Thoughts from a Twenty Something Nobody

I was not someone who considered themselves a “gamer” as a child. I asked for a Nintendo DS, because I wanted to play Nintendogs. We got a Wii for my sister's birthday, and together we loved to play Mario Galaxy (1 and 2). After getting the Nintendo DSi, I fell out of video games for a while, until I met a very special person. My husband and I met in our senior year of high school, and the first time we met he was wearing a Portal 2 t-shirt. He had grown up playing games, and has an extensive knowledge of their history, development, and mechanics. One day, I went over to his house and he was playing a new game he thought I would like based on The Walking Dead franchise. Telltale Game’s The Walking Dead, a game where your choices impact the story and characters. The game was released in “Episodes” and the last had just been released. We had been together for just over a month, and he was not planning on finishing the ending when I got there. However, I was curious after watching him finish the 4th episode. He did not want to stop either, so I watched the ending. That was the first time I was emotionally destroyed by a video game.

Fast forward ten years. My husband and I play games almost daily. I generally watch more than I play, (marrying my own personal Let’s Player has its perks). However, I enjoy playing more story driven games on my own. Usually at the recommendation of my husband. I play a few action games, usually with friends, but Role Playing Games (RPGs) are my game style of choice. RPGs vary in tone, style, and mechanics, but the heart of a good RPG is an interesting and compelling story with dynamic characters whose lives are impacted by my choices as the player. One of the best games I’ve played (and re-played) in recent years is Disco Elysium.

In this game, you play as Harry DuBois, a strug-out police detective in the seaside town of Ravachol. You start the game, not even knowing your own name, as different parts of your psyche comment on "your" choices and the environment. Playing video games is different from consuming other forms of media, in that it expects the media consumer, the player, to be actively involved in the process. It is not like a movie or T.V. Show that you can sit idly and watch. “With the development of increasingly complex musical scores and the advent of machinima, the boundaries between video games and other forms of media are slowly blurring…video games have contributed significantly to modern artistic culture.” (Media Studies 101, 2014, 10.4). Players have to invest in the process in order to continue the complex story and uncover the mysteries of the murder, the town, the people who live there, Harry’s past, and even mythical creatures. The nature of the game makes it so that you can re-play it and experience completely different moments based on different choices.

My favorite moment doesn’t happen until the very end of the game. In the town, there are rumors of a mythical creature, the Insulindian Phasmid. I don’t want to spoil the moment for people who have yet to play this wonderful game (seriously, play it if you can), but it is hands down, one of the most beautiful moments I have ever experienced from any form of media. I remember turning to my husband, who was watching me play for once, and seeing the wonder on his face as well. Even though it was his third time experiencing that moment (yes we really like this game). He even bought some art inspired by that moment for me for Christmas, from artist Luís Melo. I can see it from where I type this post. 

Disco Elysium has impacted me and many other players. The art, writing, acting, complex choices, music, and animation all come together in a truly beautiful experience. Games like this, make video games an art and go against every “games ruin your mind” naysayer on the planet. Revochol is not a real place, Harry, Kim and the Phasmid are not real beings, but the impact they have left on the players can not be understated. ZA/UM, the developer and publisher, seems to be in limbo, and I doubt a game of this caliber will be released again for a long time. I hope that more people are inspired to create games to make the players think and challenge the medium in new, creative ways. 

Thank you for reading, see you next thought.

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