Games and expressing themes.

I've noticed a severe discrepancy between the best of narrative expression in games as opposed to other forms of media — the expression of theme.

Many of the best works of literature and cinema work towards a conclusion that boils down to a single idea, and that idea is usually something that can be applied to everyday perspective. In those kinds of works, the story is entirely structured around these ideas and comes together most powerfully only when those ideas contextualise the plot and characters.

Even the best of games seem to lack this. There's no conclusive moment where the game relates itself, finally, to real life as we experience it and becomes a relevant experience. This isn't the function of a game, of course — that's to be fun — and it isn't necessary, but I do find it odd that even story-driven games tend to lack this feature.

Or am I wrong? Are there games that do this well?

I have to agree with you. The only way I could justify games having a theme would be really sketchy.

Sounds like the "Would you kindly" scene in Bioshock. The rest of the game after that is filler, because all the foreshadowing and conflict beforehand was leading up to the moment with Ryan. The theme of free will being something that we undervalue (Expressed through elements like the chains on Jack's hands, the Randian allusions, plot elements like the phermones, and gameplay elements such as the extreme linearity and limited decision making) pretty much got its conclusion there. It relates to real life because the entire point is that the player (Not just Jack) is a participant, making us aware of just how we can be restricted without even noticing it.

Your opinion on the execution of the theme might vary, but there clearly is a buildup to a thematic conclusion.

edited 25th Apr '11 8:49:52 AM by Scardoll

I'm not exactly getting what you're getting at. So, to help me understand, could you propose a video game idea of your own creation that does utilize this whole "expressing themes" concept?

Just pick a book and imagine a game adaption or similar equivalent.

Not all movies really have huge themes like you're describing.

That's kinda beside the point.

I was actually thinking about how the new Pokemon games actually have a theme... Well, it's clearly not all that well expressed, but it's definitely there. It has more theme than plot, in a sense. Though, now that I think about it, that might just be the thing with games. A written story is something that you read linearly, and its entire point is what happens in it. In a game, you can meander about and do various things, of which not all are directly related to the plot, and that freedom is something that a game has to provide, lest it not be a game at all. Or at least, not a fun one.

I'm obviously talking about story-driven games here, for the record. Mostly RPGs, though I think any story-driven game would give you the opportunity to explore a little, even if it's very linear. Which I think is a big strength of games. NPCs and other background details that help shape a world. And that world can indeed be built around a central theme.

So I guess what I'm saying is that games can very well have themes, they just work differently from themes in non-interactive media.

There are a few games like that. I'd argue that Bioshock has that going for it (regarding themes of freedom, family and indoctrination) but it's not well executed, unlike the sequel.

The Dead Money DLC for Fallout: New Veags also has a fairly strong theme about the seductive nature of greed and obsession.

Knights Of The Old Republic 2 has a great deal of commentary about the nature of "evil" in the Star Wars universe.

Thief 2 and Final Fantasy VII have pro-environmental concerns. Arcanum, the Thief series, Dragon Age 2 have class concerns. Rascism's a prominent notion in Tales Of Symphonia and The Valkyria Chronicles. Half Life 2 looks at occupation and opression.

But these are all different ways of expressing themes (though I'd say Dead Money and Bioshock are more along the lines of what you're talking about.) Themes and issues are inherent to most stories — they certainly abound in games. Hell, Pokemon has very strong themes of love and friendship running through all it's stories.

That said, I don't think it's useful to look at most stories this way; it's often quite reductive. There are exceptions though, like Dead Money.

edited 26th Apr '11 2:55:23 AM by Nicknacks

The problem is that when you CAN utilise tools unique to the gaming format to express your theme, it may run into a conflict between being Anvilicious via But Thou Must! (and ending up either seceding to the level of expression available to movies — like the latest Call Of Duty games like to toy with various interpretations of patriotism — or sticking to being Anvilicious, And That's Terrible) or Broken Aesop via offering Sandbox freedom, however fun this may sound. For example, while the Fallout games explored a lot of subjects with how humanity will still stay humanity with all of its ups and downs even after a nukular apokolips, a lot of the examples had built-in Fridge Horror on the unpunishability of crime in such a world, at least until vigilante justice rises up, because the surviving powers that be don't do shit.

I guess the next step is taking the themes and integrating them into the gameplay.

Do we know of any games that do this? Well?

Infamous, for instance, is a poor example. Its evil/good dichotomy is far too black and white. Mass Effect might be better, since it does give different moral choices without arbitrarily claiming them as good or evil and it allows you to progress both ways simultaneously. But then again, morality isn't a theme of Mass Effect.

I believe we have an article relevant to this.

edited 26th Apr '11 3:23:58 AM by SpellBlade

Absolutely, but the manner by which games handle this is the question.

If you want an ethics-driven RPG, you'd better look at Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines instead. One of the game's recurring themes is that you may or may not keep your humanity after being converted to a vampire, and this will greatly affect your ability to control your vampiric urges. Also, vampires may be bloodsucking super-powered freaks, they're still as much fallible as humans, some of them even more so because they think that being human and acting human is something they are now free of. The whole point of The Masquerade is also an interesting thing to look at. But all of that is inherited from the original Tabletop RPG, it's just that the game runs with it very well.

edited 26th Apr '11 4:04:34 AM by Noelemahc

I wasn't aware there were vampires in real life. Therefore, the theme is unrelatable.

Project a parallel to racism, then, in a situation where one-way trips to a particular race are possible. Or you didn't find the inferred racial discrimination subtext the X-Men comics were supposed to be about, among other things, to be relatable either? It's a study in human behaviour under specific circumstances, I'd think it would be relatable since it still is human behaviour?

I wouldn't say Mass Effect 2 has a central theme as a whole, but it definitely tackles interesting themes in the squad loyalty missions, like Mordin's involvement in the Krogan genophage (a virus that made 99% of the krogan population infertile or sterile, which has had enormous effects on their race) or whether or not you should brainwash the geth to not follow the Reapers anymore.

See, that's the thing- the circumstances are too specific. Besides, a study of human behavior does not relate to expressing themes because studying human behavior is simply an act, not communicating a message that we can relate to.

edited 26th Apr '11 5:44:03 AM by JohnnyCage

The message was that in any exotic context, even humans that deem themselves above all others are still humans and make human mistakes and are subject to human fallacies. Plus, the ideological confrontation of the Kuei-Jin, the Camarilla and the Anarchs for the player's loyalty is interesting for the same reasons.

As a general point, fantasy is good at expressing themes because it has to treat them non-literally as a rule. Much easier to express abstract ideas when you have abstract means.

Yggdra Union is a good example of showing how War Is Hell, even though that it is a fantasy setting.

The Wild Arms series tends to use themes so blatantly that they put brackets around the relevant words.

I think Persona 4's theme of how one should strive to discover the truth and never accept the easy answer was well handled. In addition to the TV metaphors, it's actually an integral part of claiming the Golden Ending.

Just about every single aspect of Planescape Torment revolves around "What can change the nature of a man?", with musings on the role and nature of belief and what it means to be true to your nature as related themes.