Video Games as Literature

Successful video games tend to utilize their game mechanics to increase narrative and push the story along. After watching the two videos and playing loneliness, the first game that game to mind about mechanics as metaphor, and using game mechanics to enhance a story is the newest God of War. The story-line in God of War is easily one of my top five favorite stories of all time, and I believe is arguably one of the best storied video games ever made. There is an underlying mechanic that is portrayed throughout that is implicitly emphasized. Although the ultimate goal of the game is to spread your wife's ashes at the highest point in the nine realms, while evading Odin's men, the underlying goal that is not explicitly explained is the relationship between Kratos and Atreus, and the character development of Kratos in terms of fatherhood. As an avid player of the entire God of War series, I knew Kratos as the demigod controlled by rage and vengeance; this was the character I...

The Walking Dead Season 1 was a roller coaster ride that had me enticed from beginning to end. I thoroughly enjoyed playing the game, especially considering how every decision seemed to change what could potentially happen. For a story-based game, I would recommend to anyone. When looking specifically at the ending, I was quite shocked. When you play as a protagonist and you are well aware there is another season of a game, you would never think that character would die. Most game series that have numerous sequels typically contain the same protagonist. I believe, while shocking, the conclusion of the game was exactly the ending the season needed. We got 5 episodes of Lee's story trying to protect everyone, especially Clementine, and now we get Clementine's story moving forward. Lee fulfilled his duty of moving Clementine on safely, and the fact that she was the one to kill him only seemed fitting because now she was his savior and protector, almost seeming poetic. When loo...

After playing the first three episodes of the walking dead, I can comfortably say that the story is enticing, the character development is great, and the action scenes keep me engaged; however, the game-play engine used throughout is not the best. Walking around can be confusing at times and knowing exactly who to speak with to progress the story can also seem like a waste of time. Constant button mashing, asking the same question multiple times, and lacking full control of the character becomes tedious and annoying. But overall, I think the game succeeds at what it sought out to do, and that is to tell an exciting story, while considering game-play mechanics less important. In this game, non-playable characters are vitally important because, as the game disclaims, each decision you make with all other characters will affect the outcome of the story. Your decisions based on conversations with NPC's are what leads to certain people living or dying, how relationships develop, and u...

A common element of successful video games is the use of cut-scenes, which are cinematic sequences that progress with story without playable elements. There is a question of whether games need these cut-scenes, and if they do, when is the line drawn on the amount they are used. All over youtube there are videos of all the cut-scenes of video games compiled together, without any of the gameplay in between. One specifically that seemed intriguing was of the immensely popular Gears of War. After watch the Gears of War video, which was a decent amount of cut scene footage, I realized that the cut-scenes are there to aid in completing the story, and that they are not there to tell an entire story themselves. Without the game-play between the cut-scenes, everything going on was confusing and certain events transpired without the view really knowing because the only action of certain situations was via gameplay not cut scenes. One major idea to consider is whether you'd care as much ...

What remains of Edith Finch was an interesting game to play, to say the least. I had never heard of the game prior to playing, so I was completely unaware of what to expect. To be frank, this game went well beyond what I could have anticipated. Since I just finished, I am a little unsure on exactly how I feel about playing the game. I will say that the story was quite interesting, but I am not sure how much I enjoyed it as a video game. The creators of the game did a good job keeping the story intriguing and odd to an extent that made me want to know what was going on. I enjoyed the aspect of the game in which Edith was narrating the story as a journal to her son. Additionally, I was fond of the suspense created as to what was going on with the family, which I learned must have been a curse caused by the house. The last thing I enjoyed the most was the intricacy of the house and the maze-like structure it happened to be. The creators put a lot of depth and detail into each passage ...

Video games have been an ongoing importance in my life since I was four years old. Hours and hours spread out over two decades may appear to be a waste of time to some people, but not to me. Throughout my life video games have taught me invaluable lessons, such as developing empathy, understanding complex puzzles, overcoming failure, and moving past intense bouts of anger; without them, I would argue that I would not be the person I am today. Recently, since entering adulthood, video games have become slightly less important too me, but I still rely on them to lower my stress levels, escape the real world, and enjoy quality alone time. When I first began playing video games, what kept me enamored was not the sophisticated video games I love now, but mostly games that would be classified as pure games, such as sports games, racing games, Mario, and Mortal Kombat. I was a very competitive child, so the intrinsic value of a game to me was the ability to beat everyone and everything t...