As interesting as the “play as anyone” gimmick has been for Watch Dogs: Legion, the unfortunate byproduct of that system is the lack of a central protagonist to center the story on. Previous Watch Dogs games had central protagonists, and regardless of how successful they were from a design perspective, they at least contextualized the journey in a personable way. Watch Dogs: Legion‘s narrative is based around a revolution, so the “play as anyone” mechanic works serviceably well in that regard, but as a result the narrative doesn’t have as much impact.
Protagonists in the Watch Dogs series have never been the most compelling characters in the medium, ranging from bland at their worst to serviceably flawed at best. It’s become almost a trend between with each entry for Ubisoft to experiment with the protagonist’s design. When Aiden Pearce proved to bland in the first Watch Dogs game, Watch Dogs 2 introduced the charismatic Marcus Holloway. When Marcus Holloway’s character didn’t match up with the gameplay style, Watch Dogs: Legion made everyone playable.
From a systemic standpoint, the “play as anyone” character gimmick is quite impressive. Watch Dogs has had algorithm-based character creation before with profiling, but that’s largely just been a means for world-building and the “big brother” aspect of Watch Dogs‘ motifs. However, in Watch Dogs: Legion, the game takes profiling a step further and maps out characters’ daily schedules and other aspects to dive deeper into their personalities and make them seem real. That being said, while it’s an incredible step forward from a design perspective, it doesn’t necessarily make for the most interesting player perspective.
Without a focal point protagonist, there’s always going to be a sense of disconnection between the player and Watch Dogs: Legion‘s narrative. Obviously, the degree of suspension of disbelief will differ from player to player, and to some it may not even matter all that much. For those who are playing Watch Dogs: Legion for the game’s story, well it’ll be up to the players to decide if it’s truly a problem in the long run. That being said, Watch Dogs: Legion‘s systems are an interesting reaction to the criticisms of past game protagonists, but aren’t necessarily a fruitful change from a story perspective.
Even if Watch Dogs: Legion‘s characters feel disconnected from the main plot, the system does altogether avoid the issues that plagued the first two Watch Dogs games and their respective protagonists. Aidan Pearce was disliked largely because he was just a bland, cold-hearted killer who’s revenge backstory didn’t quite nail down the relatability necessary to empathize with him. Marcus Holloway’s character design and personality was a bit easier to connect to, but his issues stem more from ludonarrative dissonance rather than his personality.
Both characters have their respective problems, but they also represent two sides of the protagonist coin for Watch Dogs. Players have trouble connecting or relating to Aiden Pearce’s motivations and character arc, which in a way, doesn’t interfere with the boundless violence and destruction he’s capable of. For Marcus Holloway, it’s the opposite; Marcus’ personality seems to preach that of a light-hearted hacktivist working for the greater good, who simultaneously murders hundreds of people mercilessly and high-fives his friends after. Both games see-sawed between two different protagonist designs, and seemingly as a response, Watch Dogs: Legion attempts avoid both problems entirely.
Watch Dogs: Legion‘s character system, at the end of the day, is really up to interpretation. Players can creatively imagine their own pseudo-narrative around the characters they recruit, but that means any clashing with Watch Dogs: Legion‘s overarching story could break the immersion for players. However, it does entirely avoid both: the issues of ludonarrative dissonance in Watch Dogs 2, and problems with relatability to the player’s character in Watch Dogs. Watch Dogs: Legion certainly doesn’t “solve” the problem per se, rather it systematically changes the protagonist’s design to ignore those problems.
At the end of the day, that was never the sole purpose of the “play as anyone” mechanic, but at least did help get rid of an issue with previous Watch Dogs games. Assuming the system is received well-enough, it may become a staple for future Watch Dogs titles. The system as it plays out in Watch Dogs: Legion is impressive, and could be refined and improved even further in future games. The feeling of immersion evoked from every living character in Legion‘s London is a genuine marvel, and could become even more realistic in future versions. Perhaps more expansive character background could even mitigate the protagonist issues entirely.
Watch Dogs: Legion is available now on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series X versions forthcoming.
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