Illusion of Space

The illusion of space is found in all forms of art. The viewer can experience these various feelings of depth and space in a two-dimensional or three-dimensional plane depending on the type of art they are observing. Three concepts of space that can be observed from video games are open form, one-point perspective, and aerial perspective. 

Open Form

Open form is when the elements in the picture are cut off so that the viewer is only able to see what seems to be a portion of the full scene. In the Final Fantasy scene below, we can see a young girl interacting with a creature called a Moogle, but we cannot see everything that is going on outside the frame. Their bodies are cut off, but we still can know that other things are happening outside of this limited viewpoint. 

Duine, Erren Van. "New FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 Screenshots Return to Yaschas Massif." Nova Crystallis. N.p., 22 Aug. 2011. Web. 23 Feb. 2013. http://www.novacrystallis.com/2011/08/new-final-fantasy-xiii-2-screenshots-feature-serah-farron/

One-Point Perspective

The one-point perspective is directly parallel or perpendicular to the viewers eye-line where lines come together on a single point (vanishing point) that is on the horizon. The vanishing point in this case can be seen behind the running girl from Atelier Meruru. 

Kollar, Phil. "The Year of the RPG?" Gameinformer. N.p., 29 Dec. 2011. Web. 23 Feb. 2013. http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2011/12/29/the-rpgs-of-2012.aspx

Aerial Perspective

Aerial perspective is when the colors in the background of the picture become blurry or washed out so that they look like they are part of the atmosphere. Ni no Kuni's landscape in the picture below illustrates this aerial perspective. The ground closer to the viewer's eye is distinctly easier to see in contrast to the areas farther back which have a blue, foggy quality due to the atmosphere obstructing the colors the eye can see. 

HelenBaby. "Eurogamer 2012 : Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch." Plus XP RSS. N.p., 13 Oct. 2012. Web. 23 Feb. 2013. http://www.plusxp.com/2012/10/eurogamer-2012-ni-no-kuni-wrath-of-the-white-witch/