Mythos is probably one of the most important factors in a game's success. Lastingly, anyway. Given an audience of geeks/nerds/what-have-you, video game designers have recognized that there is nothing geeks/nerds/what-have-yous like better than accumulating knowledge that is in no way useful to any situation or conversation EXCEPT THOSE ABOUT THAT KNOWLEDGE ITSELF. (Actually, Chewbacca had a wife and child, didn't you know?) By building a universe in which a game resides, designers not only guarantee a loyal fanbase that will try MORE THAN ONCE to play Majora's Mask (even though it is clearly not a well planned game. Or too well planned maybe), but they give their players depth and texture so even if they've played Ocarina many times, it is still engaging because it is not limited to the beating of the game itself.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
All right. So anyone that knows me probably knows that I think one of the best games, if not the best, is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (single player, obviously). I know it already has a shoutout on DIMB, but deal. What makes Ocarina so eternally satisfying is that it lies in the overlapping section of the venn diagram of video game qualities. It has just the right amounts of hack 'n' slash fighting (not like FF), learned weapons/tools that require some attention/practice (not like Dark Alliance), exploring (not like side-scrollers), challenging-but-achievable puzzles (not like bastard Majora's Mask), side quests that are useful to the main quest but not necessary (not stupid things that take all your time and then are like, yay, we put your name on the wall of the inn!), and, my topic for today, mythos.
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One of the reasons I love the Zelda series so much is the mythos behind it. That is part of the reason why I was inspired to go through the Zelda games in chronological order of their release date (which I realize isn't the same thing as chronological order in the world of Hyrule). But The Legend of Zelda foiled me when it offered not a single goddamn clue about where I was supposed to find the next dungeon. I beat 3 or 4, but seriously, it was impossible for me to find new dungeons and there was no helpful advice at all. But yeah, after beating Twilight Princess after a year of playing it, I got really inspired to find out more about the world of Zelda by going through all the games. I'd still like to at some point when I start gaming again (which will hopefully be soon, but we'll see). If anyone wants to read more about the Zelda mythology, here is a good article I found a while back on the subject: http://www.zeldainformer.com/2009/07/magic-and-mythology.php#more.
ReplyDeleteI love all games with a sense of mythos or just the feel that they reside in an environment that is lived-in. I love that feeling.
How is Dark Alliance, anyway (I assume you're talking about the Baldur's Gate one)? I thought that was PS2 only? I didn't know you had a PS2 (if it is PS2-exclusive). And one day I'd like to beat Majora's Mask (without the use of strategy guides, which I thankfully wasn't using by the time I started playing this--yes it had very tough puzzles, compounded by the time limit).