"So... What's The Most Important Part of Video Games?"

I came over to a friends house after a lousy date on Wednesday night, and I regaled them of my recent vacation and my more recent date. As things tend to do with me, the conversation diverged to video game talk. I've made a few new friends here and a lot of them don't know much about me and what I do. I begin to tell them of how I want to change the conversation of video games, why I play them, and how I want to share them with everyone with my writings. She then posed the question of what sets video games apart from other mediums. "What is the most important part of video games?"

I pondered it for a second, but I came back with: "Their interactivity"

This is what matters most about video games, and it's what sets them apart from other mediums. It's interactive storytelling. The story doesn't have to be very good mind you, but all the same the fact that you can play a video game makes it all the more impactful. The fact that you, the player, fought as hard as you could to complete that level, it is an accomplishment. It was all on you to hit that button at the exact moment that was necessary in order to make that jump, shoot the bad guy when his weak spot was exposed, carry on that combo. You did that, and it was awesome.

Video games can do so much, and it's with their level of interactivity that allows us to experience them in some small way. I may never visit another planet, wear a suit of power armor, and use an assault rifle to smash an aliens teeth in, but I can with video games! That's cool. It's because I got to take control of the character, and do all of that stuff through the video game that made it special.

Video games also offer a lot of choice. Whether it's through the options that it gives you with items, such as a sniper rifle or a shot gun, or a varied move set of a character in a fighting game. Players are given the choice to play how they like. With shooters, I prefer to grab an assault rifle and attack the enemy at mid to close range. Meanwhile another player would prefer to keep their distance with a sniper rifle, and pick off crucial enemies from a distance. With fighting games, I like to constantly attack with a particular character, keeping my enemies close and always in range. While another player will use that same character to keep their distance with their opponent, and wait for openings. Games allow us to express ourselves through play styles and options that are given to us.

However, just by making a game interactive can really make an impact on the player. By having interactivity and allowing the player to experience whatever your game has to offer in a pseudo first-hand experience, it can leave quite the impression. The horror game Amnesia, is so powerful because it has interactivity. It is down to the player to take those steps forward, deeper and deeper into the darkness. Players have to push themselves past barrier of fear in order to experience the game, and overcome the game's challenges.

Shadow of the Colossus is a game with fantastic gameplay, and a mysterious story. The gameplay of Shadow of the Colossus allows players to accomplish many great things, including overcoming their fears. In the game, there's a colossus for every kind of thing imaginable. These great creatures represent fear, in its many different forms. For me, it was the gigantic eel colossus. I have a fear of the deep, and it was terrifying for me to willingly dive into the lake where the beast dwell. Because of the interaction with the game, I could feel like I fought the colossus myself. I controlled the character, I fought the colossus, and I came out on top. And actually, this kind of helped me out in a small way. I faced my fear of the deep and won.

Video games put players up against a whole host of things, and because they let us face them ourselves, we grow a little bit as people.

Tell me what you think. Has a game changed your perspective on something or helped you grow in some way? Has the interactivity of a game enhanced your experience of a game because it was you playing it? Let me know in the comments!

Here's a video from Extra Credits on gameplay mechanics as metaphor. I highly encourage that you play the game that they talk about in the video.