Video Games as Literature

Traditionally, video games are an unexpected medium to find an empathetic handling of issues, but throughout consistent growth, video games have advanced in their abilities to tell a story, develop characters, evoke emotion, and thematically represent real issues. God of War, 2018 Game of the Year, is among the most accomplished video games because of the game’s successful depiction of the complexities surrounding fatherhood. Specifically, God of War follows Kratos’s journey of caring for his son Atreus after his wife Feye passes away. Kratos finds himself within the nine realms of Norse mythology, seeking to disperse Feye’s ashes atop the highest point of the nine realms, all while caring for his son. On their journey, Kratos must endure the stress of keeping them alive, fathering Atreus, and fulfilling Feye’s request; Odin, the All-father of Nordic gods, senses something unique about Kratos and Atreus and aims to upend them with whatever means necessary. While God of War is a master...

There are certain game mechanics that are normal occurrences, most of which do not provoke a reaction out of a player. However, there are some mechanics that cause you to scratch your head and ask yourself "what the hell just happened?" I am going to discuss the game that first ever made me feel this way.  While it has become more common among open world role-playing games, the idea of killing someone and them staying dead no matter what, was a shock to me when I first played The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Most of the games that I played, if you killed someone that held any importance or dictation of the story, they would respond the next time you visited their location. With Skyrim, I was flabbergasted when I realized this was not the case. When playing the game, I was screwing around and accidentally stole money from the blacksmith in Riverwood. After I stole the money from him, he attacked me, so like any logical person I defended myself and killed him. I left the city an...