Looking Back

Can a person under the age of 18 really be nostalgic about something? Can a person under 18 truly look back into his/her past and say, "Man, those were the days."? Most parents would disagree, stating that young children are unable to truly appreciate their past. However, I offer a counter-argument; What constitutes the ability to look back and revel in the wonderful reveries of the past? Do you have to be a certain age? Do you have to have graying hair? Do you have to be able to remember life before the War on Terror?

The fact remains, ANYONE has the right and the responsibility to remember their past and appreciate the little things in life.

Enough philosophy for today. You may not have guessed it, but this was inspired by two of my favorite games from the PS2 era, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus

For those of you have not heard of these games, let me give you the basics.

In Ico, you play as a young boy, Ico, who is being sacrificed due to the fact that he was born with crude horns. However, he breaks out of his small cell, and is tasked with escaping the huge imposing castle that is captors imprisoned him within.

Early in the game, Ico runs into a beautiful princess, whom he had dreamed about the night before. He breaks her out of her suspended cage, and together, they attempt to escape the castle.

However, complications arise, when dark spirits begin to appear and try to capture the princess. Ico must defend the princess against these manifestations, and along the way, he discovers a dark secret behind the castle and the princess's true identity.

In Shadow of the Colossus, made by the same team that made Ico, you play as Wander, a young boy who has ventured long and far to reach a region known as the Forbidden Land. When he arrives, he feels an unearthly voice speaking to him. The voice introduces itself as the demi-god Dormin, and inquires as to what Wander's purpose is in this land.

Wander announces that he wishes to raise the soul of a young woman back from the dead. The voice chortles, and taunts Wander, saying, "Death is final. Is that not the law of mortals?" However, he presents Wander with a mission: Slay the sixteen colossi that are scattered around the land, and he will bring the young woman back from the dead.

But Gods are fickle beings, as mythology commonly states. Is there a wicked twist waiting for Wander at the end of his journey?

For me, these games represent a call back to the reality of gaming, and ultimately, a call to true imagination. Released, respectively, in 2001 and 2005, neither of the games have mind-blowing graphics. The game-play in some areas is awkward and annoying, and neither of the games have the length of some mega-series of today.

However, where these games prevail over all other games I've ever played is in the storytelling and the imagination that the gamer can incorporate into the storyline.

Imagination, on the gamer's part, anyway, is seldom used in gaming anymore. All the character development and back-story is done for you, and you can jump right into the action, no thought required. But don't we live for the chance to make something our own? In both above titles, the gamer is not given every minute detail that occurred before we met the character. Instead, we are dropped in medias res, and we are almost forced to invent a background for the character. We are forced to lay the cement in which the rest of the plot will be built.

That is exactly what most games today lack: the imagination on the part of the gamer. I understand most people would rather play a game and not have to think, but when you get the chance to make anything your own, it immediately creates a bond that cannot be shattered by core game-play mechanics. It makes you attached to the game on a personal level, which makes the game ten times better than it already was.

Once a gamer, always a gamer. Games will always hold a special place for me, a place where you can escape and enjoy a story well told.

Maybe I play games a little too much. . . but why would I give up that one part of me that makes me who I am? Am I bad person because I play games more than advised? Am I any worse of a person? No. I still have friends, I still achieve good grades in school. I don't know about you, but I think I'm pretty well off.

And now I'm getting philosophical again. My apologies. If you actually read this far, thank you for biding your time with me. See you next time...