Avatar-Kinaesthetics as Characterisation Statements in Horizon: Zero Dawn

Key insights

7 takeaways

01
The paper proposes that avatar-kinaesthetics in Horizon: Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games, 2017) act as characterisation statements, meaning controller haptics and avatar movement communicate character traits rather than serving only immersion.
02
Specific traits conveyed through player-performed kinaesthetic feedback include Aloy's weight, the difference between her childhood and adult physicality, and her hunting skill, exemplified by fully drawing a bow.
03
The authors argue that this kinaesthetic engagement strengthens the prosthetic relationship between player and avatar, drawing on Klevjer's 2007 account.
04
The study bridges game studies work on kinaesthetic play (Karhulahti, Calleja, Newman, Swink) with character-focused scholarship adapting Margolin's characterisation statements, as revised by Lankoski and Vella.
05
The argument rests on combining cognitive science definitions of kinaesthesia with HCI multimodal presence research, which holds that integrated visual, aural, and haptic cues enhance presence.
06
This is a conceptual close-reading of a single case, not an empirical study: no survey, sample, or quantitative data is reported, so the claims are illustrative rather than statistically established.
07
Scope is restricted to one third-person, PlayStation 4-exclusive game, and haptic feedback during non-controllable cutscenes is excluded, limiting attention to player-performed actions.

Summary

This extended abstract, presented at DiGRA 2018, proposes that avatar-kinaesthetics in Horizon: Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games, 2017) can function as characterisation statements, meaning that the combined haptic feedback of the PlayStation 4 DualShock controller and the audiovisual representation of avatar movement communicate information about the character dimension of the playable figure, not merely immersion. The authors argue that this kinaesthetic engagement strengthens the prosthetic relationship between player and avatar (drawing on Klevjer's 2007 account) while also conveying traits such as Aloy's weight, her childhood versus adult physicality, and her skill as a hunter, as when fully drawing a bow.

The study situates itself between two research strands: game studies work on kinaesthetic play, including Karhulahti, Calleja, Newman, and Swink, and character-focused scholarship that adapts narrative theory, such as Lankoski's and Vella's revisions of Margolin's characterisation statements. Its theoretical grounding combines cognitive science definitions of kinaesthesia as perceptual awareness of bodily movement with multimodal presence research from human-computer interaction, which holds that integrated visual, aural, and haptic cues enhance presence.

The analysis is a conceptual and close-reading study of a single case rather than an empirical investigation. No survey, sample, or quantitative data is reported; the method consists of examining specific in-game actions and their feedback as they are experienced through the controller. Scope is limited to one third-person, PlayStation 4-exclusive game, and the authors exclude haptic feedback occurring during non-controllable cutscenes, restricting attention to player-performed actions.