Why I Hate First Person Perspective

I've been a video game enthusiast since the mid 1980s. I've probably played thousands of games over the course of my life, and a large portion of them to completion. Over the years I've owned pretty much all the major game consoles (and some minor ones), a few portable games systems, I've also owned PCs for years, I spent many hours in arcades back in the day, and in more recent years I've played my fair share of smartphone games, online multiplayer and MMOs and the like. In short, I’ve had countless hours of experience with all sorts of games utilizing every sort of perspective and gameplay style.

Generally speaking I hate first person perspective. I feel it's over used and I've never fully understood its apparently broad appeal by both game players and designers. I’m not saying this flippantly or without consideration. There have certainly been first person games that I have enjoyed and consider excellent games, but I feel that more often than not they’re either exceptions that prove the rule or they work despite being first person perspective due to excellent design in other areas.

I remember playing Wolfenstein 3D, Doom I and II, and Quake in the early 90s. I thought they were all pretty amazing from a technical standpoint even if I wasn’t enthralled with them from an actual gameplay standpoint. When I played the original Half Life a few years later I was even more impressed with the tech. What’s more I was very impressed with the gameplay and story. Half Life was such a great game overall that I was willing to overlook the small annoyances due to its perspective like the awkward platforming sections.

Naturally I was one of the people who were extremely upset upon learning that Metroid Prime would be a first person game. But, like Half Life before it, I had to grudgingly admit that the game itself ended up being excellent. In fact I consider the first Metroid Prime game a near masterwork to this day. But a certain part of me wondered how much better it could have been if it were done right (“right” being if it was a game that was primarily 3rd person perspective switching to 1st person only for the scanning sequences and possibly some shooting sequences).

So what specifically is my damn problem with first person? Here’s a list:

1) No Peripherals. I have always hated the fact that playing in first person felt like looking through a small window, as if I was staring out a narrow viewport in a tank or some kind of medieval helmet. This is especially annoying in shooting games, particularly in multiplayer online shooting games where the ability to see an enemy in your peripherals could make a real difference. (As an aside, FPS games designed for triple monitor display could potentially alleviate this issue by expanding the players effective viewing angle)

2) Poor sense of player character position. This is related to what is technically termed “proprioception” or an awareness of physical self in an environment. Basically this issue crops up in any first person game that involves any sort of platforming or melee combat. It’s difficult to get a sense of your position in many games since often the player character is like a disembodied entity floating in space, meaning that when you look down you don’t see your character’s “feet”, just empty air. It can make platforming a headache since it’s difficult to tell your characters relative position.

3) Aesthetics. This is perhaps less of a concern that the former to points since it’s not directly related to gameplay itself, but it’s at least important to some sense of fun. Part of the fun of video games is playing a badass. It’s cool to see a character you’re controlling performing amazing feets and looking badass doing it. In first person games you generally don’t see your character at all unless you walk in front of a mirror in the game or there is a cutscene.

So that’s it in a nutshell. I know a lot of people love first person perspective since it seems more immersive, and I can understand that. But for me personally I enjoy seeing my character and (more importantly) being able to see my character in relation to his/her environment. I prefer games that are third person but can switch to first person at certain times for specific tasks like scanning or shooting.

I've been a video game enthusiast since the mid 1980s. I've probably played thousands of games over the course of my life, and a large portion of them to completion. Over the years I've owned pretty much all the major game consoles (and some minor ones), a few portable games systems, I've also owned PCs for years, I spent many hours in arcades back in the day, and in more recent years I've played my fair share of smartphone games, online multiplayer and MMOs and the like. In short, I’ve had countless hours of experience with all sorts of games utilizing every sort of perspective and gameplay style.

Generally speaking I hate first person perspective. I feel it's over used and I've never fully understood its apparently broad appeal by both game players and designers. I’m not saying this flippantly or without consideration. There have certainly been first person games that I have enjoyed and consider excellent games, but I feel that more often than not they’re either exceptions that prove the rule or they work despite being first person perspective due to excellent design in other areas.

I remember playing Wolfenstein 3D, Doom I and II, and Quake in the early 90s. I thought they were all pretty amazing from a technical standpoint even if I wasn’t enthralled with them from an actual gameplay standpoint. When I played the original Half Life a few years later I was even more impressed with the tech. What’s more I was very impressed with the gameplay and story. Half Life was such a great game overall that I was willing to overlook the small annoyances due to its perspective like the awkward platforming sections.

Naturally I was one of the people who were extremely upset upon learning that Metroid Prime would be a first person game. But, like Half Life before it, I had to grudgingly admit that the game itself ended up being excellent. In fact I consider the first Metroid Prime game a near masterwork to this day. But a certain part of me wondered how much better it could have been if it were done right (“right” being if it was a game that was primarily 3rd person perspective switching to 1st person only for the scanning sequences and possibly some shooting sequences).

So what specifically is my damn problem with first person? Here’s a list:

1) No Peripherals. I have always hated the fact that playing in first person felt like looking through a small window, as if I was staring out a narrow viewport in a tank or some kind of medieval helmet. This is especially annoying in shooting games, particularly in multiplayer online shooting games where the ability to see an enemy in your peripherals could make a real difference. (As an aside, FPS games designed for triple monitor display could potentially alleviate this issue by expanding the players effective viewing angle)

2) Poor sense of player character position. This is related to what is technically termed “proprioception” or an awareness of physical self in an environment. Basically this issue crops up in any first person game that involves any sort of platforming or melee combat. It’s difficult to get a sense of your position in many games since often the player character is like a disembodied entity floating in space, meaning that when you look down you don’t see your character’s “feet”, just empty air. It can make platforming a headache since it’s difficult to tell your characters relative position.

3) Aesthetics. This is perhaps less of a concern that the former to points since it’s not directly related to gameplay itself, but it’s at least important to some sense of fun. Part of the fun of video games is playing a badass. It’s cool to see a character you’re controlling performing amazing feets and looking badass doing it. In first person games you generally don’t see your character at all unless you walk in front of a mirror in the game or there is a cutscene.

So that’s it in a nutshell. I know a lot of people love first person perspective since it seems more immersive, and I can understand that. But for me personally I enjoy seeing my character and (more importantly) being able to see my character in relation to his/her environment. I prefer games that are third person but can switch to first person at certain times for specific tasks like scanning or shooting.

@Nonapod said:

1) No Peripherals. I have always hated the fact that playing in first person felt like looking through a small window, as if I was staring out a narrow viewport in a tank or some kind of medieval helmet. This is especially annoying in shooting games, particularly in multiplayer online shooting games where the ability to see an enemy in your peripherals could make a real difference. (As an aside, FPS games designed for triple monitor display could potentially alleviate this issue by expanding the players effective viewing angle)

I have this problem with certain games. For me, it boils down to the default field-of-view. Skyrim in particular made me feel like I was playing as a tiny box with arms and legs haphazardly attached. After setting the FOV to 90 degrees, I finally felt like I was actually immersed in the gameplay.

I think the second problem has been solved through game design- nobody (at least, nobody sensible) makes platforming segments in first person games anymore. Half Life 2 and Metroid had them, but soon after that they died out because people realised that they were awful.

I only realised that nobody does them anymore during the Duke Nukem quicklook, when the Giantbomb guys were marvelling at the platforming segments ripped straight out of the late 90s.

There are still games where you need positional awareness, don't get me wrong- Portal, for example. But I don't think they need as much pinpoint accuracy as previous games once did.

@Nonapod said:

I have always hated the fact that playing in first person felt like looking through a small window

I'm with you. I really don't like FPP because it makes me feel paranoid. I need to see my character on the screen and see what's going on next to them. The limited view is also a put-off for exploration. FPP makes me avoid some games completely. I'd totally play games like F.E.A.R., Crysis or Borderlands, but the FPP is a huge put-off ._.

An interesting spin on FPP i thought was in the reboot of Battlezone. It was mostly a vehicular based FPP/RTS game but in it you could build a communications tower that let you see from a top down perspective.

Your second point is one of game design, i feel. The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay did a good job with melee fighting mechanics, if i remember correctly.

I think he difference should be a matter of story perspective. If your game is character driven then it should be 3rd person, if it's environment driven then it should be first person.

@Sin4profit said:

I think he difference should be a matter of story perspective. If your game is character driven then it should be 3rd person, if it's environment driven then it should be first person.

That's an interesting point. It's somewhat related to the "silent protagonist" in a lot of FPP games. Characters like Samus Aran, Gordon Freeman, Master Chief, and Jack from Bioshock never (or hardly ever) speak and consequently the environment becomes more of a focus in their respective games. It's probably part of the reason I find that I can tolerate the various idiosyncrasies that I dislike about first person perspective in those games, the character is overshadowed by the gameworld. That said I'd still like same damn peripherals. I hope the next gen systems support 3 monitor displays. The next PC rig I build will certainly support 3 monitors.