is a psychological state where people are engaged in activity that is suitably challenging for their current skill level. They are so engaged in the activity that nothing else seems to matter. Dr. Csikszentmihalyi believes the state of flow is when people at their happiest.

To achieve the state of flow, there are multiple conditions to be met. Some of the conditions are as follows:

- The activity must be challenging but suitable for out skill level.

- The task must be active and engaging.

- The objectives of the task should be clear and able to achieve.

- Motivation to do the activity must be intrinsic.

Once the person enters the flow. The following characteristics starts to appear:

- Focused Attentions towards the activity.

- Merging of action and awareness.

- Loss of awareness of oneself.

- Is in control of their actions.

- Loss track of time.

- Is beneficial to oneself.

The Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow Model

Another model of the same theory by Dr. Csikszentmihalyi where it shows the different emotions people will get when they reach that point.

Apathy (Low Skill Level – Low Challenge Level)

- There is a lack of interest.

Worry (Low Skill Level – Low Challenge Level)

- Where undesirable feelings start to appear. Possibilities of solutions are getting smaller.

Anxiety (Low Skill Level – High Challenge Level)

- Where undesirable negative feelings are at its highest. Creative solutions are hard to produce.

Boredom (Medium Skill Level – Low Challenge Level)

- The task becomes very unexciting. Player seeks for more stimulation.

Arousal (Medium Skill Level – High Challenge Level)

- The person becomes more responsive with the increase in arousal.

Relaxation (High Skill Level – Low Challenge Level)

- The person is calm and relaxed. No high stimulation.

Control (High Skill Level – Medium Challenge Level)

- Practice to achieve higher skill level.

Flow (High Skill Level – High Challenge Level)

-Complete focus on the task.

Another Model of Csikszentmihalyi's Flow

Our Game Experience According to the Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow Model

Was the game able to create a state of flow?

Learning from what we learnt about the Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow theory, let’s add it to the Resident Evil 7: Biohazard gameplay.

Most of the beginning of the game are walking around and interacting with objects which made us feel relaxed. This is due to both of us have played games before and we know the basic knowledge of how games work. As the tutorial starts to show us the controls, our skill gradually increased and with that the game becomes gradually challenging which is very reminiscent to the Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow model.

However there are some parts of the game where we were worried, Musyi had troubles in terms of other controls of the game such as looking around which she is not used to as her skills are more for third-person games and not a first-person game like Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. However, she is quick to adapt and get used to the controls.

The other basic control that we were worried as we had troubles getting used to it is the Run controls. While we played games that consists of the characters running, the reason we weren’t used to the run control in this game specifically is because the run is quite slow. This worry heightens into anxiety as another challenge is added which is when the monsters were coming after the player and the player has to outrun them or getting enough distance to shoot them.

The other basic control that we were worried about is the quick turn, Khalish had troubles with the combination of the left stick and the o button. Where it was a fickle to do the combination as she rarely played games with stick and button combination. After a while, she decides not to use that feature in the game.

The objectives in the game is hidden away in the pause screen. While we think there were tips that mentioned the objectives where n the pause screen, we missed that tip. Which is why, the beginning of the game, we were blindly following the story, often questioning “What do we do next?” “Where do we go?” breaking our flow. We proceed to guess the objectives using our previous knowledge about games.

When the first fight of the game started, between the player and Mia, the player was finally given the option to attack (the controls just popped up) as the fight had started. So, there were little time to react and defend which caused our first death in the game. As the loading screen appears, we were given tips on how to defend. Which using that knowledge, we were able to surpass that point and our skills increased. Something similar happened when the game introduced the gun and ammo which given too little time to get used to the control. However, due to experience with first person shooters, we adapted quickly.

Overall, the beginning of the game has a good flow, especially for experienced gamers. As we played the game, we achieved flow however there are points within the game where the flow breaks before we were able to get back into it. People who don’t play first person shooters might find the game too difficult and will be hard to adapt.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Conclusion

After understanding further both of the theories; Yerkes-Dodson Law & Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow Model, we realised that the theories are indeed true and can be applied to when we play a game including a console game such as PS4. All this time, it makes sense how our normal encounters and tasks can be made related to the theories. Too, by researching and understanding both of the theories and then applying them to our experience in playing a PS4 game, it definitely helped us in term of how to interpret the theories to any task.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------