Video game symphonies and orchestral concerts are a really cool thing. They bring together people who are fans of video games, and appreciators of music, people who might not even play the video games whose soundtracks are showcased. I've been to a few concerts in my time, and I love them all.
A few weeks ago I went to see The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses. It was a fantastic show, that was well organized, and all of the arrangements of the classic music from days of 16-bit graphics blew me away.I love The Legend of Zelda games, and talk about them often on this blog. Seeing, and hearing the music live was an amazing experience that I'm glad I was able to attend.
There was an enormous projector screen that showed Zelda game footage. There was a tidal wave of nostalgia and awe that washed over me as I heard the symphony and was entranced by the visuals of the classic franchise. I've seen other video game concerts before, but they didn't have quite the same resonance that this one did. The other concerts were either solely Final Fantasy music, or a smattering of games that I enjoyed, but never had the same kind of attachment that I have with Zelda. Suddenly, I got it, and it made the concert so much better. Every time a clip from a Zelda game that I played, which was most of them that were shown, came on the screen I remembered exactly where I was when I was playing it. It was an incredible feeling that made the concert ten times better.
The concert itself was great, I managed to get seats that were only two rows back from the stage. I could look at an instrument, and single out its sound, and hear it directly from the instrument itself. It was really cool. The compositions of Koji Kondo were rearranged to fit the orchestra stage, and it was amazing. The show felt more genuine than the last video game orchestra that I attended. The hosts, and the conductor were actual fans of the Zelda franchise, having grown up with them and appreciating them the same way that we did in the audience. It felt good to be among my fellow gamers, and go to something classy like an orchestra.
The really cool part of the concert, was that it was an actual symphony. Symphonies are a way of telling a story with the music and compositions of their composers. Zelda is all about the classic story of Hyrule, a story that we've heard time and time again. the feeling of seeing the video and hearing the live music was overwhelmingly wonderful. That night, I truly did go on adventure through the land of Hyrule. I was right there with Link as he fought Ganon, and saved the world, just as he always does.
I think that video game concerts are a good way to get video games out there and more widely appreciated. I know that that's making the argument for "video games need to be taken seriously", and while that's kind of true. I think that what I want to achieve is to have a mass appreciation for video games. Video games combine a multitude of different components from different mediums to create something of their own. Writing, orchestrating, art, gameplay, animation, and pretty much everything in between. The composed music of these video games, is something that sticks with us when we play video games. Music can be appreciated by anyone, regardless of whether or not they've played the video game, or games, that is being showcased.
And while video game can be appreciated by everyone, it can be recognized by the people who played the video games. Those people who play video games are those who spend most of their time doing just that. I may be a social recluse myself, but I know that when to be respectful of others and toward those who are performing a symphony. Here's where it must be said that in order for video games to be taken seriously, acknowledged as an art form, or at the very least appreciated, we, as gamers, need to grow up. We have grown up with these games, we have matured with these games. We should also be growing up as people. Growing up to be adults, or at the very least, be respectful individuals. Here's why I bring this up: during the concert, several people played the "last clap game". That is something that, even when you played it in grade school, was immature and just plain stupid. These people were at the orchestra, and they played the last clap game. This is upsetting and disturbing. I'm sure that a majority of the people that were playing this game were above the age of 7, and that makes it all the more worse. I'm not okay with this, and for good reason. However, the concert itself was amazing enough to wash away my disdain for this act of immaturity.
Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses is an amazing concert, that I recommend to everyone to go see. If I could, I would go see it again. Though, maybe I would see it a few rows back, my neck was kind of sore from staring up at the screen. Video game concerts of all kinds are a great thing, that can bring more people into this wonderful world of video games that we gamers inhabit. Plus, it gives me an excuse to dress up all fancy and sport a bowtie.
Showing posts with label Link. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Link. Show all posts
Monday, October 28, 2013
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Going down....
There has always been something genuinely unsettling about going downward in video games with me. When I was young, I lived in a house that had a creepy basement, as did we all. I was scared of the dark, the things that went bump in the night, and the creatures of the shadow. That basement embodied every one of those fears. It was dank, dark, desolate, and all kinds of scary. Yet, I still had to brave that basement to get to what I desired: my Nintendo Entertainment System. Eventually, I overcame my fear of that basement, and I realized that there was really nothing to be feared. During the summers I would spend with my dad, I would actually spend time in his equally scary basement. My dad had a Super Nintendo. He also had The Legend of Zelda: A Link to The Past. I would later realize that it's one of the quintessential Zelda games to be played, but back then, it was the thing that would bring back all of those fears of going downstairs into my creepy basement.
Recently I was reading on Kotaku, an interesting article discussing this advertisement. In the article, there is a line discussing the "threshold" that players must gather up the courage and cross in order to save the world, or complete their objective. "Traversing the known to the unknown requires you to cross an important threshold: fear." It is true that we cross into the unknown when we play video games, but often times, we go across that threshold with a casual stride. Perhaps this comes from my old age and experience with video games, but games seem to have lost that appeal. I don't like to get scared, but I like overcoming fears. I love games that give me that sense of overcoming something, and gathering up that courage to achieve my quest. Because the bad guys aren't the only enemy in that game. It's also myself.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to The Past, and many other Zelda games that I've played, helped me to overcome my fears. They've helped me journey into that unknown without fear. In Zelda games, players take control of Link, just a young and ordinary lad, who also happens to be the holder of the Triforce of Courage. It's really become clear just how much they push the whole courage aspect of Zelda. Every single dungeon in Zelda is a force to be reckoned with. Each one has a momentous sense of being and terror. These are landmarks, filled with mystery, evil, and monsters. The player acts as a light in that darkness. It is dangerous to go alone, and that's what makes Zelda such a brilliant and fearful affair.
Often times in the dungeons, the player must travel downward. Going down a flight of stairs in Link to the past has a sense of foreboding danger. The player couldn't see what was on the other end of that staircase, and Link went off screen. Who knows what could happen? Traveling deeper and deeper into the depths of an ancient and evil temple, further into the dark, that has meaning, and danger. That's something that requires a lot of courage to undertake.
The Legend of Zelda is a great series that is very important to the video game industry on the whole because of subtleties like these. Games just aren't scary anymore. There are the Dead Spaces, and the FEARs, and some kind of gorefest, but they all have the same thing, which is just gore, and jump scares. That's not scary, it's just disgusting. There's no set up, or meaning to it. It's just an insignificant and pointless scare. There's nothing to overcome. In games like those, you just survive, which is exhilarating in its own right, but I feel as though there isn't a take away from those kind of games and experiences. Zelda is a game that instills fear in the player, but in a way that presents a barrier. Players have to knock down this barrier, and when they do, they feel as though they have accomplished something. They've grown, as a person in a small way.
Zelda is an adventure game, and that means that players get to explore, and experiment, and interact, and discover. I feel that most adventuring games these days don't quite capture those elements of discovery and wonder in the way that Zelda does. Skyrim is a fantastic game that captures those elements of discovery quite well. The first time that you come across a Dwarven Ruin, or a Draconic Tomb, and it's a wonderful feeling of adventure and discovery. Yet, because of the modern format of games, discovery is relegated to an aspect of completion. There's no sense of wonder to it, or even wander for that matter. Skyrim is enormous and has lots and lots to offer, but it just doesn't seem to carry as much weight to it as Ocarina of Time. While the overworld of Ocarina of Time seems like a subdivision compared to the entire country of Skyrim, there seems to be a lot more at stake. In the world of Skyrim, folks don't seem to care much if the world is coming to an end. Sure they talk about it, but the game itself doesn't really seem to care whether or not the hero of the story goes off and joins a guild of thieves or revives a terror of a league of assassins. I know that's what the game is for: just doing stuff, but nothing really takes precedence. I'd think that I should take issue with the whole "world ending" matter, but instead I just raise my arms up in excitement and fight them for the fun of it. Killing a random dragon doesn't affect the outcome, or force any progress, it's just another random battle which has been tailor made for me and my character.
While this has been a bit of a rant comparing Zelda games to others, I think that the point still stands that games don't let the player be afraid anymore. They don't build up an illusion of insurmountable odds that the player has to face not only that, but also themselves. Gamers these days rarely have to gather up courage to take on the challenge that lies before them. I haven't felt that threshold for a very long time, and for as much as I dread it's presence, I honestly kind of miss it.
Recently I was reading on Kotaku, an interesting article discussing this advertisement. In the article, there is a line discussing the "threshold" that players must gather up the courage and cross in order to save the world, or complete their objective. "Traversing the known to the unknown requires you to cross an important threshold: fear." It is true that we cross into the unknown when we play video games, but often times, we go across that threshold with a casual stride. Perhaps this comes from my old age and experience with video games, but games seem to have lost that appeal. I don't like to get scared, but I like overcoming fears. I love games that give me that sense of overcoming something, and gathering up that courage to achieve my quest. Because the bad guys aren't the only enemy in that game. It's also myself.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to The Past, and many other Zelda games that I've played, helped me to overcome my fears. They've helped me journey into that unknown without fear. In Zelda games, players take control of Link, just a young and ordinary lad, who also happens to be the holder of the Triforce of Courage. It's really become clear just how much they push the whole courage aspect of Zelda. Every single dungeon in Zelda is a force to be reckoned with. Each one has a momentous sense of being and terror. These are landmarks, filled with mystery, evil, and monsters. The player acts as a light in that darkness. It is dangerous to go alone, and that's what makes Zelda such a brilliant and fearful affair.
Often times in the dungeons, the player must travel downward. Going down a flight of stairs in Link to the past has a sense of foreboding danger. The player couldn't see what was on the other end of that staircase, and Link went off screen. Who knows what could happen? Traveling deeper and deeper into the depths of an ancient and evil temple, further into the dark, that has meaning, and danger. That's something that requires a lot of courage to undertake.
The Legend of Zelda is a great series that is very important to the video game industry on the whole because of subtleties like these. Games just aren't scary anymore. There are the Dead Spaces, and the FEARs, and some kind of gorefest, but they all have the same thing, which is just gore, and jump scares. That's not scary, it's just disgusting. There's no set up, or meaning to it. It's just an insignificant and pointless scare. There's nothing to overcome. In games like those, you just survive, which is exhilarating in its own right, but I feel as though there isn't a take away from those kind of games and experiences. Zelda is a game that instills fear in the player, but in a way that presents a barrier. Players have to knock down this barrier, and when they do, they feel as though they have accomplished something. They've grown, as a person in a small way.
Zelda is an adventure game, and that means that players get to explore, and experiment, and interact, and discover. I feel that most adventuring games these days don't quite capture those elements of discovery and wonder in the way that Zelda does. Skyrim is a fantastic game that captures those elements of discovery quite well. The first time that you come across a Dwarven Ruin, or a Draconic Tomb, and it's a wonderful feeling of adventure and discovery. Yet, because of the modern format of games, discovery is relegated to an aspect of completion. There's no sense of wonder to it, or even wander for that matter. Skyrim is enormous and has lots and lots to offer, but it just doesn't seem to carry as much weight to it as Ocarina of Time. While the overworld of Ocarina of Time seems like a subdivision compared to the entire country of Skyrim, there seems to be a lot more at stake. In the world of Skyrim, folks don't seem to care much if the world is coming to an end. Sure they talk about it, but the game itself doesn't really seem to care whether or not the hero of the story goes off and joins a guild of thieves or revives a terror of a league of assassins. I know that's what the game is for: just doing stuff, but nothing really takes precedence. I'd think that I should take issue with the whole "world ending" matter, but instead I just raise my arms up in excitement and fight them for the fun of it. Killing a random dragon doesn't affect the outcome, or force any progress, it's just another random battle which has been tailor made for me and my character.
While this has been a bit of a rant comparing Zelda games to others, I think that the point still stands that games don't let the player be afraid anymore. They don't build up an illusion of insurmountable odds that the player has to face not only that, but also themselves. Gamers these days rarely have to gather up courage to take on the challenge that lies before them. I haven't felt that threshold for a very long time, and for as much as I dread it's presence, I honestly kind of miss it.
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