Whilst researching into the game What Remains of Edith Finch I felt an encompassing theme of loneliness at times, and wondered at how the sound design might have aided in creating such a feeling. While also considering the nature of our group’s game ‘Phonebooth’, in which the protagonist feels depressed and alone due to the nature of events that have unfolded in his life, I thought it would be useful to take a closer look at how to recreate what I felt whilst watching What Remains of Edith Finch.
After watching a couple videos and visiting forums and websites discussing loneliness in video games I made a lot of fascinating discoveries. When considering the way a train horn might sound in the distance at night and the way it cuts through the quiet darkness, one can begin to realise that it is not so much the actual silence that makes us feel alone, but the sounds that break it. Sounds that remind us of the space were in have a lot of power to illicit emotions of loneliness as this is how we experience it in reality. For example, wind and how it reacts with the things around us can be a tell tale sign of the size of the space were in. Furthermore, other sounds such as the ticking of a clock or the dripping of a tap both come into the forefront of our listening when in a quiet space. In a a public setting, such sounds would sink into the distance as we passively hear and subconsciously register them, as we are bombarded with many different kinds of noises. However when there are only a few sounds loud enough to hear they become a lot more memorable, igniting a sense of loneliness in whatever sense of the word is relevant to the given situation.
Moreover, sounds made by the character themselves can also illicit feeling of loneliness. One example would be footsteps. When paired with relative silence it can create a sense of isolation and I have discovered that sound designers will actually increase the volume of footsteps as well as other sounds, in certain settings, to an unrealistic level in order to make them stand out more in the mix. When the primary sound a player hears is the one they’re making, the message being communicated is that they’re alone.
Reverb can also help with increasing the feel of loneliness in a game, as the spatial element it brings helps imagine up the space one is in, perhaps making it seem bigger than it is. Essentially, it is not only the sounds that create loneliness, but how those sounds are heard.
Non diegetic sounds, too, can increase the feeling of loneliness as it can potentially remind us of what we are not experiencing, or missing out on. An example could be the sound of muffled speaking in a room next to us.
Lastly, juxtaposition can be a good tool also in achieving a similar effect as the contrast serves, again, as a reminder to what was, and what is. For examples, using the game Reverb can also help with increasing the feel of loneliness in a game, as the spatial element it brings helps imagine up the space one is in, perhaps making it seem bigger than it is. Essentially, it is not only the sounds that create loneliness, but how those sounds are heard.
Non diegetic sounds, too, can increase the feeling of loneliness as it can potentially remind us of what we are not experiencing, or missing out on. An example could be the sound of muffled speaking in a room next to us.
Lastly, juxtaposition can be a good tool also in achieving a similar effect as the contrast serves, again, as a reminder to what was, and what is. For example, using the game ‘Outer Wilds’ we can compare the calming, cruising music that plays whilst driving the spaceship, to the barren silence, enhanced by only the sounds of breathing and the characters jetpack, once you are separated from your ship.
After all this research, a game that I played recently, called ‘Shadow of Colossus’ comes to mind. Set in a vast landscape where there is seemingly no-one but the main character and his horse, all of the sounds play an important role in consistently maintaining the feeling of isolation throughout the game, whether that be the sound of a distant eagle overhead, or the reverb laden clatter of the horses hooves when exploring abandoned ancient ruins. Even the thunderous crashes made by the giants made of stone serve well to remind us of just how vast the world is and how subsequently alone the character is.
