My view on video games has changed drastically since taking this class and made me put in perspective what video games are all about. Taking this class was very interesting in multiple different ways and made you think about things involved with video games that you don’t ever really think about. This class has broadened my horizons and made me try games that I would have never even thought of playing. Taking this class made you really think about the personality of characters in the game and the details of the storyline and the game mechanics and how each thing works. I also learned how games can have different endings when you would think that it is a video game that it would all be the same and thought it was really interesting that this was because it was based on all of the decisions that you had made throughout the whole game.

Yes, I believe that my relationship with video games has really changed since starting this class because this class made you think about characters and mechanics in a much different way rather then just playing a game for enjoyment. Since taking this class I feel like that I understand more of the characters emotions and really made feel a connection with some characters that I never really felt when playing video games on my own. This made me want to keep playing the game and keep playing as that character more and more because I felt like I was in their shoes making the decisions like it was my body. I also think that my relationship with games has changed because of all the theories and different prospective that each person in the class thought of while playing the game. It was interesting to hear all of the different theories that each person thought of while playing the game and all of the stories and different emotions each person thought about when playing as that character.

I do think that I will continue to think about video games through there literature because there is a whole different perspective you will have for the game and a whole different view on playing games and what they are all about. I think I will continue this conversation because it also made the games more enjoyable to play and addictive because you wanted to figure out the whole story and get answers. Thinking of literature in video games is something that I have never done before but really glad I took this class to see video games in a way different perspective.

The next game that I think I am going to play is probably the story mode in the new NBA 2k 22 because this is a game that I really enjoy playing and will make me think of my character and his decision making in a way different way then I have done in the past. I will also play the new call of duty games because I think they have one of the best game mechanics in all of games. Overall, I really enjoyed taking this class and made me think of video games that I haven’t never before.

Trent Smoot

Professor Nyland

ENG-281

10/22/21

What Theme does Bioshock Represent?

Bioshock was a very interesting game that we had played during class. It is a game that had a lot of twists and turns in its plot which made the game entertaining to play because you didn’t know what was coming next. Bioshock is a game that is violent and dark due to all the events that the story and game want us to follow. Bioshock represents the theme of Jack needing to save the world from Frank or Atlas trying to take over all of the security. There are multiple ways that this theme is shown throughout the game like when Jack can be controlled by a magic/special phrase that would control his every move, Jack finding out who Ryan is and saving the sisters at the end of the game. Bioshock represents the theme of saving the world of Rapture throughout the storyline of this game.

Bioshock was the first game of the Bioshock series to come out which was August 21st, 2007 which had standard and limited edition types of games. Bioshock is a very violent game and action packed with tons of adventures to save the world from Frank to take down the security systems for the whole world of Rapture and take out the ADAM that Frank injects into himself to make himself a dangerous monster.

The story starts as Jack being a passenger on the plane when all of a sudden the plane faces a tragic plane crash that Jack is the only one who survived. When swimming to shore Jack finds this bathysphere that opens up the underwater world of Rapture. The first thing that shows the theme is at the beginning of the story when Jack first gets into Rapture when Atlas helps Jack all the way to shore which makes me think that Atlas or Frank knew exactly what he was doing by trying to help Jack make it through the world of Rapture because he knew that Jack was Ryan’s son and would need him to access the bathysphere network because only the people who have most of the same genetics of Ryan can access the network.

Ryan then attacks Jack not knowing that he was his son and uses the system to use Splicers against him. The only way to survive this according to Atlas is that to use powers given by plasmids which would make him powerful. Jack didn’t get any of these powers until he meets Dr. Tenenbaum where he convinces Jack to save the little sisters then kill them. Dr. Tenenbaum gives him the plasmids to save them by killing each of the sea slugs in them that would make them normal human girls. This is the second event that demonstrates the common theme of saving the world of Rapture because Ryan and Dr. Tenenbaum know that Atlas isn’t the person he says that he is and wants Jack to not do what he says. Atlas wanted Jack to kill the little sisters because Atlas knew exactly who Ryan was and was trying to use Jack as an advantage to kill the little sisters putting nothing in the way of Atlas or Frank to take over Rapture.  Then Atlas takes Jack to a submarine that allegedly his family was at but when they are there Ryan has the submarine destroyed killing all who were inside. At this moment was when I think Ryan realized that Atlas wasn’t on their side and figured out he wanted to destroy them.

When Atlas tells Jack to kill Ryan Jack confronts him and tells him that he is his father and his mother is a woman named Jasmine Jolene and that he was born in Rapture only 4 years ago and made him genetically modified that makes him mature very quickly. These are associated with the theme of saving Rapture because this made it possible for Jack to be able to save the world and have the powers and abilities he can have. This also puts Jack in a difficult situation of who to follow and who to listen to for advice and to help moving forward.

Jack then was put under the control of Frank by using the magic phrase that would make him do anything that they order him to do. The phrase the Jack would do anything to on command is “would you kindly” and this is because Frank bought his embryo and designed him to obey anything after that phrase. Jack’s mission was to board another flight with a package that included a revolver and hijack and crash the plane right near the lighthouse where the first plane Jack was on near the lighthouse so that he can return to Rapture and have Frank being able to control him. This is where Jack finds Ryan again and Ryan has Jack kill him because he wanted to die on his terms and not be defeated by Frank. Shortly after Ryan has Jack kill him Jack realizes that he shouldn’t have done that and should have stayed with Ryan because Jack realizes that he is being controlled by Atlas using the trigger phase. This represents the theme of trying to save the world of Rapture because this is the turning point in the game that Jack realizes that he needs to figure out how to separate himself from Atlas or Frank so he can defeat Frank on taking over the world. Frank was only taking advantage of Jack to use his abilities to take over the bathysphere network and take over the world.

Atlas realizes that Jack thinks that there is something up and tells him that he has faked his death and his real name is Frank Fontaine and faked his death so that he would throw Ryan off track of the bathysphere system and take over the city of Rapture. This plan could not possibly work without the help of Jack activating the bathyspheres systems again because he was the only one who would be able to. This makes Jack have a mission to escape from Frank and to save the world of Rapture and destroy Frank once and for all. This is when Jack knew Frank was evil and wanted to take control of Rapture and only used him for his abilities.

Dr. Tenenbaum then helps Jack escape through the air vents and injures himself falling through the vent making him unconscious and not responsive. While Jack is unconscious Dr. Tenenbaum breaks the magical phase that would control him. When Jack regains his health he tracks down Frank with the little sisters. This event represents the theme of saving the city of Rapture because if Jack knows he can defeat Frank then there are no others that would be able to control the city of Rapture due to Jack being the only one left to activate the systems again. Jack knows If he can defeat Frank then the city of Rapture would be saved.

As Jack tracks down Frank they surround him Frank turns to his plan B and injects himself with this type of Atom that makes him become a monster which makes him stronger and has a bunch of powers. Jack then battles Frank which then becomes a fight to the death because neither would back down with Frank trying to get control of Rapture and Jack trying to save the city of Rapture. Through a tough battle Jack ends up defeating Frank and the little sisters remove the ADAM from his body that kills him. As a result, Jack needs to save the little sisters by running his hand over their heads to return them to their normal state of mind. By saving all of the little sisters the ending concludes as Jack taking in all of the little sisters as his own which shows their graduation, getting married, and having children. Then to end the game it’s all of the little sisters surrounding his grave in misery. This ensures the theme of the whole game of Jack saving the world of Rapture because he achieves his goal of defeating Frank Fontaine and protects the legacy of his father Ryan for saving the bathysphere system and control of the city Rapture. This also shows the theme because of the events that happened after defeating Frank because Jack takes the little sisters in like his own and is portrayed as a hero because they knew they wouldn’t have the life that they had without Jack and his heroics because Frank would have taken over the whole city of Rapture and who knows what could have happened. You can also see this in the last scene where the sisters are looking onto his deathbed and the looks in their faces of how much Jack has meant to them and how much he meant to the whole city because without him Rapture would have never been the same.

Overall, I think that the theme throughout the game is Frank trying to take over the world of Rapture and Jack trying to save the world because of Frank hiding things from Jack when Jack was trying to be his friend, using the magic phrase to put him under Franks control, and much more. Overall, I think playing this game was interesting due to all of the twists and turns that the storyline and how action-packed the game was. This game made me put myself out there and try new games that maybe I would have never tried before.

The game Chrono Trigger has been a very interesting and confusing experience when playing this game. The most interesting thing about this game is how far in time that this game takes you in the past and in the future. I thought that this was interesting because it shows what it thinks the world is going to be like back in the past and what it could look like in the future. I also thought it was interesting that you could play as multiple characters throughout the game which was something very different other than playing as one character like Bioshock.

I think that Chrono Trigger has met expectations for a 1995 game because I didn’t really think that the idea of time travel was a factor or even possible during this time period in history. This is one of the first ideas about time travel, I thought that back to the future was the first Idea of time traveling. I also thought that the graphics were pretty good for a 1995 video game, there were very good and clear aminations which made it really clear to interact with all of the characters. I also thought that the game play was good for a 1995 game but nearly not as good as games there are today.

I feel as if the story can go in any different direction due to all of the time travel that they have already done. The place that I left off at is when Janus and the three Gurus plan was to all spread out throughout time to stop Lavos return.  I think that this story now can go in any sort of direction because you won’t know all of the twist and turns that this game can have due to all of the decision you have to make.

I think that the game place has been very confusing because of how many times that you go through time. The atmosphere changes throughout the whole game to complete all of the objectives to complete in the game. I also think that it is very weird when it goes back in time to an apocalyptic period because you never know what is going on. Overall this game has given me a very interesting experience.

I thought that playing Bioshock Infinite was a very interesting experience because of how many twists and turns happen within this game and all of the questions left unanswered at the end of the game. Overall I thought this game was also kind of similar to the first BioShock in multiple different ways.

I thought Bioshock Infinite was very interesting because of all of the time travel which made it very confusing of what characters you were interacting with and what time period you are actually in when getting past some of the levels. For example, when the twins are told that they are not really twins but are two versions of the same quantum from two different realities. This made me question how any of this is possible and made me confused about how they can basically be the same person but in different genders.  Another example of this was when Elizabeth is going through these different universes and is forced to kill Fitzroy to prevent them from killing the Founder Boy. This made me really confused but made me get the point that doing objectives in other universes will change things in different universes as well. This is something that was very different from the previous BioShock games because there weren’t any time travel objectives that you had to complete and to understand the whole story.

Another reason why I thought this game was really interesting was that the ending because I didn’t really understand how Elizabeth could exist in multiple universes and how certain body parts like her finger only being in Roberts reality and the rest of her body in Rosalind’s. The ending scene is what I thought was really interesting and made me have some theories about the whole story. They realize that the only way to defeat the boss or Cornstock is to keep him from getting created in the first place. Booker then goes to get baptized for his sins from wounded knee but avoids it to father his daughter Anna. But in the other universe, Booker takes the baptism and found religion, and became Cornstock. Booker arranges Anna’s capture and is at the baptism while other Elizabeth’s are joining to drown Booker to stop Cornstock from ever existing. As this happens each Elizabeth disappears and the screen goes black. This was really interesting and made me think of how many questions were left unanswered as to what really happened to the other Elizabeths. My theory is that all of the Elizabeth’s disappear and die because why wouldn’t they just go back to the universe they were from which made me think Elizabeth sacrificed herself to save Booker to father his daughter. In the cut ending scene, Booker awakens to his daughter Anna as the screen cuts black which makes me think his world goes back to normal and is safe from Cornstock.

Blog Post: How has your progress through Bioshock been so far? How does it compare to the original? Were they able to maintain that Bioshock feels/world/play even though we’re in a new place with new characters?

I believe that I have only played up to around half of the game so far and have really enjoyed it. I made it to the part when Elizabeth is forced to kill Fitzroy so that she doesn’t end up killing the founder boy. I thought so far this game has been very interesting but I do believe that I like the original BioShock better than this one so far because I felt more attached to all of the characters and the story that I haven’t really felt throughout playing this game.

This story first started by when the main character Booker Dewitt is taken by these really creepy and mysterious and taken to a lighthouse off the coast of Maine which then is given instructions to “bring us the girl and wipe away the debt” then is flown to Columbia. Booker tries to stay on the down-low but is identified with the letters branded on his hand that say “AD” which is the sign of a false shepherd which is lead to Columbia’s downfall. Booker now becomes wanted and saves Elizabeth who is captured In the tower. Booker finds a device called the siphon which would give him the powers Elizabeth has. After Elizabeth is saved her songbird destroys the tower. As these two move forward they plan to the airship to Paris but go to New York because the booker’s mission was to deliver her to the twins as Elizabeth figures this out she knocks Booker out and escapes. When Booker wakes up the airship is taken over by rebels which then offers to return it if he finds a shipment of weapons from Columbia. Then Booker meets up with Elizabeth again they are threatened by the rebels and they attack. Elizabeth is forced to kill Fitzroy and then tries to save Columbia till they are attacked again by Songbird and crash back into the city.

This compares to the original BioShock because there are a lot of twists and turns within the storyline of the game. I think this game gives you more freedom than the original BioShock because you are allowed to pick up and drop certain weapons that you want. This also compares to the first BioShock because of all the action scenes that they are and gives off the same plot of having to save the world.

Yes, I do think that they were able to maintain the Bioshock feel because they are kind of doing the same thing and have the same objectives of trying to save Columbia. They also maintain the same because a lot of the characters to me would have fit in also in the original Bioshock somewhere in the plot. This also gives the same feel because these characters also have superpowers to help fight against all of the villains you encounter. Overall, I thought this BioShock Infinite is very interesting but still like the original better.

Playing Bioshock was a really interesting experience. This game to me was more action packed then every other game that we played that took a lot of twist and turns. This game started that the main character Jack was a passenger on a plane which eventually crashes in the ocean. Jack is the only survivor from this accident and finds the entrance to the underwater city of Rapture where Atlas takes Jack to a submarine that which Ryan has destroyed what makes Jack on a mission to kill Ryan. As Jack finds Ryan and finds out a lot about his own life like being born in Rapture only 4 years ago and why Jack is able to do these things at only 4 or 5 years old that he was genetically modified which makes him grown very rapidly. Jack also figures out that Ryan is actually his father with a women named Jasmine Jolene. Jack also finds out that Frank Fontaine can give him orders by only using the phrase “would you kindly” which would make him do anything that he would say.

As Jack finds out that he can be controlled by Frank, Frank orders that Jack has to get on another flight with a revolver and hijack the plane and crash it right near the lighthouse when his plane before crashed. As Jack returns to Rapture this allows Frank to use him to access the bathysphere network because Jack was the only one who could access this system by being Ryan’s biological son. This is when Ryan wants Jack to kill him because Ryan wanted to die on his own terms and realizes that Frank was only using him by using the trigger word to access the bathysphere network. Atlas is then found out that he is really Frank Fontaine who faked his death to throw Ryan off his trail so that he had a better chance to take over the city of Rapture.

Jack then finds Dr. Tenenbaum and the little sisters to help him escape where he becomes really injured to a fall. As Jack is knocked out Dr. Tenenbaum figures out a way for Jack to stop responding to the trigger word. Jack gets help from the little sisters to track down Frank. Frank has become really powerful at this point by injecting ADAM’s in his system basically making him a super human. Jack defeats Frank in battle and takes out the Adam killing Frank.

To conclude the game Jack needs to try and save all of the sisters lives which in my form of the game I successfully saved all of the sisters which then Jack takes care of them. Then shows that Jack and all of the sisters live happily ever after due to scenes showing the sisters graduation and getting married.

Some life lessons that I learned from this game is that you can’t always trust you closest allies because they could end up turning on you. I also learned that you never really know who you truly are unless you discover it for example, Jack finding his real dad Ryan and finding out his true story of when he came from. Overall I really enjoyed playing this game and cant wait to play the next one.

Playing the game The Walking Dead Season one I went through a series of emotions while playing it. The game was very interesting, depressing, and kind of scary in many different ways. I thought the ending of season one was very frightening and sad because you had to decide whether or not Clementine shoots her best friend Lee or for Lee to convince Clementine to leave the situation. I choose to have Lee try to get Clementine to leave because Clementine and Lee had this ultimate connection throughout the game  that I thought could never be broken nor did I want to be the person who killed their relationship. I also choose this decision through strategy because Lee was one who was really loyal to Clementine throughout the whole game so if something did happen to the group I knew that Lee would always be by my side. Lastly, why I choose this decision was because Clementine has already been through enough with losing her parents and going through an apocalypse and topping it on with killing her best relationship through all of these events I don’t think that she would ever be able to recover from all the loses that she has experienced. But in the end anyway Lee does end up dying anyway which made it a really emotional moment for the whole group especially Clementine. Even though that Lee dies anyway I’m still glad that I choose this because the memories between the two of them will always be the same and that nothing ever came in between them.

I would change a one decisions that I have made when playing this game because since it is a game I knew the things wasn’t real and only in the video game and since it is a game there is always going to be bad decisions made to fit the plot. For example the decision when to push Ben down or not and a lot of people (based on the class discussion) didn’t and realizing that he was going to die later made think that I maybe should have pushed him just knowing now that he was going to die later anyway no matter what. Other than that I don’t think I would have changed any other decision because I tried to make the most strategic smart moves that were best for the whole group rather than being selfish and making decisions for who I do and don’t like.

The most non-player characters that effected my decision making was quote “The most frequently cited moments involved the death of NPCs with whom players had spent considerable time during gameplay. Players wept over losing valued and trustworthy companions.” Because you got to watch the players interact and form relationships with each other which connect to your personal self as well. Once you see these relationships build you don’t want them to end or have anything bad happen to them. I thought it was interesting the game was unique to everyone’s experience and how people liked more relationships then others that effected there decisions in the game as well.

Overall, throughout this game it took me through many emotions and thought it the last episode was very emotional. I also enjoyed playing this game because it was a game that I wouldn’t really think about playing because I didn’t watch the show before this and not the type of game that I normally play. But the plot twist and decisions kept me interested in the game which made me really enjoy playing it.

Having only being played up to the middle of episode 2 I think that I have had a good experience playing this game. This is a game that I haven’t played before and something that normally doesn’t interest me. I don’t think I have played this before because I wasn’t really big into the show of The Walking Dead because I thought that it was very frightening and suspenseful. This game makes you make really tough decisions which makes the storyline of this game. You have to decide whether or not to save someone or let them die and get eaten by zombies.

There were a few things that I thought stood out to me while playing the beginning of The Walking Dead video game first I really liked the gameplay and graphics that it offers. The graphics are something that is very different from the TV show as it is real people rather when this video game is animated. The graphics I thought were pretty impressive for the game being a few years old. Something that also stood out to me was the gameplay and storyline that this game gives. The game remembers every decision that you make throughout the game what makes the whole storyline. I also like how the game makes you choose your own story by giving the power for making your own decisions based on which characters you like the most.

The characters I thought that I bonded with the most was Lee who is the character that you play as in the game. I like Lee because since he is making the decisions it makes me feel like that I am really him and feel all of the emotions that he is going through. I also liked learning about Lee’s backstory and how he wasn’t the best guy trying to change to be better. Another character that I really connected with was Clementine because she is the other main character that you basically are trying to protect. I bonded with Clementine because of the past that her and Lee have it makes you want to protect her no matter what.

Based on the choices I have made I think I am trying to do what makes the most sense for the group like when making the decision with Carly, to me it was more obvious and safe to choose Carly over Doug due to the fact that she had a gun and more bullets in the gun then Doug did. To me Doug had nothing for the group that Carly could have brought (even though she doesn’t know how to use batteries) she had something that could protect the whole group which just made sense to me.  Overall so far I have really enjoyed playing this game and cant wait to finish!