Feelings.....

This past week was Thanksgiving. It was a treat to be able top see family and friends whom I have not seen in a long while. My job keeps me super busy with 6 day work weeks, so getting out of town is kind of a rarity. There was good times and good food to be had around the table, and afterwards in a food induced coma. Taking the time off from work and getting to go see my family (and eat copious amounts of food) certainly did the body and soul good. I wonder if video game characters get a chance to do anything like this?

I know, I know, I know. They're just video game characters and don't need things like food or air, but video game characters are digital representations of human beings. Despite these characters being heroes, legends, and doing the impossible on a daily basis, they're still human... ish. Part of that disconnect that players experience with video game characters, is that there isn't really anything to relate to. There's always the assumption that there is some kind of human emotion that drives the characters towards their goals, but it's lost in the poor writing or even the gameplay.

What drives Mario to save Peach? Love? What drives Link to save Hyrule? Destiny? What drives Nathan Drake to save the world? Responsibility? I know that when undertaking anything, there is more than just one emotion that goes through our heads. Emotions are weird and complicated things, and I can't claim to fully understand them, but we as humans are emotional beings. We think, we feel, we want, we need. This is part of what makes us human, and to see video game characters lack the basic human trait of emotion creates a divide between them and their controller.

Games are getting better. It's true. The Last of Us, The Wolf Among Us, Gone Home, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, are all games that show emotion. These games get players emotionally invested, as well getting them engaged with the gameplay. When playing The Wolf Among Us, I was conflicted and confused several times throughout the game at what decision I should make. I related to Bigby because of his emotions towards different characters. In Gone Home, I discovered the story of what had happened to my family during my time away. I related towards the characters in their day to day struggles of the mundane, and the conflict that came when something out of the ordinary entered their lives. These games are relatable, and the fact that I am the one who takes control over these character, the fact that I am the one who controls their actions, not guiding them but rather controlling them, that is what makes the difference to me. I assume the roles of these characters. I have to become them. I have to understand their world, and how they fit into it. If I stand on the outside and do what I, the player, want to do, there is a disconnect. If I become that character, and do what I think they would do, it becomes a different experience.

Of course, there are games out there that let me, as the player, take control of a character that is a complete blank slate and I am the one who makes the decisions for them. In a sense, these charactes are better, because they are a way for me, the player, to experience the world that has been created. Not only that, but to shape it as well. I'm no space marine, nor will I ever be, but Commander Shepard from Mass Effect can give me a small taste of what that is like. I'm no Jedi, I really want to be but chances are slim. Knights of The Old Republic gave me that opportunity to be a Jedi, and I did it my way.

Video game characters may just appear as a collection of polygons arranged in a way that looks human, but they really can be so much more than that. These characters can be us. We can take on the roles of these characters, and become someone else for a day. We can break free from our day to day, and do something awesome. We can save the princess, we can slay a dragon, we can fight robots, explore far off lands, distant planets, and become the hero. As Richard Peck says, "I read because one life isn't enough, and in the page of a book I can be anybody; I read because the words that build the story become mine, to build my life; I read not for happy endings but for new beginnings; I'm just beginning myself, and I wouldn't mind a map;...." And I think that the same can be said for video games. To pick up a game and become invested in its story, characters, and its universe can be an experience that is most excellent. Perhaps we can even learn to be a bit more human from playing something truly extraordinary, or just laugh at how badly it's written and screw around with NPCs. Ah video games, what a strange medium you are.