Wow! It was almost 10 years ago since I first heard this song, and it still gives me chills. I remember running around Cyrodiil (the fantastical land in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion) at night when this song projected through my computer speakers. My character halted. I just...did not wish to move forward. Instead, I made my character look up at the night sky and stargaze. I then let go of the keyboard and mouse and just listened to the engrossing, yet amazingly simple tune that Jeremy Soule crafted.
And I knew that I would not just play in this fantasy world...
I would experience it!
And I know I'm not the only one. One of the comments on the video says, "this song gives me an urge of spirituality, a strong sense of wanted to reach the divine......if only our world was magical, just like oblivion" (Must...resist...fixing...grammar...).
As entertainment grows more and more in our culture, there has been an exponential rise in the amount of fantastical realms, planets, and alternative earths that go into storytelling. Because of this, it is hard for these worlds to stand out from the pack. You start to see the same themes and events over and over again to the point where it doesn't feel magical anymore.
But a few of them succeed with flying colors.
A few of my favorite universes to explore include but are not limited to: Star Wars (anyone remember Star Wars Galaxies? The old one?), Elder Scrolls, Dragon Age, Halo, Mass Effect, Warcraft, the world of Final Fantasy IX, and all the ages of Myst (especially Riven). I could go on.
These worlds are expertly crafted, with lots of time and love poured into them. In fact, it took the game developer Bioware about three years to just make the world of Thedas for Dragon Age before work on the first game in the series ever began!
It's one thing when a game is fun, but it is another when you feel immersed in these realms. It's almost like reading a book and not being able to put it down. It transforms from just being a book and draws you in to the story, the world, and all the people who live there.
J.R.R Tolkien, in his famous essay "On Fairy Stories," (and for the purposes of this blog, I expand this to include science fiction as well--against Tolkien's wishes) calls this feeling "Escape and Consolation."
"I have claimed that Escape is one of the main functions of fairy-stories, and since I do not disapprove of them, it is plain that I do not accept the tone of scorn or pity with which "Escape" is now so often used: a tone for which the uses of the word outside literary criticism give no warrant at all. In what the misusers are fond of calling Real Life, Escape is evidently as a rule very practical and may even be heroic."
Granted, Tolkien, as Kevin Schut points out, would probably despise video games. Anything not in print was instantly inferior in his mind.
I disagree with Tolkien in that regard; video games are not inferior to print (Wow! I stood up to Tolkien...I feel...powerful!). However, as much as I am going to anger all gamers, I would have to agree with Tolkien in that these video game worlds--even the good ones--should not be classified as fairy stories.
Video games change fairy stories in some respect by actually letting you walk around and interact with the world, no matter how minimal your impact actually is. To put it in another way, a game sucks you in by not just fulfilling one of the three reasons for playing games, but all of them (competency, autonomy, and relatedness, which we discussed in part one of the blog). Even if it is a single player game, the NPC's (nonplayable characters) come to life in your mind and cater to relatedness.
Any gaps or limitations in the coding are filled in by your imagination. Hence, in my opinion, why Bethesda games (Oblivion, Skyrim, Fallout) often get a pass for glitches and bugs where other developers would be chewed alive for releasing such a buggy game. Even when these bugs and glitches break the game, the player still finds a way to, more or less, forgive.
Kevin Schut calls it "tangibility." Video games give players a sense that it is real.
Escaping into these video game realms may not be what Tolkien had in mind, for he stressed the importance of the happy ending, but in video games, it is the ending that you craft for yourself.
In other words, it can be said that fantasy in video games is a chance for people to start over. To change their circumstances in real life and have a better chance at being significant in the world.
Many developers embrace this idea and, in their attempt to sell more copies, create games that start you off as a major figure: the last of your kind, the chosen one, a keyblade master, Dovahkiin (dragonborn), the Fateless One, a Jedi, etc.
Games are made for profit, so what better way to do that than to play to man's deepest desires. Or worse, to use behavioral science to trick the brain so as to keep enticing the player to come back. Many games nowadays have almost a gambling mentality to get people hooked, so they keep playing to unhealthy degrees.
Do you see what I'm saying? I believe Tolkien would not count video games as "Fairy Stories" because of its ultimate quest for money and the fulfillment of its consumers' desires, instead of conveying truth or, in his words, the "inner consistency of reality."
That being said, truth can permeate into these worlds. My semi-quote in Kevin Schut's book is about me finding a biblical parallel in Dragon Age! There are several truths in games like Dragon Age; I think that is what makes them so good. Nonetheless, the portraying of truth just takes a backseat to consumer desire and demand.
Therefore, as Christians--nay, as people--escape through video games is only healthy to a certain extent in my opinion. Too much, and addiction sets in, friendships and families are strained, and perception of reality morphs into what you've been trained to expect.
"It seems to me that such escape can lead to renewal, or it can lead to death" (Kevin Schut, Of Games & God, ch. 5 pg. 90).
And I knew that I would not just play in this fantasy world...
I would experience it!
And I know I'm not the only one. One of the comments on the video says, "this song gives me an urge of spirituality, a strong sense of wanted to reach the divine......if only our world was magical, just like oblivion" (Must...resist...fixing...grammar...).
As entertainment grows more and more in our culture, there has been an exponential rise in the amount of fantastical realms, planets, and alternative earths that go into storytelling. Because of this, it is hard for these worlds to stand out from the pack. You start to see the same themes and events over and over again to the point where it doesn't feel magical anymore.
But a few of them succeed with flying colors.
A few of my favorite universes to explore include but are not limited to: Star Wars (anyone remember Star Wars Galaxies? The old one?), Elder Scrolls, Dragon Age, Halo, Mass Effect, Warcraft, the world of Final Fantasy IX, and all the ages of Myst (especially Riven). I could go on.
These worlds are expertly crafted, with lots of time and love poured into them. In fact, it took the game developer Bioware about three years to just make the world of Thedas for Dragon Age before work on the first game in the series ever began!
It's one thing when a game is fun, but it is another when you feel immersed in these realms. It's almost like reading a book and not being able to put it down. It transforms from just being a book and draws you in to the story, the world, and all the people who live there.
J.R.R Tolkien, in his famous essay "On Fairy Stories," (and for the purposes of this blog, I expand this to include science fiction as well--against Tolkien's wishes) calls this feeling "Escape and Consolation."
"I have claimed that Escape is one of the main functions of fairy-stories, and since I do not disapprove of them, it is plain that I do not accept the tone of scorn or pity with which "Escape" is now so often used: a tone for which the uses of the word outside literary criticism give no warrant at all. In what the misusers are fond of calling Real Life, Escape is evidently as a rule very practical and may even be heroic."
Granted, Tolkien, as Kevin Schut points out, would probably despise video games. Anything not in print was instantly inferior in his mind.
I disagree with Tolkien in that regard; video games are not inferior to print (Wow! I stood up to Tolkien...I feel...powerful!). However, as much as I am going to anger all gamers, I would have to agree with Tolkien in that these video game worlds--even the good ones--should not be classified as fairy stories.
Video games change fairy stories in some respect by actually letting you walk around and interact with the world, no matter how minimal your impact actually is. To put it in another way, a game sucks you in by not just fulfilling one of the three reasons for playing games, but all of them (competency, autonomy, and relatedness, which we discussed in part one of the blog). Even if it is a single player game, the NPC's (nonplayable characters) come to life in your mind and cater to relatedness.
Any gaps or limitations in the coding are filled in by your imagination. Hence, in my opinion, why Bethesda games (Oblivion, Skyrim, Fallout) often get a pass for glitches and bugs where other developers would be chewed alive for releasing such a buggy game. Even when these bugs and glitches break the game, the player still finds a way to, more or less, forgive.
Kevin Schut calls it "tangibility." Video games give players a sense that it is real.
Escaping into these video game realms may not be what Tolkien had in mind, for he stressed the importance of the happy ending, but in video games, it is the ending that you craft for yourself.
In other words, it can be said that fantasy in video games is a chance for people to start over. To change their circumstances in real life and have a better chance at being significant in the world.
Many developers embrace this idea and, in their attempt to sell more copies, create games that start you off as a major figure: the last of your kind, the chosen one, a keyblade master, Dovahkiin (dragonborn), the Fateless One, a Jedi, etc.
Games are made for profit, so what better way to do that than to play to man's deepest desires. Or worse, to use behavioral science to trick the brain so as to keep enticing the player to come back. Many games nowadays have almost a gambling mentality to get people hooked, so they keep playing to unhealthy degrees.
Do you see what I'm saying? I believe Tolkien would not count video games as "Fairy Stories" because of its ultimate quest for money and the fulfillment of its consumers' desires, instead of conveying truth or, in his words, the "inner consistency of reality."
That being said, truth can permeate into these worlds. My semi-quote in Kevin Schut's book is about me finding a biblical parallel in Dragon Age! There are several truths in games like Dragon Age; I think that is what makes them so good. Nonetheless, the portraying of truth just takes a backseat to consumer desire and demand.
Therefore, as Christians--nay, as people--escape through video games is only healthy to a certain extent in my opinion. Too much, and addiction sets in, friendships and families are strained, and perception of reality morphs into what you've been trained to expect.
"It seems to me that such escape can lead to renewal, or it can lead to death" (Kevin Schut, Of Games & God, ch. 5 pg. 90).
Believe me, I understand wanting to escape from "the real world" and I understand how video games are a great release. As a matter of fact, I tried to play Oblivion again when I was depressed, hoping to feel that sense of wonder I first had in the game, but to no avail. But as I get older (and hopefully wiser), the more I begin to see that there is nothing new under the sun. That "behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind" (Ecclesiastes 1:14 ESV).
As much as these worlds seem mysterious and mystical, there is nothing overtly new. That, in reality, the world God created is the most rich, mysterious, and dare I say, magical world that has ever come to fruition. He has crafted the ultimate fairy story. As Tolkien puts it:
"The Gospels contain a fairy-story, or a story of a larger kind which embraces all the essence of fairy-stories. They contain many marvels--peculiarly artistic, beautiful, and moving: 'mythical' in their perfect, self-contained significance; and among the marvels is the greatest and most complete conceivable eucatastrophe. But this story has entered History and the primary world; the desire and aspiration of subcreation has been raised to the fulfillment of Creation. The Birth of Christ is the eucatastrophe of Man's history. The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation. This story begins and ends in joy. It has pre-eminently the 'inner consistency of reality.' There is no tale ever told that men would rather find was true, and none which so many sceptical men have accepted as true on its own merits. For the Art of it has the supremely convincing tone of Primary Art, that is, of Creation. To reject it leads either to sadness or to wrath."
As much as these worlds seem mysterious and mystical, there is nothing overtly new. That, in reality, the world God created is the most rich, mysterious, and dare I say, magical world that has ever come to fruition. He has crafted the ultimate fairy story. As Tolkien puts it:
"The Gospels contain a fairy-story, or a story of a larger kind which embraces all the essence of fairy-stories. They contain many marvels--peculiarly artistic, beautiful, and moving: 'mythical' in their perfect, self-contained significance; and among the marvels is the greatest and most complete conceivable eucatastrophe. But this story has entered History and the primary world; the desire and aspiration of subcreation has been raised to the fulfillment of Creation. The Birth of Christ is the eucatastrophe of Man's history. The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation. This story begins and ends in joy. It has pre-eminently the 'inner consistency of reality.' There is no tale ever told that men would rather find was true, and none which so many sceptical men have accepted as true on its own merits. For the Art of it has the supremely convincing tone of Primary Art, that is, of Creation. To reject it leads either to sadness or to wrath."
​Besides significance and escape, there are two other important fantasies that games frequently cater to: romance and religion. More on those in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!
Here is the full essay written by Tolkien. It is well worth the read!
Here is the full essay written by Tolkien. It is well worth the read!
http://brainstorm-services.com/wcu-2004/fairystories-tolkien.pdf