Games and Emotions
First off, my apologies for those awaiting replies from me at the moment. I'll get those up this weekend most certainly.
Now, I'm going to go back to random facts next post, but today I wanted to discuss something that affected me strongly enough where I felt like putting it here. I'm a gaming enthusiast, I love video games and I grew up around them. More than any other entertainment medium they have received the bulk of my time, a fact some look down upon of course. I'm not going to start up the debate as to whether or not some games should be considered art, its something every person has a different opinion on and I don't really want to delve too deeply into that. Rather I want to talk about one game in particular.
A bit of background first:
Before I graduated high school everyone was always talking to me about he series called 'The Walking Dead', swearing up and down that it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. So I eventually sat down and watched a couple of seasons, just to see what the fuss was about. I was... OK I guess, the acting was solid, and the story was engaging to some degree but for me it didn't compare to shows like 'Dexter' or 'Game of Thrones'. So I wrote it off as something I might watch more of if nothing better was on, cue moving on with my life.
A little while after that, I hear tell about a game my friends played on the Xbox Live Arcade also called the 'The Walking Dead'. For those of you unaware of how the video game industry works most of the time, here is a little lesson. A popular show/movie/whatever comes out, a video game is then rushed out the door based on whatever it is and is absolutely horrid and dreadful in most ways. There are exceptions to the rule, such as 'Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic', which is widely considered one of the greatest RPG's of all time but they are very rare.
So I initially passed it up, being savvy enough of a consumer to know when something is worth the risk and when something is not. Fast forward a bit to a little while ago, and you have me deciding to finally try it after I took the time to look into it more. So I sat down in my nice chair, controller at the ready, time slots taken for a day or two, finally ready to see what the fuss was about.
Did I enjoy it? Well, let me go off on another tangent here at the risk of boring you.
I have to feel something when I play a game. Its as simple as that, if I don't feel some shred of emotion when I'm playing a game I just don't play it. For this reason I've never gotten into games like 'Call of Duty', 'Halo', or even 'Gears of War'. Their stories don't really engage me, even moments that are supposed to feel emotional are not to me. I like to get invested in character, form connections with them, go through hard times together and actually experience the struggle. This is especially true when I play a villainous character in most games. I want to feel disgusted by my characters actions, and I want to feel heart wrenching guilt when I kill off a teammate.
Despite every emotion I've ever felt when I played an emotionally charged game, I have never once cried when I've played one. Even in the 'Mass Effect' series, where there were some pretty powerful moments or 'Katawa Shoujo' were it nearly happened. I'd never cried until I'd played 'The Walking Dead'.
I'm not talking about man tears, or weeping. I'm talking full on bawling, floodgates opened kind of crying.
The game itself is not so much a game as it is an emotional experience. Yes, I know that sounds corny but bare with me for a minute. I experienced a full wide spectrum of emotions when I played this game, happiness, joy, disgust, anger, pride, and yes even sorrow. It was silly in a kind of way it was rather ironic. This little low budget game that was more of a point and click title made me feel more than any triple A release.
Your main character in the whole thing is Lee, a history teacher turned convicted murder being sent to prison for the murder of his wife and a senator, who were having an affair behind his back. On the way to prison the zombie apocalypse hits, rather convenient but whatever. Lee, despite his past, is probably the most likable character I've ever played in a video game. He's quietly spoken, pretty average all around, and just trying to do right by his friends.
Early on in the game Lee meets a little girl called Clementine, who is with him for most of the episodic series. Normally, I hate having to care for kids in games because its either one long escort mission, they are annoying, or a combination of both. Clementine was different, she was a full character on her own and a puzzle in some ways. I never felt the way that Lee and Clem interacted was forced, it was natural all the way through.
I don't want to give too much more away, as it would take away from the enjoyment if anyone wanted to play it. Its just called 'The Walking Dead', its by 'Telltale Games'. Don't mistake it for the bad Walking Dead game, which is 'Survival Instinct'. Its broken up into five separate episodes, and is going to get a second 'season'.
Anyways, just my shout-out to this awesome game, and how it affected me. Maybe it was just me that felt like this, but even so its an experience I'll likely not soon forget.