This class has been one of the most memorable, engaging, and enlightening I have taken both in my college career and education career. From the moment I learned in my first week that I could sign up for this class, I jumped at the opportunity. Video games have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and taking a class on the subject seemed all but a pipedream until then. Luckily, I can now say, with complete certainty, that this class has allowed me to both explore what I already loved about games, but also look deeper into all the ways they can be viewed.

Beginning with my personal background in gaming, I have found solace in these tin boxes and flashing screens for as long as I can remember. Growing up a long way’s away from my schoolmates and bereft of any real way to make friends my age, I naturally found myself making a home in these virtual worlds. In there, I didn’t have to be regular old me. I could be a hero of time, a warrior of light, or even a false shepherd. These worlds, in letting me walk in the shoes of these characters, allowed me to learn the same lessons they learned. Whether they felt joy or sorrow, I was right there with them. Without these characters, these stories, these experiences, I would never have developed into even a fraction of the man I am today. I am who I am, not just because of my friends and family, but because of Sora, Link, Noctis, Thancred, Snake, and countless more.

Despite this deep root in gaming from my childhood, I had grown rather distant from the medium coming into this class. High school led me away from the majestic odysseys of adventurers and heroes of legend, and into the proving grounds and arenas of competitive multiplayer games. Many of these games offered characters to attach yourselves to, sure. But instead of experiencing these characters’ stories, you are presented with a crystallized version of them, far enough into their story arc to have carved an identity for themselves, but not yet far enough to have found any semblance of closure to it. I, of course, still managed to find comfort and satisfaction in these characters, but at the end of the day, their personalities were little more than flavor or justification for their in-game kits and play styles. It was not until the pandemic began that I found myself in search of that same level of escapism a single-player story could provide. 

Entering this class, my primary goal was to find games that had escaped my sight over the past few years. I was excited to talk about these games too, sure, but I expected to come out of each with nothing more than a simple “yeah, that was good” and immediately move on to the next one. Edith Finch, however, saw that assumption and offered a calm “Hold My Beer.” If any game could represent the concept of a wake up call, the tragic tale of the Finch family and the near-anthological minigame format in which it is told would be it. This game shattered what I believed a video game story could be, and before I knew it, I was looking all around me in every game I played since for forms of storytelling between cutscenes. Before, I saw video game story only in the cutscenes in between the hallways, fields, and cities I had to run through to get there. Games are unique in that they are completely interactive experiences, and can be experienced at whatever pace the audience decides. It was only after I learned this that I began to lean into all of the sights, sounds, and senses that could be found in these worlds, and it only continued into the Bioshock games and Chrono Trigger. This class took worlds I had learned to live in and given me glasses for them, and I could not be more grateful for it.

Before I started this class I honestly did not know what to expect. I love playing video games but I never really looked much deeper into them. Since I took this class I have a different interest when I am playing these games. I think about the characters, the plot, sound tracks, there are so many things I think about now while playing that I didn’t before. I now think that video games can be considered a form of literature or even a film just like a book or movie. They tell stories for our enjoyment which both movies and books to the exact same thing. I never knew there was so much to learn while playing these games. It is crazy for me to think that these games can make a serious impact on your actual life. While playing these games we had to make decisions that can affect these characters between life and death. When doing this we had to be quick on our feet to decide what we were going to do. Now whenever I have to make a serious decision I play some of the outcomes in my head before making my decisions.

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My favorite thing about this class was that is was able to give me a chance to dive into a different realm of games that I never even thought about before. I normally was a big sports guy playing Madden, NBA, and MLB but I realized while playing all of these different games that they are just as enjoyable as the sports ones I play. These games have a different purpose to them in my opinion compared to sports games. When I play a sports game I am fully competitive to beat my opponent in whatever we are playing. It is very different when playing a game like The Walking Dead where you have to make split decisions that can determine a characters fate.

In my opinion, my relationship towards all the games I play has changed because of this class. Although I loved them before and I still love them now, I think that I am going to be a lot harder to please now that I know a lot more about games in general.  When I used to play it didn’t matter what it was I enjoyed it pretty much no matter what, now that I know what can make a game good versus bad it is going to change my thought process on how the game is.

If I am being honest I am not sure what the next game is that I am going to play. I do still really love to play sports games so I might just wait until the next MLB game comes out to play that but I am not too sure. There was also a fairly new call of duty that came out which looks very enjoyable so I might try that.

Overall, I did really enjoy playing so many of these games that provided me with so many different feelings. Although I was horrible at a few of them it was still great to get some new experiences. I think it was great we were able to have serious conversations and talk about how we felt about a certain game or scene. Hopefully everybody who takes this class in the future experiences the same feelings I did.

Chrono trigger was one of the most interesting introductions to a game I have ever had. It started out extremely difficult and I honestly had no idea what I was doing. It seems that the game has such an old feel from the beginning that is why it made it even more difficult. This was the first game I have played ever that I actually had no idea what I was doing and it seemed there was nothing I could do about it. Games nowadays will guide you in the right direction but not Chrono Trigger.

I think that Chrono Trigger is not too bad for a game that came out in 1995 but the graphics are probably the worst I have ever played with. I know that we are very lucky that in 2021 the game play and graphics are so good but it just shows how far video games have come since the 1990s. I would say my favorite part about the game is the soundtrack. It is really interesting to see a game from so long ago still have a soundtrack.

Chrono Trigger although is very old honestly did meet my expectations and maybe even exceeded them. My favorite part of the gameplay was most definitely the trial scene. I had no clue that anything I did was going to have an impact on me. I had no clue an old game like this would even think to do something like that so it shocked me. After playing half of Chrono Trigger I am definitely interested to see where it is heading next.

Trevor Smoot
Professor Nyland
ENG 281
10/21/21
Analytical Essay
In the video game, What Remains of Edith Finch was a game full of questions and mysterious stories. Playing as Edith, the purpose of the game is to find answers to all the unanswered questions she had about her family before she left with her mother as her mother tried to abandon the curse that her family had living at the house. Edith searches for stories that explain her family’s past and how they perished as the game progresses to explain why she is the only one alive in her family. Because of the narration, the various objectives and games used to tell the story, and the overall curse towards the family, the game mechanics enhanced the experience of fantasy throughout the game.
The narration was a huge piece to tell the story in What Remains of Edith Finch. The creators used multiples narrators to establish what was being explained throughout the story. When talking in the present time the creators would use the main character Edith as the narrator. She would tell you descriptively what she was seeing to establish the setting and the overall story of the family members that were lost. I feel like this is because in case if or when she died because of the curse, her point was to give her son who was about to be born a true story of her family because he would be the only one in the family left. She didn’t want her son to have questions in his head like she did when her and her mother left the house for good. An example of this would be; “Molly always seemed like a girl I could imagine being friends with. If she hadn’t died in 1947.” Edith would explain moments like this about every character to give her son and the people playing a good description of who and what her family was like.
The creators would also implement her family as the narrator when you were playing the games and objectives to figure out there story. I believe this was used to bring it into of a more past tensed flashback. If Edith was the narrator throughout the whole game, how would you know if what she was saying was true? She was eleven years old at the time she left, so how would her telling the whole story be accurate? I think it was good that the creators did this because it brought more of a fantasy piece to it. A great example of this would be Molly’s story. When was put in as the narrator when Edith was in the room. Molly’s mom didn’t let her eat dinner due to it being too late. So she would eat all these interesting things like gerbil food, and toothpaste which I don’t believe is something anybody does. But when she turned into a cat that made the fantasy experience very interesting. Molly would state; “I turned into a cat! I tried to be quiet but the bird was really scared. Mom and Dad didn’t even look at me. I jumped and I almost got her. I could tell she was getting really tired. Now I was up in the big tree. I promised Dad I wouldn’t climb it anymore. But all I cared about was eating that momma bird.” This quotes explains fantasy tremendously and events like this make the game so interesting. No one ever turns into a cat, no one tries to ever eat a bird. Molly would also turn into other animals like an owl, a shark, and a tentacle monster before transforming back into her regular self in her own room. She turned into these animals because she was so hungry she transformed into animals and ate their prey. The curse eventually gets her that a monster eats her as she says she will be delicious. But the fantasy in that piece of narrating makes it so descriptive, and interesting to play. It keeps you on your feet for what next unrealistic fantasy world event will happen next. The narration of What Remains of Edith Finch really stood out to develop the experience of fantasy to the game.
The various objectives and games in What Remains of Edith Finch also portrays fantasy while playing the game. We previously talked about Molly’s story about how she turned into multiple animals that eventually lead to her death. That was a gameplay to where you had to go different places to eventually lead her back to herself which eventually killed her. Another objective was Gregory’s story. When you are in the bathtub and the random bath toys were just jumping really high without even touching them it was unrealistic but it you had to stack them all up in order to figure out the objective. It eventually killed him as it made baby Gregory drown in the bathtub which lead to his death. These objectives and little games you had to play experienced fantasy to me because those are things that wouldn’t happen in real life. But these events made the game interesting because you wouldn’t know what abnormal event would happen next when it the next character was explained. Quality fantasies in games keep you on your feet and in the game What Remain in Edith Finch made me have a very good experience with it.
Lastly, the overall game mechanics of the curse made the experience of fantasy stand out to me. The Finch family was cursed that ultimately ended in each of their deaths. What made the curse so interesting is that the game creators found a way for each family member to die in a different way and in all different ages. This made it scary for the family because they never knew when the curse was going to get them which eventually lead to their deaths. For example, Odin died in a shipwreck at age 57, Molly died of self-induced food poisoning at age 10, Barbara got murder at age 16, Calvin fell from a cliff which was falling off a swing at age 11, Sven was crushed by a dragon shaped slide at age 49, Gregory died of drowning at 1 years old, Gus was hit by debris during a storm at age 13. Sam was knocked off a cliff by a deer at age 33, Sanjay died from an earthquake at age 36, Milton disappeared at age 11, Walter was hit by a train at age 53, Lewis committed suicide at age 22, Edie died from possible suicide at age 93, Dawn of illness at age 48, and Edith from child birth at age 17. Some of those causes of death seemed realistic but some also portrayed fantasy in ways that kept the player interested. Where the experience of fantasy comes in is the story of Calvin. First, he has a broken leg due to his cast on his leg, so what would he be doing swinging on a swing especially that high? Second, who would put a swing for children to swing on right next to a cliff? Some of these questions gives the game player what if this wasn’t a curse but what if it was self-inflicted? The same example would be Molly and herself induced food poisoning, they could have easily fed her dinner but they didn’t. I feel like in the real world that would’ve never happened but the game used the fantasy to make the game interesting. The creators of the game What Remains of Edith Finch use the game mechanics of the curse to make the game a very interesting game to play.
To conclude, the game What Remains of Edith Finch used game mechanics very well to give the player a great experience of fantasy throughout the entire game. This made the game very interesting and very fun to play. Fantasy is an interesting topic to read and analyze if the storyline is good. The creators did a great job with that and made it so it didn’t have any boring parts. But, this game brings questions to the player once the game ends. One question would be, if Edith didn’t go back to the house to find all of the unanswered questions about her family, would she have really died? Was the house the only place that was cursed? That is something that will never be answered because Edith’s son is the only one in her family that is alive because of this curse and what happened throughout the entire game play. Overall, the game What Remains of Edith Finch was a great game to play and analyze using the experience of fantasy throughout the entire game.

The choice of morality vs. greed in Bioshock

“We all make choices, but in the end our choices make us” (Andrew Ryan, Intro to Bioshock). Bioshock is a game that centers around a dystopia by the name of Rapture. Created by a lunatic named Andrew Ryan, he brought along with him the smartest and most creative minds he could find in every aspiring field. The city laying beneath the surface, was not subjected to rules and regulations. What once started off as a genius’s utopia, quickly turned into a hellish nightmare thanks to the greed that infected the citizens. Bioshock delves into the reality of sacrificing morality to satisfy humanity’s greed for power and self-preservation, with the display of absolute carnage that is witnessed not only in the world but in the characters that are discovered along the way. From innocent children turned into creatures to appease a ravenous hunger for power. Along with the choices that the player is given to either indulge themselves with enhancements or make a different choice and choose morality over rapacity.

From the very start of the game the player is faced with bloodshed. The state of rapture is appalling. There is instability wherever you look including leaks inside the city, fires, oil spills, dead bodies, and mentally unhinged citizens. With the use of the audio tapes the player is able to learn of the terrible fate of the people that lived/still live in Rapture. Brilliant minds turned to maniacs, with the hunger for power. Some of the people were innocent victims caught in the crossfire either being shot for ATOM or being cut up for experiments. For example, the player is able to see the absolute torture inflicted by Dr. Steinman. As he operates on a horribly injured woman, surrounded by his failed surgeries for perfection hanging from the walls.  The citizens that are still living resemble monsters more than humans. With some even crawling on the walls and screeching like creatures. The only thing they can think about is satisfying their addiction to ATOM and they will try to get it no matter the cost. Whether that means attacking other citizens, or even attacking children.

Little Sisters were created with the sole purpose of satisfying the citizens addiction for ATOM which is used to biologically enhance them. The Little Sisters are a mixture of orphans, and children that were ripped away from their homes. Morality was thrown out the window when it came to these children. Not only where they taken away from their families, they were taught to distrust their mothers and love Big Daddy’s with the use of electric shocks. They spent their time crawling through dark tunnels and leaving only to retrieve ATOM. In order to become suitable enough to retrieve the ATOM they had to go through the painful procedure of having a slug implanted in their stomach which turned once innocent little girls, into deranged monsters. They only think about retrieving ATOM from dead bodies and completing the job they were given. Once they are too old to complete their purpose, they are disposed off permanently. The citizens of rapture attempt to constantly kill the Little Sisters for their ATOM, which is the reason that Big Daddy’s were created to protect them. Innocent children are subjected to endless suffering, and delusions just to satisfy humanity’s greed in rapture for power and indulgence.

There are multiple choices in the game that the player is given. From big decisions such as the choice to either harvest or rescue the Little Sisters to smaller decisions such as looting corpses. Almost every single body that you discover or create in the game you are able to loot. Whether it is a splicer that just attacked the player, or an innocent human that died to horrible torture. A choice of morality, or receiving power in the game in terms of ammo, first aid, money, etc. A choice that all of the monsters in Rapture are given, yet they always choose greed. The question is, when it comes to you as a player are you going to make the same decision as the monster before you? By deciding to harvest the children, you are able to have greater advancements in the game by acquiring more ATOM. The game itself asks the player to weigh this moral dilemma as it can be seen that the horrible monsters in rapture choose their self-preservation over morality. Whether you decide to follow in their footsteps or make a different choice is completely up to you. But the consequences of your actions cause the little girls to die, and for the others to fear you. In the end your decision also leads to Jack taking over the surface world and turning into a splicer himself after harvesting the rest of the children in Rapture. But if the player decides to follow their morality over their greed for enhancements and power in the game, they are able to save them. Jack instead is looked at as a savior instead of a villain. At the end of the game Jack goes to the surface taking the little girls with him and providing them with a normal life that they were never able to experience in Rapture. They can grow up and be there for Jack in his final moments of life, he is given the family that he always wanted.

Constantly we are surrounded by the greed of humanity. From the poaching and killing of endangered animals for their tusks and skin, to the pollution of our air and water sources from huge corporations to cut costs. Humans become so desensitized to the violence and injustice that occurs in our society. Bioshock allows you to view it from a different lens. Instead of seeing humans commit atrocities, we see monsters. We are able to see the destruction, bloodshed, and carnage that is created when humanity decides that morals can be pushed to the side to satisfy one’s need for power. As stated by Jonathan Thornburg Rapture, is “the end result of completely unrestrained capitalism, where the owners have power over the rest, and the ends (money) justify the means (literally dangerous business practices)” (Thornburg, par. 16).  In the game, we are seeing the greed for power, justify the horrendous acts committed in Rapture. Children being abused, and manipulated to satisfy the ravenous addiction to ATOM that infects the citizens. Once normal creative people, turning into murderous monsters. The player given the choice to partake in the insanity or to make a different decision. The question is, are you going to partake in the greed that has taken form in humanity, in the game and in reality or are you going to choose another path?

Bibliography

Thornburg, Jonathan. “BioShock: The Failed Experiment.” Medium, SUPERJUMP, 8 June 2021, https://superjumpmagazine.com/bioshock-the-failed-experiment-9d8909d06591.

Coming into this semester I had a fair amount of experience playing video games but I never sat down and thought about what makes them so great.  After playing the games we played in class this semester like The Walking Dead, Bioshock, Chrono Trigger, and many more I got to really think about how good video games can tell a story and teach us real life lessons.  What was even better than this was hearing what the rest of the class took out of playing the games and discussing topics that really made us think about what the games were teaching us and how they apply to real life.  A question that many people were forced to ask themselves in the beginning of this semester was does video games fit into common literature?  At first I didn’t really have a full answer to this question but now the answer seems much more clear.  Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t.  When it doesn’t fit in it is usually more like a painting, it is something you experience and make you feel a certain way but doesn’t really teach you much.  When it does it is in my opinion much better than any book or movie, this is because when you are playing a game you are given much more control of what happens inside of it which really amplifies what the creators are trying to get across.  I am looking forward to what I can learn from video games in the future whether it is revisiting games I played before or new ones that i find in the future.