I am a big fan of video games. I have series that I tend to stick to: Legend of Zelda, Pokemon, Elder Scrolls, and Sonic the Hedgehog. I grew up with a lot of the games in these series. Playing these games was something I did with my brothers as kids, and I do in my free time as an adult. As a child, I would consider it play. However, reading this writing prompt got me thinking about when I sit down to turn on a video game. I don’t consider it playing anymore, but more so diving back into an adventure or living a story.
The story is my favorite part about a video game. I love to see how the lore is expanded with the characters I grew up with. How’s Link going to save the world this time? How will your morals be tested in Skyrim? What new pokemon and team am I going to build next? Are my favorite characters featured in the next Sonic the Hedgehog game? Am I going to get to learn more about them?
You could say playing a video game is similar to reading a book except it requires a little more action on your part. Reading a book, it sits on your lap and you follow the story with the characters. You could even skip ahead if you want to. Playing a video game, the characters don’t progress unless you help them. As kids, my older brother and I got stuck on a game called Sonic Adventure 2. We were in the final arc. Everything was building up to the end game. Yet, we couldn’t get past a certain level. Back then, you couldn’t look the answers up online. We ended up not finishing the game because we got tired of trying that one level over and over again. We never got to see the end of the story.
Eventually, I did look up the ending (our game disk wore out and became unplayable), but the experience was missed. Reading the ending and “living it” through the video game aren’t the same thing. You miss out on all the hard work you put into it with the characters. Sure, you can look up all the cutscenes online, but you still won’t get the whole story. You miss all the action and the adventure involved in the playthrough.
So, while “playing” video games speaks for itself. I like to look at the deeper, story component. That portal that takes you to a whole new world and adventure. Because, experiencing a story isn’t always play.
nikki diekemper 