Category Archives: Argument

Argument, Bioshock, Edith Finch, Mechanics, Review, Uncategorized

Considering Video Games As Literature Reignites An Old Flame

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Assuming that most of my readers are either teenagers or young adults, and if you are not, think back to when you were younger. Was there ever a point in your life where whenever there was a moment where you would fall from grace, or in other words, come up short in whatever applies to you, your parents or someone opposed to technology would blame it all on your gaming/phone consumption? If so, there were probably moments where you were certain that the opposite party was simply reaching for blame, trying to force an entirely moot point that your technological consumption was the sole reason for your shortcomings. Personally, growing up, any minor academic hiccup I ran into was attributed to gaming consumption itself and how it held no actual value and was nothing but a waste of time. Yes, that is true when consumption reaches extreme levels. However, I have always felt gaming for hours was the same as watching movie after movie (Something my parents do in their free time), given that the same number of hours was spent consuming both forms of media.

Breaking away from that bottled-up teenage rant, I argued that video games should be seen in the same light as other forms of media we view as literary, like novels, poetry, and movies. In the past, my only support for this argument would’ve been games containing a cinematic-type storyline alone. This semester, I learned to look at games differently, which helps find supporting examples for the argument that games should be considered in literary conversation. Before taking this course, if someone were to ask me, “what is a must-have for a game to be literary cannon?” I would have only attributed it to any game containing a cinematic story with so much detail to its in-game cutscenes to the point that it can convincingly be watched in movie form. However, after being introduced to games like What Remains of Edith Finch and the Bioshock series, I learned many more aspects of gaming that could solidify a game as literary cannon outside of a compelling cinematic story. Both games I mentioned here are strong examples of games with the ability to tell their stories through their in-game mechanics, which also supplements their games’ already existing in-game stories.

Looking back, my younger self would one-hundred percent place the entire God of War series as a game that fits the criteria of what places a game in the conversation of video games as literature. This would have been based on the sheer fact that when a player is playing the game, no matter their reason, they unintentionally learn about Greek Mythology through exposure, which can be comparable to watching a movie that can also be educational in a sense. 

 

The earlier installations of God of War can be another excellent example of mechanics telling a story within the game. Although it is not as in-depth as games like Bioshock, writing this blog caused everything to click in the reminiscence of my past playthroughs. To keep it short and sweet, I never paid attention to the player HUD and how it can connect to the character, story, and the nature of the character’s actions, which in this case, was Kratos in the God of War series. In the game, we know Kratos as the God of War, and as depicted from his cutscenes in the past, he feeds off bloodshed, making him even more potent as he goes deeper into his blinding rage. In gameplay, when you defeat enemies, Kratos’s attacks would typically dispose of them in a blood-splattering manner. Killing enemies causes the player’s berserk meter to fill up with each subsequent kill the player gets. The meter exponentially moves when enemies are defeated in succession, resulting in a combo multiplier which can be lucrative to the player as “Berserker Mode” makes defeating enemies much easier, thus, continuing the player’s onslaught. As far as gameplay, this connection can lead a player to blindly button mashing while also enjoying the bloodshed and possibly losing track of what they are doing. An unfortunate death that was the catalyst to the entire game’s story was attributed to this same pattern. To keep it short, in the past, our main character accidentally killed someone of importance to him after going into a mode of blinding blood lust at the wrong place. There are probably many more aspects to the God of War series that I can talk about which can be considered literary canon, but that could potentially shave off 20 years of your life. Lucky for you, though, I’ll spare you in my final blog post, but if that is what you desire, say no more. I will be happy to assist you. 

 

If I ever got another PlayStation, I would buy the entire God of War series to go back and play some of them for the first time or better analyze the ones I have already played, given what I have learned this semester. In other news, I do plan to continue the conversation to look at video games the same way we look at other forms of media that hold literary value. I would love to play single-player games again; however, I have no idea what I will play next. I am still very fond of online competitive play, and typically those games do not have much of a story to look into. Although once I reach my peak in all three of my main games, I will certainly get back to playing single-player games since my love for them has been reignited by taking Video Games as Literature this semester.

 

Argument

The Masterful Establishment of a Historical World: L.A. Noire

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L.A. Noire (Video Game 2011) - IMDb

L.A. Noire is a neo-noir detective video game developed by Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games in 2011. Players take control of former US marine officer now by the book police detective Cole Phelps as he rises through the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department in 1947. However, Phelps and the player will soon come to realize that the new and beautiful City of Angles is tainted by the corruption of city politicians, businessmen, and the police.

The opening of L.A. Noire establishes the city of Los Angeles. Los Angeles is introduced as this new and sprawling city where the man kisses the wife goodbye before work, where the dream to become rich and famous through Hollywood or big business is in the forefront. Yet, it is also a place where racism and sexism exists, where unstable World War II veterans are used by politicians and businessmen to commit crimes for capital, and where cops act in the benefit of the higher ups who pay them, not the general population. In order to make this message clear to players without directly spelling it out, Team Bondi needed to establish a raw, realistic, and unforgiving 1947 Los Angeles. If they could not make a believable yet stylized world, the story and characters would simply not work. L.A. Noire establishes a grounded and historically accurate 1947 Los Angeles through the city’s visual design, the actions and attitudes of characters, and the general atmosphere.

As soon as the intro concludes and players are thrown into Cole Phelps’ shoes on a night patrol in Los Angeles, the visual design of the city immediately stands out. The neo-noir style is in full effect with neon signs littered across buildings, cigarette and cola advertisements on billboards, and nightclubs on every other corner. The buildings themselves are relatively short since skyscrapers weren’t a thing there yet, however, construction sites across the city show they are being built taller and taller. Team Bondi even went as far as “digitally stitching together scanned” maps from the 1930’s to create a historically accurate layout and design of Los Angeles (Stoudt).  The abundance of all these details firmly establishes the neo-noir city aesthetic associated with the 1940’s.

LA Noire PS3 Screenshots - Image #4817 | New Game Network

In addition to the detail of the buildings and signs, the cars, apparel, and technology all fit with the time too. Speaking of details, Team Bondi implemented 95 different time period-accurate models of cars for players to find and collect. Not only is it impressive there are nearly a hundred different cars, but they are all unique and historically accurate to the time. Uneven concrete roads and street trolleys further complement the cars and city design.

The apparel worn by every visible virtual inhabitant of Los Angeles just keeps lathering onto the already detailed world. Men in the game primarily wear suits with hats, but zoot suits, buttoned shirts, sweaters, vests, baggy trousers, and work overalls can also be seen. Nearly all women in the game wear dresses with some wearing blouses. Like any historical game should, the clothing is spot on, but what makes this aspect so important to the world L.A. Noire is trying to build is that it is so diversified.  NPCs walking down the sidewalk or in a club are not wearing the same style suit or dress with a couple different colors. They all have a variety of outfits making the people and world feel believable and keeping the player immersed.

The design of technology in the game from telephones to guns is the cherry on top of this visual masterpiece of a world. During sections of the game where Phelps and other characters use guns, the Colt 1911, Browning Automatic Rifle, Thompson, and M1 Garand all make appearances. Radios can be found in every house entered during the game, along with vintage style telephones and refrigerators. During a traffic case, Phelps reconnects pipes on a water heater and showing players how visually different the technology was back then (L.A. Noire “The Driver’s Seat”). From the look of the buildings and signs to the cars and clothing, L.A. Noire establishes a visually stylized and historically accurate design of 1947 Los Angeles.

While the aesthetic of the city and people are definitely an important first step, the actions and attitudes of the characters also contribute to the overall establishment of the world. The first and most glaring attitude this game depicts through certain characters is racism. In many games today, racism is depicted in a way where the characters tell or suggest to the player it is wrong. L.A. Noire does not do this; rather, it shows racism in a raw and realistic way. Aside from Phelps, whenever white characters interact or speak of black characters, there are racist undertones. Black people are referred to as Negroes and are frequently harassed by certain white characters throughout the game. In cases involving black victims, cops will often downplay the crime and not care as much. The first and most shocking instance of racism is in the final traffic case when Phelps’ future Vice Department partner Roy Earle takes Phelps and Bekowsky to the Blue Room Jazz Club where Earle snaps at the black manager Alfonse for touching him and later says, “What an evening I’m having, first a negro puts his hand on me then this” (L.A. Noire “The Fallen Idol”). While hard to watch at times, these actions, spawned from historically accurate racial prejudice, retain immersion in the world. The game is not saying racism was bad, it is showing how bad it was.

In addition to racism, sexism is also depicted realistically. Throughout the homicide cases, partner Rusty Galloway refers to women as “broads” and male characters often talk about women in a demeaning way. While this may be upsetting for modern players, it definitely reinforces the time period of this grounded world.

In general though, characters in L.A. Noire act very differently than people do today. While conversation today is more casual, characters in the game are very formal and polite, particularly Cole Phelps. Phelps is the stereotypical formal gentleman and is well-mannered when he speaks to witnesses in the different cases. Formal language and words such as “sir” or “ma’am” are commonplace in L.A. Noire and reflect how people talked formally in those days. L.A. Noire does not hold back when it comes to the stereotypical actions and attitudes in 1940’s America. Every negative action is raw and uncensored adding depth to the citizens of Los Angeles.

Thirdly, the general atmosphere of L.A. Noire certifies the masterful establishment of its world. Besides the design and visuals of the city already discussed, the in-game music and soundtrack contribute the most to this game’s atmosphere. While driving around the city or entering nightclubs as Phelps, jazz music can be heard constantly over the radio or inside buildings. This goes hand-in-hand with the popularity of jazz at the time as well as the neo-noir tone. The soundtrack also delivers various jazzy tunes in addition to unsettling detective music. While players are at a crime scene looking for clues, there are a few different songs that play; all of which are slow paced, creepy, and anxiety inducing, almost as if the culprit is right around the corner. Combine all these musical choices with the alley shadows and bright lights  and L.A. Noire’s world cohesively comes together.

As just mentioned, the detective gameplay adds a great deal to the atmosphere of Los Angeles. While crime scenes occur in various different places with different tones, many areas are dark with only one source of light. A prime example of this comes in the first Vice case when Phelps is investigating two morphine overdoses in a motel (L.A. Noire “The Black Caesar”). Since Phelps arrives early in the morning, the motel room is very dark and is only lit by the neon signs outside of the windows. This combined with two dead guys stuck with needles creates a disturbing and unsettling atmosphere this world relishes in. See the source imageLos Angeles’ atmosphere in L.A. Noire is highlighted by tonally fit music and sounds along with dark and shadowy crime scenes to investigate in.

Through the general atmosphere, actions and attitudes of characters, and visual design of 1947 Los Angeles, L.A. Noire establishes a grounded and historically accurate world for players to immerse themselves into. The jazz music and tone of crime scenes reflects the neo-noir detective atmosphere this world is built on. The raw depiction of racism and sexism as well as the formality seen in the actions of characters reinforces the realistic nature of the world down to every character. The visual designs of the buildings, advertisements, cars, clothing, and technology reflect the 1940’s grounding Los Angeles in a past reality. Through these points, it is clear Team Bondi’s goal to create and establish a historical and grounded world was successful. If you are a player who loves to be immersed by detailed and atmospheric worlds, L.A. Noire is a must play. If you have already played L.A. Noire, go back and smell the roses because it not only offers unique detective gameplay and a deep story, but also has one of the most grounded and historically accurate video game worlds out there.

Analysis, Argument, Edith Finch

The Masterful Game Mechanics in What Remains of Edith Finch – Analytical Essay

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Imagine going back to your childhood home, reminiscing in memories of the past, only to find out that there is an even deeper, darker story about your family. Throughout the game, What Remains of Edith Finch, you must take a journey down memory lane, experiencing the deaths of each family member, and attempting to figure out just what this “curse” on the family was. What Remains of Edith Finch has superb puzzles, mind-boggling psychological elements, and interactive game mechanics which highly enhance not only the character’s story, but the overall player experience.

As you go through the game, you are guided into bedrooms of the now passed family members, each with clues/journals which help to tell how that family member died. One room had an extremely powerful story, and it was because of the game mechanics involved in telling that story that made it immensely immersive. This story was extremely informative as well because you learned everything you needed to, all while experiencing the characters physical and mental state. Lewis Finch, a fish canner, a hippie, and most importantly he was schizophrenic, to an extent. To start, you are just performing Lewis’ day to day job of chopping fish heads using a mini guillotine and praying that you will not chop off your own hand. As you are doing this, you are hearing Lewis’ psychologist in the background describing how he was in sessions and giving you insight on the things he was seeing. After a few rounds of fish chopping, there is a mini game which appears in the top left of the screen. This mini game is very small, not very detailed, and is easily played, however the catch is that you must keep performing Lewis’ job simultaneously. As you play through the mini game, it slowly progresses and becomes more complex both in art style, and the controls needed to play it. This is what Lewis was experiencing every day, and every day his life would become more consumed by an alternate reality, thus the mini game in the corner would become more complex and begin to take over more of your screen, all while you are still trying to perform Lewis’ job. As you begin to reach the end of his story, the mini game has completely taken over the screen, and the art style went from plain 2D characters with black and white coloring, to a 3D, fully colored world, like a utopia. When you reach the end of the minigame, Lewis’ also dies to a guillotine, which is quite ironic given his occupation. Game mechanics such as taking over the screen with an alternate reality, are what help to push the story even further into the player’s mind, giving them even more to grasp onto and giving them the chance to experience what the character truly went through. No one truly knows what another person has been through unless they experience it themselves, and that is exactly what this game mechanic allows the player to do.

The next story also held no lack of seriously compelling and interactive game mechanics, all driving the story of the character that much further. Molly, Edith’s great aunt, had a very tragic death at the young age of 10. Her story started off with her parents sending her to bed hungry, which leads her to try and find food around her room. Unfortunately, some of the items she decided to eat were not good and quite toxic. After she ate all, she could in her room, she peers out the window and notices a bird, which makes you jump out the window, turn into a cat, and proceed to chase the bird until ultimately eating it. It does not stop there, however. After she eats the bird, she then becomes an owl and wants to hunt the mother rabbits, then a shark which hunts mother seals. The final form she becomes is a sea monster of sorts, that grabs sailors and eats them. When she gets back to her room, she knows the beast is underneath her bed, to which she says, “that I’m going to be delicious (Molly Finch, 2017, L1).” These game mechanics were key to showing the player what Molly went through, and truly made the story interesting. The aspect of truly having no choice but to eat these animals and eventually people is a largely psychologically thrilling element to the story. It also provides the foundation for the game and story, as this is the first story you will experience as a player. It gives you insight into what you will experience as you go throughout each family members room. The mechanic of becoming a bigger predator each time you eat an animal, gives away to the fact that Molly is wanting to ultimately gain power and perhaps eat her parents. It also shows that her hunger was taking over her, like a disease.

At this point, you are probably wondering to yourself, so what? What about this game and its mechanics makes it worthy of an analysis? The story of What Remains of Edith Finch is a complex one, and there are many elements of the game that do not present themselves easily. It takes someone to read in between the lines and present this information. These mechanics are compelling and make the player want to immerse themselves more and learn more about the story. A lot of people tend to focus on just the story and getting to the end, however if we look at the world of Edith Finch, there is so much more to be looked upon and analyzed such as the game mechanics behind all the stories, which only help to emphasize the characters experiences. There are many other authors out there who feel the same way, for example, “But you do it anyway. The story compels. Only in Edith Finch, you don’t just read and sympathize you have to take the controls yourself and make it happen (Ditum, 2017).” Game mechanics matter, they drive the story, and they make the player analyze more than they would otherwise. They also drive the player to make hasty decisions, to make it through the game and reach the end, all while absorbing the information that is being conveyed. Bottom line is, game mechanics are a very important element to the game, and they give the foundation to go even deeper and analyze the game in ways no one ever has. It opens a new world and will continue to for many years to come. Games are only going up from here, and so will the game mechanics and design, making it even more important to analyze and gain information for future generations of gamers to look back on and appreciate.

Works Cited

Ditum, Sarah. “What Remains of Edith Finch and the Art of Inevitability.” Eurogamer.net, Eurogamer.net, 19 Aug. 2017, www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-08-19-what-remains-of-edith-finch-and-the-art-of-inevitability.

What Remains of Edith Finch. Windows PC version, Giant Sparrow, 2017.

 

 

Analysis, Argument, Story

So Why These 5 Games? A look at the games we’ll analyze in Fall 2021

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Telltale's Walking Dead: Season 1
Telltale’s The Walking Dead: Season 1. Hugging Clementine.

Suffice it to say that narrowing down the video game literary canon to just five games for a semester is taxing. There are so many games out there with fabulous stories, trying new things and pushing literary mechanics to their limits. But however wonderful, visionary, or progressive they may be, they’re not all right for the classroom.

So, how did I narrow it down?

For Fall 2021, I wanted to focus on historical importance in context of story-based games. That means choosing games that were the first of their kind to try something, or at least try it well, or games that had a significant impact on video game story-telling culture. Games that were, essentially, ahead of their time.

And of course, they all had to have strong literary elements.

Another thing I had to consider was time. I can only assign 90 hours of homework in 15 weeks for a 3 credit hour class. And while video games should be the bulk of that work for analysis purposes, other assignments also need to be completed to expand knowledge and assess objectives. There are certainly amazing games that we could spend over 90 hours playing, just on their own! I had to also try to balance time with variety. There are a great number of concepts to discuss when we talk about games as literature, and not all of these concepts are best explored in the same type of game.

So I needed meaningful games, that wouldn’t take so long to play that we couldn’t get a variety. And we of course still need time to write.

Cost and equipment is another consideration. Many students taking the class don’t have a console. And even if they do, they don’t all have multiple consoles. And even if they have multiple consoles, they still might not have the *right* console. So any game I chose had to ensure that any student could play, without having to make a costly purchase. And since I wanted to play mulitple games, I also wanted to ensure that the games themselves were not all going to cost $60 each.

Even with these restrictions, there were still a great selection of games to choose from — that said, these restrictions might explain why a game you were hoping to read about or play didn’t make the cut.

So why these five?

What Remains of Edith Finch  is a simple game in terms of actual game play, making it an easy game to break in students not familiar with playing video games. That said, its ease of use says nothing of its emotional and literary depth. One of its levels has been touted as one of the best levels ever designed in video games. It’s use of mechanics as devices for telling story are also remarkable and ahead of its time in some ways. It’s also a much newer game; the newest on the list, giving us a clear sense of where games are now and where they might be headed.

Oh, Telltale. If you’re looking for story-driven games, Telltale has always been ahead of its time here. Even if they did go out of business. While not the best rendition of, well any game, even their early Back to the Future based games were lauded for their sophisticated, nuanced, and on point dialogue. Telltale’s The Walking Dead is another first of its kind done well, one that had a large impact on how people perceived games, and one which integrated directly with graphic novels (Michonne). What better setting to make morality a game than a zombie apocalypse? And I mean that sincerely (zombie moves are always more about morality than gore.). TWD’s use of NPCs to play on your heart strings and your conscious is worth serious discussion any day. It also allows us to explore the traditional approach to branching narratives, and with its final installment, season 4, available, we can look at how the game type has evolved over time. It also will allow us to touch on cinematic language in video games.

Bioshock may look a bit outdated by today’s graphic standards, but in terms of how it used player expectation and video game convention against the player narratively — it was unmatched in its time. Which still really wasn’t that long ago. It’s also an excellent study of world and theme,  and gives us an opportunity to discuss how traditional literary techniques and theories can be used to build amazing games. The game was a master piece of its time, but isn’t without its quirks or mechanic drawbacks by today’s standards; regardless, its a gold-mine for literary discussion.

Following Bioshock with Bioshock Infinite not only gives us a chance to explore how franchises affect story but to also explore video games as literary criticisms! Most as you may have heard of a novel being written, not just as a story, but a critique of culture or even story-telling, Bioshock Infinite takes video games to this meta-level of commentary and dissection. I can’t say too much more without spoiling it, but suffice it to say there are very, very few games that could rival the work it does in this particular area.

One of the things we will do at the end of the class is try to identify modern games that are likely ahead of their time, right now. Games that give us a glimpse into the future. So, a lovely pairing would be going back in time, to 1995 to look at what such a game looked like then. Chrono Trigger, despite nearing 30 years old, is still listed as “the best video game of all time” by a large number of modern critics. It took story seriously in a time where story was just a backdrop for the mascott in other popular games. It used design and music to enhance that story, unlike text-based games (the go-to for story in game play at the time), and took its job seriously, with one of the best video games sound tracks still to this day. Also, though they may not look it now, those graphics were pretty bad ass in 1995. It also used mechanics to tell story and had story directly effect mechanics and levels. A lot of these things may seem common today, but they were unheard of back then. It’s also just a really solid, interactive, branching narrative. Epic, some would say. Though the longest game on the list, there is a ton to talk about here (and finishing won’t be required.).

This array of games gives us experience with dialogue based games, first person shooters, branching narratives, static narratives, and RPGs. Clearly not the full array, but more variety than if I’d chosen some other options. There is also a fairly diverse selection of themes and use of mechanics to tell story, and a wide array of tones and characters considering there are only five games, even if Bioshock and Chrono Trigger offer the most traditional MCs/PCs. I used to include Life is Strange, and strongly considered it again this semester, as it is a brave game (either season) in how it tackles modern culture and themes, but it is similar in game play to TWD, and something had to get cut time wise. Regardless, we’ll still discuss key concepts from these games in class.

We’ll also have numerous opportunities to discuss, play parts of , and explore other games during class time and students are welcome to choose a game not listed above for their analysis essay if they desire, an analysis that will be shared with the class.

There’s plenty to talk about, even more to explore. With our course selections made for the semester, all that’s left is to hit Start.