First-person perspective offers a direct look into the protagonist's world
The concept of first person has several uses depending on the context. The most basic meaning refers to the human being who was a pioneer or precursor in something .
Pioneer or precursor
For example: "The first person to travel to outer space was Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet astronaut" , "The first person I saw when I regained consciousness in the hospital was my mother" , "The winner of the contest will be the first person I achieved answer the ten questions without errors .
First person narrator
In the field of narrative, a first-person narrator is one who is part of the story . Also called internal narrator , he is the protagonist of the actions and gives his opinion about other characters, in addition to alluding to the various events presented in the plot.
The first-person narrator , in this way, offers his vision of the events, starring in them or being a direct witness: «When the criminal entered, I had to hide under the bed to protect myself. Once he left my house without discovering me, I dared to leave my shelter and immediately called the police .
Verb conjugations
In the field of grammar , meanwhile, the idea of person appears as a category that is inherent to certain pronouns and that is associated with verbal agreement. In our language there are three grammatical persons: among them, the first person .
The grammatical first person singular is "I" , while the first person plural is "we" . When conjugating a verb, it is necessary to know the rules of each grammatical person, something especially difficult for Spanish students whose native languages do not have this distinction.
in video games
If we focus on video games , finally, the notion of first person is used with respect to the view with which the player observes the virtual world from the perspective of the protagonist . This type of view is common in shooting games such as "Counter-Strike" , "Call of Duty" and "Quake" , among many others, and in recent years more and more genres include it as the only option or as a complement to one in third person.
Note that the third person in video games is characterized by placing the camera behind the character controlled by the player. Regarding the vertical and horizontal position , it depends on the designers' decisions: it can be to the side of the head and on the shoulder or perfectly behind the protagonist, at a height barely higher than his head or well above him. her, among many other possibilities. The first-person perspective in video games offers a very different experience than the third-person perspective, although both have their strengths and weaknesses.
Although the first person is associated with the shooting genre, it is used in many others
Among the advantages of first person are the greater degree of immersion in the game's atmosphere, which can be manifested through a more direct exploration of the settings and a more realistic observation of the other characters. The third-person view, on the other hand, offers the possibility of constantly observing the avatar 's reactions, and this can enhance an experience in which their feelings and sensations are of great relevance to the story.
One of the main disadvantages of first person is that it causes motion sickness for some players , especially when movements are too fast and unexpected and when lighting is poor. This occurs in part because the monitor's field of view is much smaller than that of our eyes. The third person does not usually cause discomfort; One of its disadvantages may be that it creates a distance between the player and the setting, something that in some cases can have a negative impact on the experience.