Hello everyone and welcome to day 26 of my 31/31! Many gamers know that games have a tendency to take us to magical places far, far, away. Today’s topic builds on that thought, and on my previous blog about Homes in gaming. See, when I was writing that blog, I was thinking about all of the little details that go into making a great journey. Sure it starts with disbanding or leaving behind a concept of “normal” or of a home figure, but another aspect that gets overlooked in what makes a good journey is the transportation itself.
(I love this song so much. Bonus points if you know what video this is from. It's what I think of when I think of travelling. )
Transportation comes in many forms, shapes, and sizes. I’m actually in a little corner of an airport waiting for a 4 AM flight as I type this. My battery is just about dead, and everyone else is asleep. I’m certainly having a bit of an adventure myself right now. It’s a time like this where I remind myself, “It’s not the destination, but the journey along the way that truly matters.” Is this true though? I certainly feel as if I haven’t spent a lot of time analyzing this aspect of what is considered common wisdom, and so I decided to do so with some video game franchises:
-Case #1: The Pokémon Series: The Pokémon series is a well known franchise by many people. In the series, you start out at home as a young trainer, and leave off into the various regions collecting Pokémon and beating gym leaders. In this series, you climb mountains, discover ruins, save the world, and can catch what is basically considered “god” (Arceus) in a child’s toy. At home you can save, decorate your room, and sleep. Slight advantage: Journey.
-Case #2: The Last of Us: This one was a lot tougher to call. While you spend pretty much the entire game on a journey, a lot of what’s important in a survival game is the destination. I still remember the sense of relief that I felt when I finally came across the end of the game. However, the memories made throughout the epic saga are the key why I think the game is great. Advantage: Journey.
-Case #3: The Legend of Zelda Series: In this game, Link goes on many different quests to save the world from Ganon and other sources of evil. Link goes through many different adventures during his time, but the end result usually ends up the same. However, he is considered the Hero of Time for his accomplishments at the end of his journey, not for his endless barrage of smashing clay pots along the way. Advantage: Destination.
-Case #4: Mass Effect Series: In this game, you ally with various races in the hope to stop the oncoming Reaper invasion. The end result might be divisive in how people receive it, but the fact that it was determined by your choices throughout the game give the adventure of it all an advantage. Advantage: Journey.
In short, both the journey and the adventure add a lot to a game. How the developer decides to tie the two things together is what makes it really work or really fail in my opinion. I really wish this blog was longer, but my computer has 4% battery left. What games have memorable journeys or destinations in your mind? What did you think of my picks? As always, feel free to leave a comment and I will be sure to respond as soon as I can. Thanks for reading!
↧
31/31 Day 26: Is it the Journey or the Destination?
↧