![]() ![]() It challenges the things I lazily defined as good, evil, and “God’s work.”Īs in the video above, the game begins by following the protagonist, Wander, as he approaches a skyscraping structure in an under-saturated landscape. Īnd those details were already unsettling enough as a gamer, believe you me – moral relativism and your own blind corruptibility as an autonomous, interacting conduit of the story are tough pills to swallow for gamers weaned on Crash Bandicoot and the simple moral black-and-whites of The Legend of Zelda.īeing an involved Sunday School teacher with a faith waning in enthusiasm, Shadow of the Colossus provided a cathartic way to step out of the presuppositions that plagued my upbringing and shocked me by forcing me – as a player – to play devil’s advocate against my own convictions. The moral ambiguity even is even embroiled in the soundtrack every time you slay a colossus, this is the tune that accompanies their passing – a far cry from other iconic videogame victory anthems. evil” presumptions that infect most video game narratives. The first pangs of existential dread come from details well-discussed by other writers: the eerie atmosphere, the sense of guilt after beating each boss, and the ending which turns you into colossi yourself all combine to create a dissonant role reversal on the usual “good vs. The game has an overwhelming weight of nihilism towards your actions. It is just you, your horse, and these sixteen unique boss battles. Outside of these sixteen giants and the direct instruction to slay them, the game has no other enemies, characters, dialogue, or items during your first play-through. A god in that land, Dormin, makes a bargain with Wander, and will resurrect the fallen Mono if he slays the sixteen colossi that populate the otherwise barren kingdom. That lackadaisical attitude didn’t last long, however – that was the year I played Shadow of the Colossus, a game that not only forced me to reflect on the role of my avatar in-game, but also my role as a physical embodiment of my eternal soul.Ī quick catch up on the plot of the game for those of you unfamiliar with it (and brace yourself, spoilers are coming): a young man, Wander, brings a deceased young woman, Mono, to a temple in a forbidden land. But I thought those things as forgivable, since at its core, I was doing “God’s work.” I may have even worn sunglasses to class a time or two to dull the unpleasantness that processing residual alcohol and the flickering of fluorescent lights tend to conjure. Despite my station, I’ll be the first to say I wasn’t the greatest example of a religious scholar – far from it: I admit I’d often have late nights on Saturdays and would show up with a few slipshod Christian history crosswords to take the pressure off. I used to teach at Ashton United Methodist Church, centered smack dab in the middle of desolate, mid-Maryland suburbia. Sorry, I should probably start this article off by saying something about the opening scene in the game Shadow of the Colossus – I was reminiscing on a memory of heading to teach Sunday School with a hangover a few winters back. ![]() Grey, crinkled clouds swathe the sky in a shifting monotone an imposing game bird haunts overhead as an otherworldly choir swells with melancholic exhaustion amidst a stark and lifeless landscape, mysterious stone buildings loom lonely, and a solitary young man trudges forth in reluctant duty.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |