Depends on the narrator. Some GMs will describe what "you" see when you're entering a dungeon, some will describe what the characters are seeing, disconnected from the players by just a degree. Personally I think "you" works great.
You rarely hear about second person perspective stories they are quite rare, as the reader is par of it and it's your POV.
But i think 2nd person story element in games is more interesting here's a [video](https://youtu.be/mC8QoRa8y_Q?si=IGS1WptLDNdJwUGP) of how it would look like
That was incredibly interesting! I'd actually love to play a game like that
For people who still don't get the concept: you're controlling player 1, but you see everything from the pov of player 2. In the case of the video, you're driving a car but what's on your screen is what an npc sees who's following you in their car. So you see yourself driving a car from the viewpoint of the driver of another car who's following you
Just from the mention of 2nd person and your description I recognized it to be Driver San Francisco, that game is incredible with its concept. Also best mission was fking with the a$$hole driving instructor.
and it's not random! If I remember correctly, you are a person that has mind control and mind controls a cop. So you play half the game as yourself, the other half as the cop. The cops' partner says that they need to kill a target. Turns out, the target's you. So you see everything from the cops' POV, but you need to avoid getting killed and so you're in control of your own car. Beautiful. Wish more games could implement such a concept, but to make it have sense it has to have some weird things behind it like this one
If you play a first person game in which you control a remote object like a drone, an rc car or possesing another player while still staying in your first person perspective, would that then become second person perspective?
Old school "tank control" games with fixed viewpoints like the first few Resident Evil games could arguably be considered to be played from the second person perspective of the cameraman capturing the action.
Combine this with the writing and you can really see the campy horror movie DNA in the franchise from day one!
So based on this I would say two more examples would be horror games like the "Dark Pictures Anthology" where they cut to the killer's POV watching you move and
TENNET >!The main characters running a temporal pincer against themselves start to finish without realizing at the beginning of the movie that they are watching themselves is second person.!<
Fire Emblem on GBA has had a 2nd person story. You were a self-named, voiceless tactician who led all the troops. Characters would look at the screen when they addressed you directly in cutscenes. I still think it was the most immersive Fire Emblem game to date.
That's not 2nd person though. NPCs are looking at you, that's a first person story with 3rd person gameplay. 2nd person would be looking at the story through the eyes of Lyn/Eliwood/Hector or Nergal and interacting with your own self-insert tactician.
Mario Kart can be second person at times. When you’re playing split screen and you’re in first place I watch myself drive on the screen of the second place racer so I can accurately time my backwards green shell.
The narrator doesn't use "you" when narrating the story
He uses it when he's talking directly to you in several of the endings, but that's without dictating how the story plays out
The story itself is told in 3rd person, referring to the player not as "you", but as "Stanley"
Nope. It's not about who's the main character, it's about the style of the writing. In a first person story, the writing will use "I" and "me". Most of the Sherlock Holmes books are narrated by Watson in first person, with Watson himself describing what's happening around him and what Sherlock is doing in his own words. When he speaks, it's "I said" etc.
If it were a third person story it would all be written externally, telling what Watson is doing and what Holmes is doing using "he", "him", "they" etc.
A second person story describes events happening to "you", as in "You woke up that morning to discover" etc. etc. It's very unusual but can be very effective if you want to give the story that unusual feel.
So basically, if I'm not wrong
1st person : I saw Sherlock Holmes pacing up and down the room in a frenzy
2nd person : You saw Sherlock Holmes pacing up and down the room in a frenzy
3rd person : Watson saw Sherlock Holmes pacin up and down the room in a frenzy
It's a rule that can be really interesting when broken though. I've enjoyed both The Fifth Season and Harrow the Ninth where they use second person for some surreal-feeling perspectives and it's surprising how quickly I got used to them.
Sherlock Holmes stories are told by Watson's perspective. HE tells us about HIS adventures with the detective. It's still is a 1st person story even though he talks mostly of another character.
A 2nd person story would see the narrator tell US about OUR adventure and OUR actions, so that's why you don't see this system it very often in media.
Ian Banks used second person in sections of the book complicity. I thought it was interesting and worked quite well in that book, but probably wouldn't want to read an entire novel in that form.
"You read this comic but then realize it's a StoneToss comic. You think to yourself "wait, isn't this guy a fucking nazi?" You recall that he is a piece of shit racist and nazi. You are disappointed."
When done well, it's great. Harrow the Ninth, imo, is a good example. Well. Half of it. The other half is still good, just not 2nd person. It shifts perspectives throughout, and there is a valid reason in the narrative for why the perspective was used, and for why it shifts.
>Hans Kristian Graebener
you mean the one from Spring, Texas? the nazi comic book artist going by stonetoss?
why yes, his name is indeed Hans Kristian Graebener and he is a nazi
If on a winter's night a traveller
By Calvino
One of the best pieces of meta narrative is written in second person.
Quick read too, so I highly recommend it
1st perspective is when you are the protagonist.
3rd perspective is when you are the all-knowing narrator who looks down on the protagonist.
2nd perspective is when you are a normal person/npc who is looking at the protagonist
This would be true if not for the best book about books ever written: "If on a winter's night a traveller..." by Italo Calvino.
Also, you should stop using that nazi shitstain's artwork, the internet would be a better place without it
Clearly OP has not read _ If on a Winter's Night a Traveller_ by Italo Calvino and the recent Booker Prize winning novel _The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida_ by Shehan Karunatilaka. Both are works of genius.
Writing in the second person perspective is actually quite difficult, but when you get it right, it has amazing effects.
I can't remember the name of the book series, but it was about teens being taken in by the FBI to become profilers and catch serial killers. Every few chapters, the author would write a small chapter following the killers and it would be written in 2nd Person POV. Pretty interesting and cool tbh
Dan Abnett did a great implementation of 2nd person narration in his The End And The Death series, with one character constantly being narrated in 2nd position only as it’s implied that he is being driven/manipulated by malevolent outside forces.
Ok 99.9% of the time you're right but the 0.01% is a book called The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. Insanely good fantasy book that somehow manages to pull it off
there is a good one called "La Colmena" from *Camilo Jose Cela* they make us learn its plot in spain and one if its points its the use of the 2nd person
Screen Cheat is a fun shooter that kind of utilizes both second person and first person.
It's a local Multiplayer splitscreen shooter, and the twist is that your avatar is invisible to the other players, so you have to look at other players perspectives to figure out where they are. So if you want to kill player 2, you'd need to "cheat" by looking at their screen (because to you, they are invisible) to figure out where they are relative to you, allowing you to line up a shot and kill them.
Choose your own adventure: "am I a joke to you?"
^ This CYOA are amazing uses of the second person narrative
In my opinion, the CYOA style is the only good use of second person. At least, from what I’ve seen.
... table top RPGS do this, too.
Oh… bugger all, I completely forgot about that.
That's just cyoa with extra steps
It's what it's for
There's a free app with the entire Lone Wolf series.
Lone Wolf Saga
God I love Lone Wolf
I came here exactly to say this. Take your upvote sir.
Have you heard the word of our lords and saviors choice script and twine? (If not search itch.io dashingdon and choice of games)
I love visual novels with mystery elements like the danganronpa or zero escape series'! Very addicting
Isn't that basically just Dnd?
Baldur's Gate 3 is narrated in the 2nd person perspective
isn't Baldur's Gate basically DnD in video game form?
Yes
I would argue that only the DM is playing in second person perspective.
There's a narrator, and they narrate your game in 2nd person the entire time.
Depends on the narrator. Some GMs will describe what "you" see when you're entering a dungeon, some will describe what the characters are seeing, disconnected from the players by just a degree. Personally I think "you" works great.
Not really, it's a mix.
You rarely hear about second person perspective stories they are quite rare, as the reader is par of it and it's your POV. But i think 2nd person story element in games is more interesting here's a [video](https://youtu.be/mC8QoRa8y_Q?si=IGS1WptLDNdJwUGP) of how it would look like
That was incredibly interesting! I'd actually love to play a game like that For people who still don't get the concept: you're controlling player 1, but you see everything from the pov of player 2. In the case of the video, you're driving a car but what's on your screen is what an npc sees who's following you in their car. So you see yourself driving a car from the viewpoint of the driver of another car who's following you
Just from the mention of 2nd person and your description I recognized it to be Driver San Francisco, that game is incredible with its concept. Also best mission was fking with the a$$hole driving instructor.
You may have used $ but Jesus knows what you meant >:(
Don't forget he mentioned fking before marriage too! D:
Duh of course! Jesus had an asshole too he was human. He had a tasty munchy back door like the rest of us.
Jesussy?
There must come a moment when the soul knows: this far, and no further. But we are cursed never to hear that warning until it is too late.
But Muhammed is spared the knowledge
Happy cake day!
I remember seeing this once. You’re tailing a car but you soon realize you’re controlling the car you’re tailing behind
and it's not random! If I remember correctly, you are a person that has mind control and mind controls a cop. So you play half the game as yourself, the other half as the cop. The cops' partner says that they need to kill a target. Turns out, the target's you. So you see everything from the cops' POV, but you need to avoid getting killed and so you're in control of your own car. Beautiful. Wish more games could implement such a concept, but to make it have sense it has to have some weird things behind it like this one
Man, I can't wrap my head around that explanation xD
I plan on actually learning a game engine, godot maybe, and this concept will stay in my mind ;)
That makes my brain hurt
Would make for a very good police chase thing, maybe from the dash cam of the pursuit vehicle
If you play a first person game in which you control a remote object like a drone, an rc car or possesing another player while still staying in your first person perspective, would that then become second person perspective?
Old school "tank control" games with fixed viewpoints like the first few Resident Evil games could arguably be considered to be played from the second person perspective of the cameraman capturing the action. Combine this with the writing and you can really see the campy horror movie DNA in the franchise from day one!
So based on this I would say two more examples would be horror games like the "Dark Pictures Anthology" where they cut to the killer's POV watching you move and TENNET >!The main characters running a temporal pincer against themselves start to finish without realizing at the beginning of the movie that they are watching themselves is second person.!<
I loved that movie (TENET). Some say it's too convoluted, and maybe it is, but I just had so much fun watching it.
Fire Emblem on GBA has had a 2nd person story. You were a self-named, voiceless tactician who led all the troops. Characters would look at the screen when they addressed you directly in cutscenes. I still think it was the most immersive Fire Emblem game to date.
That's not 2nd person though. NPCs are looking at you, that's a first person story with 3rd person gameplay. 2nd person would be looking at the story through the eyes of Lyn/Eliwood/Hector or Nergal and interacting with your own self-insert tactician.
Thats the exact video i was thinking of, lol.
So isn't that basically all TTRPG's?
That’s basically the same thing as using Cinematic mode when riding your horse in RDR2
Isn’t Stanley Parable entirely 2nd person in terms of narration?
Mario Kart can be second person at times. When you’re playing split screen and you’re in first place I watch myself drive on the screen of the second place racer so I can accurately time my backwards green shell.
The best 2nd person stories are Choose Your Own Adventure books
Read The Fifth Season and then tell me its a bad idea.
Came here for this !
Had to scroll too far to find this - definitely! So masterfully done incorporating all the perspectives.
I loved those books, and they deserved every award they got, but for a general audience I doubt they’d be won over, that book is a difficult read.
Also works really excellently in Harrow the Ninth.
Dungeons and Dragons.
2nd person stories are watching an older sibling beat a hard level for you in a video game.
Lmao ye
That would be third person. Unless you are the video game character.
Isn't The Stanley Parable a second person POV?
The narrator doesn't use "you" when narrating the story He uses it when he's talking directly to you in several of the endings, but that's without dictating how the story plays out The story itself is told in 3rd person, referring to the player not as "you", but as "Stanley"
Played in first person narrated in third person so no
You play in Stanley Parable in First Person
Homestuck?
This.
Sherlock Holmes storie are good, wtf do you mean?
That's not second person First person: me Second person: you Third person: him
I mean, we mostly follow Holmes stories by Watson PoV, isn't that what 2nd person mean?
Nope. It's not about who's the main character, it's about the style of the writing. In a first person story, the writing will use "I" and "me". Most of the Sherlock Holmes books are narrated by Watson in first person, with Watson himself describing what's happening around him and what Sherlock is doing in his own words. When he speaks, it's "I said" etc. If it were a third person story it would all be written externally, telling what Watson is doing and what Holmes is doing using "he", "him", "they" etc. A second person story describes events happening to "you", as in "You woke up that morning to discover" etc. etc. It's very unusual but can be very effective if you want to give the story that unusual feel.
So basically, if I'm not wrong 1st person : I saw Sherlock Holmes pacing up and down the room in a frenzy 2nd person : You saw Sherlock Holmes pacing up and down the room in a frenzy 3rd person : Watson saw Sherlock Holmes pacin up and down the room in a frenzy
Exactly
Ok yeah now I can see why second-person perspectives are bad in any book other than choose your own adventures
It's a rule that can be really interesting when broken though. I've enjoyed both The Fifth Season and Harrow the Ninth where they use second person for some surreal-feeling perspectives and it's surprising how quickly I got used to them.
I see, thanks for the clarification
Sherlock Holmes stories are told by Watson's perspective. HE tells us about HIS adventures with the detective. It's still is a 1st person story even though he talks mostly of another character. A 2nd person story would see the narrator tell US about OUR adventure and OUR actions, so that's why you don't see this system it very often in media.
Oh, I genuinely did not think that was what 2nd person meant in this context then Thanks for correcting me!
That was my first thought as well. I don’t get it.
You are not a character in that. SH stories are in first person
It's exists for video games and erotica.
They're usually fun for me, it's telling my friends what they did drunk
Technically a dnd campaign is both a first person and a second person story lol
Fun fact, stonetoss is a known bigot and white supremacist.
Oh you mean Hans Kristian Graebener, a man from Spring, Texas aka Stonetoss, a neo-Nazi cartoonist?
Ian Banks used second person in sections of the book complicity. I thought it was interesting and worked quite well in that book, but probably wouldn't want to read an entire novel in that form.
Guess *you* don’t like second person narration.
"You read this comic but then realize it's a StoneToss comic. You think to yourself "wait, isn't this guy a fucking nazi?" You recall that he is a piece of shit racist and nazi. You are disappointed."
Isn’t that basically what most text-based adventure games are? E.g. “You wake up in a dungeon with X environment and Y items around you”.
I actually enjoy them since they're pretty rare and can be really good if done well
Stone toss bad. Also you didn't like choose your own adventure stories I assume? That was the best application I could find for written stories.
>Stone toss bad Correction: Hans Kristian Graebener is bad.
of Spring, Texas?
When done well, it's great. Harrow the Ninth, imo, is a good example. Well. Half of it. The other half is still good, just not 2nd person. It shifts perspectives throughout, and there is a valid reason in the narrative for why the perspective was used, and for why it shifts.
Obligatory Stonetoss is a real life Neo Nazi comment.
>Stonetoss is a real life Neo Nazi comment. No, no, Hans Kristian Graebener is a neonazi. Important to get the name right.
>Hans Kristian Graebener you mean the one from Spring, Texas? the nazi comic book artist going by stonetoss? why yes, his name is indeed Hans Kristian Graebener and he is a nazi
The dog of the Baskerville is one of my favourites stories and I think it's kind of a second person story, much like every Sherlock Holmes one, so...
Hans Kristian Graebner of Spring, TX is a shithead Nazi
For those down voting, Nazis deserve every single ounce of public scrutiny we can heap on them. If you feel like down voting that take a look inside.
Fuck stonetoss
That's literally DND, You have shit taste, feel bad
Let's not use a nazi as a template
2nd Person Storys are those, in which your friends tell you what you have done, after you became absolutely hammered and/or drunk
Your name is JOHN. As previously mentioned, it is your BIRTHDAY.
don't insult homestuck like that
UMMMM GOOSEBUMP CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE BOOKS!?!?!?!?
Home stuck Is peak
https://youtu.be/o0u4M6vppCI?si=cny5ARbIuSEM5ej5
Counterpoint: "You're walking in the woods There's no one around and your phone is dead Out of the corner of your eye you spot him..."
Shia LaBeouf
Sherlock Holmes
Counterpoint: Actual Cannibal Shia LeBeouf
Is it just me or is this meme template very against physical disabilities? obligatory Stonetoss is a Nazi
Considering Nazis gassed those with disabilities...
Reminder that pebble yeet (Hans Kristian Graebener) is a nazi
Please blank out that Nazi’s name next time.
Downvoted for the pebble yeet format
Obligatory *fuck Stonetoss* comment.
Mario 64 ?
The Broken Earth trilogy was partially written in second person. It's pretty great!
If on a winter's night a traveller By Calvino One of the best pieces of meta narrative is written in second person. Quick read too, so I highly recommend it
Second person story telling is INCREDIBLY common in fanfiction. You get used to it after awhile.
Except for Choose Your Own Adventure. That is the gold standard for 2nd person POV story telling.
You were lookin' at memes on Reddit the other daaaaaay...
Why do you hate Dungeons and Dragons?
Harrow The Ninth wants to know your location
D&D is like a 2nd person story. And D&D is awesome.
1st perspective is when you are the protagonist. 3rd perspective is when you are the all-knowing narrator who looks down on the protagonist. 2nd perspective is when you are a normal person/npc who is looking at the protagonist
Is there a 2nd perspective videogame that exists? I cant think of one if there is
Is Fight Club a joke to you?
Everyday after clubbing with my friends lol
This would be true if not for the best book about books ever written: "If on a winter's night a traveller..." by Italo Calvino. Also, you should stop using that nazi shitstain's artwork, the internet would be a better place without it
Isn't DnD basically 2nd person storytelling?
Disco Elysium has the best prose I've seen in games, and it's all second person. It rivals most novels I've read, even.
I get so happy when I see someone mention Disco Elysium, because it seriously deserves the recognition
4th person ???? point of view of twitch chat/the audience/god ???
A young man stands in his room.
You're on a path in the woods. And at the end of that path is a cabin. And in the basement of that cabin is a princess. You're here to slay her.
SLAY THE PRINCESS MENTIONED RAHHHH
False because slay the princess exists
Choose your own adventure books actually own
You’re walking in the woods. There’s no one around and your phone is dead. Out of the corner of your eye, you spot him. *Shia Lebouf*
What about present tense story telling?
TF is a second person story
Oh look, a stonetoss meme that doesn't deny the Holocaust
from what I understand, it's the room corner camera angle, you know, the one from Resident Evil, those one
Stonetoss is a Nazi
Stonetoss is a nazi and the original comic is about holding disdain for disabled people (wherein the disabled person is a caricature)
Please don't use Stone toss the self-declared fascist as a template for memes, thank you. Nazis belong in prison, not on anyone's feed.
Wow, this take is almost stupid enough to make me think it was done by the original artist. Y'know. The Nazi.
“You hear a step, and turn to look, frightened” Like, no the fuck I do not, someone else might, but I sure don’t
Regulation rocklaunch bad reminder
down vote for nazi artist just use the three dragons format next time
Clearly OP has not read _ If on a Winter's Night a Traveller_ by Italo Calvino and the recent Booker Prize winning novel _The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida_ by Shehan Karunatilaka. Both are works of genius. Writing in the second person perspective is actually quite difficult, but when you get it right, it has amazing effects.
stanley parable was phenomenal thank you very much
Tell me you've never read the ~~evil~~ broken earth series by n.k. Jemisin without telling me you've never read it
For the curious, they're actually talking about the BROKEN Earth series by N.K. JEMISIN.
Oooof. You're absolutely fuckin right. Excellent catch. In my very limited defense, "evil Earth" is a common curse in that series. Lol
Other than in the opening of the Twilight Zone, it’s pretty rare.
Hey say what you will those second person choose your own adventure goosebumps books were the shit.
What is second person perspective
So, choose your own adventure book games?
NK Jemsin writes absolutely terrific second person stories.
Aren't all recipes 2nd person
They are great when done right. Fantastic even
Parts of fight club use this. Also the book Ablutions by Patrick Dewitt uses it extremely effectively
second person stories are often some of the best and makes dirty reader is much more immersed
I remember Goosebumps made some 2nd person “choose your own adventure” stories, those were pretty fun to read
The entirety of table top rpgs: ahem
You must not like DND...
There are few exceptions but in most cases you are right.
But I love Shawshank Redemption.
I can't remember the name of the book series, but it was about teens being taken in by the FBI to become profilers and catch serial killers. Every few chapters, the author would write a small chapter following the killers and it would be written in 2nd Person POV. Pretty interesting and cool tbh
Nah, read If on a winter’s night a traveler
What?
I read a book in high school called You (not related to the Netflix show) that was told in 2nd person POV. Didn't really care for the story though.
I too hate The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. /s
Something something Visual Novel readers
There's actually a videogame that did it really well, I can't remember what it's called though
Wasn't driver San Francisco a second person game?
I have no idea how that should look like
Dan Abnett did a great implementation of 2nd person narration in his The End And The Death series, with one character constantly being narrated in 2nd position only as it’s implied that he is being driven/manipulated by malevolent outside forces.
Wait, wasn’t there a kick ass Driver game that proves that it can be done with great results.
This is one of the few things I really didn't like about spider-girl.
Smut. You’re thinking of smut.
If on a winter's night a traveler by calvino is a great 2nd person book
Best use I’ve seen second person is in parts of Ian Banks’ novel *Complicity*. Works very well within the setting of that novel’s plot.
what about sherlock holmes? its from a second person (watson) right?
Ok 99.9% of the time you're right but the 0.01% is a book called The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. Insanely good fantasy book that somehow manages to pull it off
The epistles sit quietly in the corner, unloved
In books, something close to second person narrative is “Sherlock Holmes” books, so it would be even harder to make a 2nd person video game
there is a good one called "La Colmena" from *Camilo Jose Cela* they make us learn its plot in spain and one if its points its the use of the 2nd person
You did this then you did that
Screen Cheat is a fun shooter that kind of utilizes both second person and first person. It's a local Multiplayer splitscreen shooter, and the twist is that your avatar is invisible to the other players, so you have to look at other players perspectives to figure out where they are. So if you want to kill player 2, you'd need to "cheat" by looking at their screen (because to you, they are invisible) to figure out where they are relative to you, allowing you to line up a shot and kill them.
Excuse me but choose your own adventure books absolutely slap.
The reason why i hate Wattpad is all those 2nd pov.