Rebecca Murray
players to engage with the comedic experiences within the game ’ s pacifist narrative . Originally , he wants to capture the protagonist . However , the music is a ‘ a sonic representation of Papyrus ’ nature ’ ( Perez , 2017 , p . 67 ). It implies he will eventually befriend the player within the game ’ s overall narrative .
Furthermore , the music creates an intense experience for the player that allows them to understand and identify with Papyrus ’ s character . In particular , his bombastic but charming theme emphasises the character ’ s endearing nature .
In addition , the absorption into the game world needs to reach a level that overall self-awareness must be lost when interacting with the game for character identification to work effectively ( Cohen , 2001 , p . 256 ). Through being an interactive medium , videogames actively immerse players into both their gameplay and narratives . Brown and Cairns ( 2004 ) highlighted that empathy for the characters within a videogame
138 is crucial to be able to achieve total immersion ( Brown and Cairns , 2004 , p . 3 ). ‘ Night in the Woods ’ ( Infinite Fall , 2017 ) features musical rhythm game sections that aim to create character identification through immersion . In the context of the story , the protagonist meets up with her friends often throughout the game for band practice . Players must become immersed in this interactive and musical gameplay in order to hit the correct notes in the song . Before these sections appear in the game , the player learns more about the whole group of characters and how they interact with each other at band practice . Players become immersed in both the gameplay and narrative elements due to these musical sections . Therefore , character identity has a major role in videogames . If a player is not able to identify with a game ’ s characters they become less immersed in the game overall . Music is key to creating distinct character identities ; it allows the player to achieve total immersion in the game-world and identify with the characters they interact with ( Brown and Cairns , 2004 , p . 3 ).